Hi Anthony,

On 5/5/2016 9:07 PM, HerHusband wrote:
Yes. I was mentioning it as I have used many different media types
over the years (including 9T tape; having a spare transport was
a HUGE space consideration! : ). It's not enough for me to
have *a* way of accessing the media but also need a BACKUP way
as well! (e.g., my MO drives)

I try to migrate my old data to new technology just for that reason. I no

The operative word there is "try" : For me to do that (and to have DONE
that) consistently, I'd probably spend all of my time "moving data" around.

When I started, moving files electronically (e.g., "on line") wasn't
practical; you'd have to push a file over a phone line to some server
someplace, then have the other party pull it from that server (or,
one of you would have to MAINTAIN that server). At 19.2K -- even
50Kb/s -- that's just not practical for most things. Especially if
you're in different time zones (long distance charges).

[And, having to deal with a client who has their modem misconfigured
so the file arrives corrupted, etc.]

So, files typically got moved through the mail (overnight). And, on a
medium that the client could support. As my tastes in equipment
tended to be "upper shelf", I could either coerce clients into making
those purchases "to be compatible with me" -- or, buy some schlock
device that one of their guys convinced them to purchase so that
*I* could be compatible with *them*!

[Of course, this also meant using some bizarro piece of software that
they'd selected -- or, that came with the device. So, not only did I have
to support the hardware of their choice to transfer data, but, also,
the software AND OS needed to put the data on/off that device!]

Of course, having "coerced" me into buying the one device, they then
lost any influence on my chasing their future device experiments:
"Hey, we already settled on THIS device and THAT software; lets not
go changing things just because you've decided to try something new!"

But, that meant that I was now saddled with that device for the duration of
that project.

When the project is complete, what do I do? Invest the time to move all
of the data onto some better technology that I use? Then, have to worry
about moving it *back* to that original medium if they need some followup
work? (keep in mind, I support projects "indefinitely")

Easier to just archive the equipment, software, OS, etc. WITH the project!

And, hope that they "mature" before they want to start another project!

[I've got all sorts of bizarre tape media (DDS2, DDS3, DDS4, DLT, DLT III,
DLT IV, SDLT, Ultrium, Ultrium2, DAT72, 8mm, 9T, etc.); an assortment of
different "cartridge disks" (ZIP, ORB, 3" MO, 5" MO, MD, Syquest dogs, etc.);
floppies (3", 5", 8"); CD's & DVD's; PCMCIA/CF/SD/MMC/ cards (and their
smaller variants); along with "drives" to access each of them -- actually, I
recycled my last 9T so those are now orphans]

Even migrating from hard disks to BIGGER hard disks takes a fair bit of time!

In the past, I would (human nature) try to impose some order on the data.
So, try to put projects on the same medium. Or, in a common directory.
Then, sorted by client, etc. So, it was never a case of simply bulk copying
from one medium to a DENSER medium.

[Consider how long it takes to rip hundreds of CD's -- and, unless you've got
a big "changer", you're pretty much tethered to the "process" for the duration!
For a REAL chore, consider how long it takes to scan 35mm slides!! : Or,
*paper* records! Even with an ADF, you st there on pins and needles wondering
if a sheet will scan "crooked" (and need to be reprocessed)]

And, its not the sort of task that you can easily/reliably farm out:
"OK, I need you to take this 3480 tape cartridge and use Tommy's Super
Terrific Tape Backup Program, running on a DOS 3.3 machine with this
*particular* SCSI HBA (because ASPI didn't exist at that time) and copy
the data into a portion of the file system from which you can later
transfer it onto this new fangled DLT drive -- that isn't supported
under DOS 3.3! So, you'll have to figure out how to transfer those
files onto another machine that has a more modern SCSI HBA and suitable
software to talk to the newer drive. And, I need some reassurance that
you will do this CORRECTLY lest I LOSE this data in the process!"

Being able to electronically transfer files was a HUGE improvement
for me! I only had to deal with "media" for "final deliverables".

And, my new approach to "archive organization" frees me from the
natural tendency to want to organize things, hierarchically; I can
just put things anywhere and let the database tell me where they
are located! And, with a simple query, I can tell which files
have NO "backups" and take steps to replicate them elsewhere!

longer need my old floppy drives, zip drives, SCSI tape drives, VHS
players, Cassette players, DV camcorder, Super8 movie camera, or instamatic
cameras. The data, photos, video, and music have all been moved to modern
devices.

I've not even tried to scan my old photos. A week scanning ~50 year old 35mm
slides was grueling enough! ("Hmm... this slide is BACKWARDS! Uncle Fred
was LEFT handed!!")

I have probably 100 LPs "new" that I've carefully preserved that are awaiting
a few weeks of my time to transfer to digital media. The same is true of my
cassette library.

SWMBO often buys "lesson tapes" that aren't available on DVD. So, I keep
a VCR to copy those onto digital media. Of course, that also requires sitting
down and manually sorting out where to insert chapter markers (cuz tapes
don't have that concept!). And, of course, a nice, useful set of menus
to make it easier for her to find what she wants.

My technical library (dead tree edition) is simply impractical to digitize.
From time to time, I'll spend a day searching for electronic copies of
titles that would let me trim them from my bookshelves. But, often the
expense of re-buying the title is simply not worth the space I'll recover!

So, it becomes easier to just support the media that's already in place
rather than chasing the latest technology in the hope that it "saves"
something, in the end.

A friend has commented that data NEVER gets discarded. So, you have to
assume it will always grow -- to consume all of the (storage) space
available for it!

[Aside from client data, I really have no idea what I would WANT to
discard! And, even among the client data, there are probably many
things I'd like to retain just for reference: "How did I solve that
similar problem for XYZ, Inc?"]

If some new storage medium becomes popular in the future, I'll migrate my
data to that and get rid of my ancient blu-rays and USB drives.

The data is what's important, not the devices its stored on.

No, the *time* is important! The data may NEVER be needed! :-(
That's the calculus I have to make each time I try to migrate some
old data onto new media; how much time am I willing to put into this
on the CHANCE that I'll need it in the future?

Historically, I rarely have to go back to client projects after
delivery. I'm not the sort that gets drawn into endless "versions"
of a product. So, unless I made a mistake/bug somewhere -- OR, the
client "loses" the delivered copy -- I can usually just leave
the project on a copy of the delivered media, indefinitely.

I have, however, taken to chasing down PDF copies of data sheets and
databooks that I used for projects, burning these onto a CD and
removing the dead tree versions of those documents from my files.
This often lets me shrink a 6" thick folder down to 2" without
any loss of information!

My build causes a lot of my problems, since my back arches more than
most. Makes me look stupid when I walk too.
Don't let your knuckles drag on the ground!!

Nope, my back bends the other way, so I look like I'm doing a back bend
while I walk. Head and butt to the back, big stomach hanging out the front.

Hmmm... I can see that would make any sort of labor requiring bending
(forwards) tedious!