What are the media considerations in terms of longevity, proper storage environment and associated handling best practices?
The media considerations for archiving are varied. The most fundamental consideration is readability — the media must be readable over the course of years, even decades. Tapes must be error free and hard drives must power up and spin successfully after sitting on a shelf for years. Proper media vaulting involves issues, like appropriate temperature, humidity and physical security. The vendor is always a good place to start with tips and best practices for long-term media storage. In addition, there must be a migration plan to accommodate the evolution of storage technologies. For example, a DLT tape might be perfectly readable for 20 years, but if you move to LTO-4 tapes in a few years, you’ll still need to make a provision for reading the DLT tapes or migrate the DLT tapes to LTO-4 — and do it all with a minimum of downtime. Ultimately, it’s not just about keeping the media, but also keeping the hardware and software to ensure recoverability later on. Future migration is an issue th
