One of my biggest concerns is how to preserve my analog and digital assets (memories) so they can be reproduced in the future. I have hundreds of vhs and dv tapes with content that would be impossible for me to recreate or replace. I’m afraid that some of those vhs tapes have already passed their shelf life. I am holding on to 2 vhs-vcrs and 1 dv camcorder (the last one was purchased for playback exclusively) hoping to find the best backup solution. I’ve been searching and reading information about all the options out there. I realize that the problem I have with my tapes is the same one most of the people (consumers and professionals) face today with the tape-less recording media. For the purpose of this conversation I prefer to call it “file-based” instead of tape-less, because some of the best solutions out there are “tape-based”. I work as a Broadcast Op Tech for the Discovery Channel – Latin America. Last year we moved to a “file-based” workflow. The Digital Betacam Library was replaced by LTO-4 tapes with only a few exceptions. The core of the system is a Spectra Logic robotic cart with 5 LTO-4 drives. Just like Discovery, NatGeo and other industry big names trust LTO tapes to archive and backup their precious content. Unfortunately those solutions are out of the league of most independent filmmakers, videographers and individuals.
A lot have been said about the merits of one solution over the others. LTO versus hard drives versus solid state media versus optical disks versus holographic cards. I would like this conversation to be objective and limited to the technology available today. Many are going to say that hard drives are so cheap these days that only a “moron” would even consider buying a LTO solution. Also, that tape is so last century, it is not even a worthy option. Personally, I think LTO-4 and LTO-5 are the best solution for long-term (30 – 50 years) storage. The only problem is the price and the fact that they are still tape. The price per Gigabyte of the media is very affordable but the drives are still expensive for individuals; and some solutions like the Cahe-A may sound overpriced. I used to hate tape, because of its fragility more than anything else (many tape eaten by the vtr), but not all tape media is created the same. Based on my no scientific research, my conclusion on the current state of the Archiving/Backup workflow is that at the high-end, LTO is the leader, while DVD, Blu-Ray and Hard Drives are preferred at the low end, mostly because of economic reasons. Currently there are three or four companies shipping or working on more affordable solutions, these are: HP for the hardware, Tolis Group and Xendata for the software (these two offer bundles: software and hardware) and in a different category, Cache-A with their LTO based network appliances. Each of these companies offers a different approach on their solutions, but at the end of the day, they compete for the same market.
I would like to know your opinions on this matter. Representatives from the companies mentioned above (or other competitors) are welcome to join this conversation and tell us about what they have done lately to serve this market (middle-low end). There is an article on this topic that helped me have a better understanding of the subject. You can read it at http://www.studiodaily.com/main/technology/pvr/LTO4-Tape-Archiving-on-the-Mac_11294.html
A lot have been said about the merits of one solution over the others. LTO versus hard drives versus solid state media versus optical disks versus holographic cards. I would like this conversation to be objective and limited to the technology available today. Many are going to say that hard drives are so cheap these days that only a “moron” would even consider buying a LTO solution. Also, that tape is so last century, it is not even a worthy option. Personally, I think LTO-4 and LTO-5 are the best solution for long-term (30 – 50 years) storage. The only problem is the price and the fact that they are still tape. The price per Gigabyte of the media is very affordable but the drives are still expensive for individuals; and some solutions like the Cahe-A may sound overpriced. I used to hate tape, because of its fragility more than anything else (many tape eaten by the vtr), but not all tape media is created the same. Based on my no scientific research, my conclusion on the current state of the Archiving/Backup workflow is that at the high-end, LTO is the leader, while DVD, Blu-Ray and Hard Drives are preferred at the low end, mostly because of economic reasons. Currently there are three or four companies shipping or working on more affordable solutions, these are: HP for the hardware, Tolis Group and Xendata for the software (these two offer bundles: software and hardware) and in a different category, Cache-A with their LTO based network appliances. Each of these companies offers a different approach on their solutions, but at the end of the day, they compete for the same market.
I would like to know your opinions on this matter. Representatives from the companies mentioned above (or other competitors) are welcome to join this conversation and tell us about what they have done lately to serve this market (middle-low end). There is an article on this topic that helped me have a better understanding of the subject. You can read it at http://www.studiodaily.com/main/technology/pvr/LTO4-Tape-Archiving-on-the-Mac_11294.html