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Cheapest massive archive storage solution?
QUESTION:I have a project that would feed a continual stream of data at a rate of
approximately 17 GB per day at a minimum. My project would require archiving
this data indefinately. I would like to know of the cheapest possible
solution to store 17 GB per day for as long of a time span as possible.
I would highly prefer to have a medium with an extremely long shelf life.
That is, I do not want to find myself 10 years from now trying to copy 62
Terrabytes of data off of piles and piles of old storage discs/cartridges
onto a new medium to preserve the data. I want it to last as long as
possible from the get go.
Another important thing to consider is the schedule of when discs/cartridges
would have to be replaced. I will not be able to physically replace storage
media any more frequently than once per 24 hour cycle. That is, the
individual discs or cartridges must store a minimum of 17 GB each. I would
highly prefer this to be on a 48 hour cycle or more, as I might not be
around every single day. That is, I'd prefer to have 34 GB or more per
disc/cartridge.
I imagine I will have multiple physical drives setup in such a way that as
soon as one drive is full, the server begins saving information to the other
drive(s). This way when I arrive to change media, I can change all of the
drives that are full while the system is still writeing data to the one
active drive. This could help offset the need for larger capacities per
unit, as I could have multiple units running live at any given moment.
I realize this is going to cost quite a bit to accomplish over the next
decade or two. However, I would like to keep the costs down as low as
possible. This is really just a hobby to me, so anything that must be
purchased will come soley out of my pocket with no commercial backing.
What is the cheapest possible way to archive 17 GB per day and save it for
decades to come? Would magnetic tape have too short of a shelf life? Would
optical discs be too expensive?
ANSWER: For your requirements you need an MOD storage libary or multiple MOD
drives. Either with 2.3GB 3.5" disks or 5.25" disks. This is the
only solution that will give you the shelf-life you want. Others claim
to reach it, but fail. CD-R/DVD-R will likely last several years but
not several decades. Tapes of any sort get problematic after a decade.
Same for HDDs. In addition MOD is the only medium type where the
manufacturers are comitted to long term drive availability and
backwards compatibility, since it was explicitely designed for
professional long-term storage without a special storage
environment.
One option would be to use 10 conventional 3.5" MOD drives with
some software that switches to the next disk when one is full.
This would cost about 400 Euro per USB drive and and around 25 Euro
per disk. Say 4000 Euro basic investment plus 200 Euro/day.
If you can spend more money, you could go for an optical jukebox
like this:
http://www.promarktech.com/storage/mo/plasmon/m104.htm
Gives you up to 55 days with your storage needs before you
have to replace the cartridges. The basic equipment will be a little
expensive. A 5.4GB disk is around 55 Euro, so you can expect an
additional cost of around 200 Euro/day, just like in the above case.
I could not find a price quote for 9GB disks.
If you cannot spend these 200 Euro/day, then forget it. You will
find ceaper solutions that may keep half a decade or maybe even a
decade, but not longer.
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