Diary of a Network Geek

The trials and tribulations of a Certified Novell Engineer who's been stranded in Houston, Texas.

10/20/2005

Digital Dark Age

Filed under: Advice from your Uncle Jim,Deep Thoughts,Geek Work,Things to Read — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Rooster which is in the early evening or 7:20 pm for you boring, normal people.
The moon is Waning Gibbous

This is common sense to anyone in the business.
Honest. When was the last time you tried to find a computer that used a floppy disk? Have you even touched a floppy in the past year? If so, I think you’re in the minority. But, the same is becomeing true for something that IT Professionals (ie. professional geeks) have most likely dealt with: backup tapes. I’ve lost count of how many different kinds of backup systems I’ve used over the years and you know, most of them only would read tapes from one or two generations back. I wonder how many businesses have their archival data stored on tapes that they can’t read anymore…
Anyway, this article on smh.com.au regarding a coming digital Dark Age might be news to some of my readers, so I post it anyway. And, it is something important to think about, especially when dealing with disaster recovery plans. Are your tapes so old that your hotsite can’t read them? Better check quick, because hurricane season isn’t over yet.


Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea."
   --Robert A. Heinlein


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