Tape storage at DVinfo.net

Martyn Hull · August 10th, 2009, 07:05 AM

As i am getting on with the process of storing my mini dv tapes on to external drives the concern of how secure they are is of a little concern, i have started with a 1TB drive which will hold around half my 140 mini dv tapes i think, in retrospect 4 500gb drives may have been the way to go as no one knows how long hard drives last but as i have already stored 20 tapes thats that,20 of my 50 edited hdv tapes are stored on a separate drive, i just wondered if others share my concerns regarding video storage.

Ervin Farkas · August 10th, 2009, 12:21 PM

For my really important videos I use a 2TB Western Digital drive in RAID1. Should one drive fail, I replace it and loose nothing... of course even RAIDs can fail but there is a lot less chance for that (I heard of RAID controllers failing and messing up the data on both drives).

An even better solution is to mirror your data onto another drive and keep the two drives in two separate places

Martyn Hull · August 11th, 2009, 12:52 AM

Yes in retrospect i should have gone that way, thanks for the input.

Jim Andrada · August 11th, 2009, 01:36 AM

I think you should also keep the tapes - they'll probably outlast the hard disk copies

Martyn Hull · August 11th, 2009, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Andrada

I think you should also keep the tapes - they'll probably outlast the hard disk copies

No worries Jim i will ,touch wood not one of my tapes [vhs,vhsc, svhs, svhsc, video 8 or dv- hdv has failed yet.

Dean Sensui · August 12th, 2009, 07:34 PM

My Hi8 tapes have outlasted the deck.

Stanley Law · August 28th, 2009, 01:58 AM

If you're really in it for the long haul, keep your copies in separate locations. preferrably at two places that you know are secure, dry, and cool.

also keep devices able to read the media as well.

Who knows how long miniDV or even miniDV HD is going to last as a format.

Hard drives are great for their capacity, but only tape can handle shock without any care.

August 10th, 2009, 07:05 AM	#1
Martyn Hull Major Player Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: England Posts: 444	Tape storage As i am getting on with the process of storing my mini dv tapes on to external drives the concern of how secure they are is of a little concern, i have started with a 1TB drive which will hold around half my 140 mini dv tapes i think, in retrospect 4 500gb drives may have been the way to go as no one knows how long hard drives last but as i have already stored 20 tapes thats that,20 of my 50 edited hdv tapes are stored on a separate drive, i just wondered if others share my concerns regarding video storage.

August 10th, 2009, 12:21 PM	#2
Ervin Farkas Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Atlanta/USA Posts: 2,515	For my really important videos I use a 2TB Western Digital drive in RAID1. Should one drive fail, I replace it and loose nothing... of course even RAIDs can fail but there is a lot less chance for that (I heard of RAID controllers failing and messing up the data on both drives). An even better solution is to mirror your data onto another drive and keep the two drives in two separate places __________________ Ervin Farkas www.AtlantaLegalVideo.com

August 12th, 2009, 07:34 PM	#6
Dean Sensui Inner Circle Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 2,054	My Hi8 tapes have outlasted the deck. __________________ Dean Sensui Exec Producer, Hawaii Goes Fishing

August 11th, 2009, 12:52 AM	#3
Martyn Hull Major Player Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: England Posts: 444	Yes in retrospect i should have gone that way, thanks for the input.

August 11th, 2009, 01:36 AM	#4
Jim Andrada Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Tucson AZ Posts: 2,211	I think you should also keep the tapes - they'll probably outlast the hard disk copies

August 28th, 2009, 01:58 AM	#7
Stanley Law Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Milpitas, California Posts: 42	If you're really in it for the long haul, keep your copies in separate locations. preferrably at two places that you know are secure, dry, and cool. also keep devices able to read the media as well. Who knows how long miniDV or even miniDV HD is going to last as a format. Hard drives are great for their capacity, but only tape can handle shock without any care.