LTO5 Long Term Storage

[EdAinsworth]

Good Afternoon,

I wonder if you might be able to help me - I am a long time lurker, and Records Management Analyst in the Oil and Gas Industry and I am looking for any information related to the LTO5 long term storage capabilities.

One of my clients has recently asked if there are any established papers, or information, relating to the data retention and storage of LTO5 cartridges which can be reviewed or used for benchmarking. He believes that LTO5 cartridges are "the future" for Seismic Acquisition, but doesn't want to make any sweeping changes to his procedures and processes before reviewing all available literature.

I've spent a little while researching on Google Scholar and normal Google for anything, but haven't found anything specifically addressing my clients requirements.

As google failed, I thought I would ask the experts instead - is anyone aware of any literature available on LTo5 data storage/retention?

Many thanks,
Ed

 

[marclant]

I would believe the retention would be the same for most LTO formats, it's really the longevity of the medium rather than the actual format. I normally reference this Wikipedia when asked this question:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_Tape-Open#Tape_durability

If you look at the Specification section of Imation's LTO product page, they support the info from Wikipedia: https://www.imation.com/en/storage-media/lto-tape-media/

 

[EdAinsworth]

Thanks for your reply, I'll refer my client on to some of this information - if they haven't already looked.

I think the primary issue is that these tapes won't be used for just a simple backup, they're going to be the "Original" source of the data. The concern, I think, is that they're different to 3592, which is the current industry standard storage media. Now, we're at a point where the 3592 is too slow, or at least, this is what I am told, to keep up with the demands of writing the data, whereas the LTO5 is capable of dealing with the speed & volume.

I think, because it's an "untested" area within the industry, people are concerned about jumping with both feet, especially given the cost of some of this data, and the length of time it is expected to sit and do nothing in storage. As I understand it, 3592s are happy to sit for long periods of time, and then be rolled out, but LTO tapes require re-tensioning, or at least running through once every now and then, to ensure the best is gained from the media itself.