Re: [semi-OT] Data archiving (was Re: Query on adding a USB hdd)
On Thu, May 24, 2007 at 06:08:21PM -0500, Ron Johnson wrote:
>
> > There is something to be said for casting something in plain text in
> > bronze and gold plating it.
>
> Buffered lignin-free paper.
>
Burns.
Bronze melts.
Pottery breaks.
Acid rain eats granite.
I guess the bottom line is that information that is not used is
eventually lost. It must be taught always to new generations, either
people or hardware/software.
Hard drives have spare sectors and reassign when sectors become
degraded; they 'teach' a new sector the information from an old sector.
If the drive is on the shelf, we have to spin it up and get the drive to
test all sectors. When enough sectors get bad, SMART tells us so we can
"teach" a new drive the old drive's data.
Data is never maintenance-free.
I know, Ron, I'm preaching to the choir.
Doug.
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