-----Andy Huebner wrote: -----

>We make the DBA's dump the data to a format readable by other
>versions and other software, then archive it to TSM.

Up until now, requirements for archiving of Oracle database
contents have been met by writing Oracle exports to disk and
having the TSM backup/archive client back up the disk files.
This does not enable us to read the data with software other
than Oracle, but does give us good prospects for portably
across different platforms and different Oracle releases.

The currently planned approach to the regulatory requirements
mentioned in my original posting depends on the ability to
recreate the database as it existed at any moment between the
time when the regulatory requirements went into effect and the
time (still in the future) when the application will be
upgraded to provide a logging mechanism designed to address
the regulatory requirements. For example, a customer complaint
in July 2030 might lead to a request to recreate the Oracle
database as it existed at 15:37:32 EST on June 15, 2008.

We might possibly be able to meet this kind of request with
Oracle backups and transaction logs (which we are also planning
to retain for 25 years). We can't meet this kind of request with
Oracle exports or dumps to CSV files or other sort of periodic
snapshots of the database contents.

>Also read about Tin Whiskers.
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whisker_(metallurgy)

That sounds like exactly the sort of thing I was worried out;
a failure mechanism that is not necessarily slowed down by
the reduced temperatures and electric field strengths associated
with inactive storage, compared to operating conditions.