Flash was never designed for long term storage - all flash devices have a
finite number of "write cycles" they can support and are vulnerable to
radiation effects and other possible errors - the higher the capacity the
more likely an error is. Perfectly manufactured and stored DVDs should last
for maybe 20 years or so - note the emphasis on perfect!
Basically everything deteriorates and as we pack more and more bits in
smaller and smaller spaces they become more vulnerable. This site
http://askville.amazon.com/data-encoding-CDs-DVDs-flash-drives-deteriorate-time-media-safe-forever/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=8683861has
some interesting comments - not sure how true they are but they are
certainly good guidelines. And even if your chosen media lasts 50 years I
can guarantee there will be no equipment that can read it after that time.
Having been in IT for more than 40 years I have seen many technologies come
and go - early disks were the size of washing machines and held a few
megabytes.
If you are really concerned back up to something that is a fairly new
technology (and of good quality) - and preferably to two types of device.
Every few years read the backups and rewrite them to new disks (or tapes or
whatever) again of new technology. That way you may stay ahead of the game -
assuming that the software still exists to read the data.
Sorry to be a pessimist but you can't beat acid-free paper stored in good
environment - and in several places.....
On 3 March 2010 10:27, Pat OMalley <> wrote:
> The comments on the deterioration of bird photos and records on CD and
> DVD is depressing. What is the evidence of deterioration on flash memory
> - is this a more promising medium?
>
> Pat
> www.birding-aus.org
> birding-aus.blogspot.com
>
> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
> send the message:
> unsubscribe
> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
> to:
>
===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
===============================
|
