26 Apr
2007
26 Apr
'07
5:13 p.m.
---------------Original Messages:
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 09:45:08 -0700
From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com>
Subject: Re: DC-600/300XL tape cart observation
On 26 Apr 2007 at 12:16, M H Stein wrote:
Aside from the
issue of archiving them, is it better to leave them
until needed, or should I run
them through a retension occasionally
to prevent some of the problems mentioned recently? Any special
conditions for storage? Well, obviously, a lot depends on the tape formulation
itself. The
job immediately before this one was a DC-6250 written in 1992. Went
without a hitch. The problem tapes are "Scotch" and were written in
1986-87 and are nothing but problems.
To me "archiving" is the key. Copy the
things off to another storage
medium (say, CD-R) and regenerate copies every few
years. It's just
plain foolish to leave things to the mercy of Father Time.
Cheers,
Chuck
---------------Reply:
I'm still curious; assuming any useful data has been archived
and I just want to reuse the tapes some day, what would
maximize the chances of their still being useable? Is heating
them a last-ditch recovery procedure or could it be considered
preventive maintenance? I assume that the 2120s, Travans etc.
are prone to some of the same problems?
Next question:
The DC600s & 615s are Cromemco Cromix+ and UNIX system
and backup tapes; those I have hardware for and they're no great
loss even if they have problems. However, the 300s are for an
Arete/Arix system and I no longer have any hardware that could
read them nor do I know of anyone with an Arix; also, there's the
usual problem that they may have confidential client data on them
along with the system files, so what do I do with them?
I wouldn't mind reusing the tapes but hate to erase them.
Format aside, can a drive meant for DC600s read the lower
coercivity DC300s?
mike