Archive (permanent backup) of data to Tape or M-Disc kind of storage ?

openit

Hello there,

I am thinking of moving finished projects data from our File Server and following are few reasons and my proposal to management.

To Free up disk space on File Server, otherwise, I will require to keeps on adding hard disk to server to increase space.
Done projects, so mostly users will not touch this data, so no need to be on File Server, very rarely users will require to access data like reference or legal matters etc.

My proposal :

Moving projects finished data to M-Disc kind of discs or Tape Drives for Permanent Backup (archive). Which will be in off-site.
And other copy on some external hard disk, so just in case any of users or management requires to refer data, which will in on-site.

My question :

Now point is about going with M-Disc (which seems to be cheaper) (https://www.amazon.com/M-DISC-Blu-ray-Permanent-Archival-Backup/dp/B00KGWV6MI) or with Tape Drives (which could be expensive comparitevely but may be I can use it for Off-site data backup setup ? (as I am in process of arranging Off-site backup by Cloud or QNAP NAS to QNAP NAS replication to other branch etc.)

What do you advice ?

MisterZee

If you live long enough all backups will fail.

In my own personal experience I had a few things on QIC format tape cartridges. I had 5 drives. It turns out that after a decade the chemicals on the capstan of the drive breaks down and the drive bec omes useless. I.e., all QIC drives fail the same way in the same timeframe.

I had some stuff on 8mm tapes. My drive went bad after many year of little use. Not worth buying a new one.

My old CD backups are still readable after 8 years. My rule of thumb is that here is a .1% chance of damaging a CD every time it is handled. I don't have experience with the 25GB media. It looks like the CD/DVD format has at least another decade to run. Go for it!

Ciao,
//Z\

scottalanmiller

8mm tape was pretty problematic. LTO is where the reliable tape is.

openit

@scottalanmiller said in Archive (permanent backup) of data to Tape or M-Disc kind of storage ?:

8mm tape was pretty problematic. LTO is where the reliable tape is.

What's your guess on M-Disc ?

openit

@MisterZee said in Archive (permanent backup) of data to Tape or M-Disc kind of storage ?:

If you live long enough all backups will fail.

In my own personal experience I had a few things on QIC format tape cartridges. I had 5 drives. It turns out that after a decade the chemicals on the capstan of the drive breaks down and the drive bec omes useless. I.e., all QIC drives fail the same way in the same timeframe.

I had some stuff on 8mm tapes. My drive went bad after many year of little use. Not worth buying a new one.

My old CD backups are still readable after 8 years. My rule of thumb is that here is a .1% chance of damaging a CD every time it is handled. I don't have experience with the 25GB media. It looks like the CD/DVD format has at least another decade to run. Go for it!

Ciao,
//Z\

Seems M-Disc is a better option after burning and testing.

openit

Comments from others too is appreciated

HPEStorageGuy

How much data are you talking about? Is this data something that will seldom if ever be read again?

I do a lot of video projects. Once I'm done with those core assets (video, audio, images, etc), I archive them to an LTO-6 tape drive I have using LTFS. What I really like about it is that with LTFS, it's a drag and drop interface. I don't have any experience using M-Disc but I'm biased toward tape. Here's a page on hpe.com that talks more about LTFS. If you have specific questions, happy to answer them.

Depending on how much data your talking about, you can probably get LTO-5 or LTO-6 at a decent price since the latest generation is LTO-7.

scottalanmiller

Isn't M-DISC just a generic BluRay disc maker?

wirestyle22

LTO have a lifespan of 30 years or something don't they? Why not go with reliability

openit

@HPEStorageGuy said in Archive (permanent backup) of data to Tape or M-Disc kind of storage ?:

How much data are you talking about? Is this data something that will seldom if ever be read again?

I do a lot of video projects. Once I'm done with those core assets (video, audio, images, etc), I archive them to an LTO-6 tape drive I have using LTFS. What I really like about it is that with LTFS, it's a drag and drop interface. I don't have any experience using M-Disc but I'm biased toward tape. Here's a page on hpe.com that talks more about LTFS. If you have specific questions, happy to answer them.

Depending on how much data your talking about, you can probably get LTO-5 or LTO-6 at a decent price since the latest generation is LTO-7.

I guess, few hundreds of GBs (around 400GB maybe). This amount will be for the first time. And may require to check once in a quarter to know finished and archive it periodically.

wirestyle22

@openit said in Archive (permanent backup) of data to Tape or M-Disc kind of storage ?:

@HPEStorageGuy said in Archive (permanent backup) of data to Tape or M-Disc kind of storage ?:

How much data are you talking about? Is this data something that will seldom if ever be read again?

I do a lot of video projects. Once I'm done with those core assets (video, audio, images, etc), I archive them to an LTO-6 tape drive I have using LTFS. What I really like about it is that with LTFS, it's a drag and drop interface. I don't have any experience using M-Disc but I'm biased toward tape. Here's a page on hpe.com that talks more about LTFS. If you have specific questions, happy to answer them.

Depending on how much data your talking about, you can probably get LTO-5 or LTO-6 at a decent price since the latest generation is LTO-7.

I guess, few hundreds of GBs (around 400GB maybe). This amount will be for the first time. And may require to check once in a quarter to know finished and archive it periodically.

What is the expected rate of expansion?

openit

@wirestyle22 said in Archive (permanent backup) of data to Tape or M-Disc kind of storage ?:

@openit said in Archive (permanent backup) of data to Tape or M-Disc kind of storage ?:

@HPEStorageGuy said in Archive (permanent backup) of data to Tape or M-Disc kind of storage ?:

How much data are you talking about? Is this data something that will seldom if ever be read again?

I do a lot of video projects. Once I'm done with those core assets (video, audio, images, etc), I archive them to an LTO-6 tape drive I have using LTFS. What I really like about it is that with LTFS, it's a drag and drop interface. I don't have any experience using M-Disc but I'm biased toward tape. Here's a page on hpe.com that talks more about LTFS. If you have specific questions, happy to answer them.

Depending on how much data your talking about, you can probably get LTO-5 or LTO-6 at a decent price since the latest generation is LTO-7.

I guess, few hundreds of GBs (around 400GB maybe). This amount will be for the first time. And may require to check once in a quarter to know finished and archive it periodically.

What is the expected rate of expansion?

Let's say, each project took 12GB, for one quarter around 120GB -> per year around 480GB.

openit

@scottalanmiller said in Archive (permanent backup) of data to Tape or M-Disc kind of storage ?:

Isn't M-DISC just a generic BluRay disc maker?

Probably.