Manie Verster (3/28/2009)
Excuse me if I sound dumb (not quite my subject this) but would you want to keep a backup tape until it bleeds. I would think that when you want to restore a backup from tapethat you would use the newest one and make sure that you replace your old tapes with new ones regularly. I don't know how long these things last but I am sure the people actually using these things knows about that. I am sure that your idea if 16mm film will also work but can't really comment on that. The most important thing is, however you do it, take your backups offline.
Right. The point is that you do good backup, you test them, and keep them safe off-site. (It is one point.)
To your question backups have more than one use. Rapid recovery from disaster is one of them. Establishing a reference point in time for historical purposes is another. There are certain mandates for keeping records for a fixed period in time. Electronic records are now a part of many of those mandates. Hence my tirades of the long term storage of magnetic media.
As far as my 16mm film thing, I was mostly preparing for Wednesday. I have, of course, filed an "in case" process. Kind of like the 6 or more people that already have patents around the world for Interstellar Drive Systems. No joke. You can check the patent databases.
ATBCharles Kincaid