Subject: QIC Tape Lifetimes? was: Saving 100GB of data for 15 years cheaply

From: grunes at news.nrl.navy.mil (Mitchell R Grunes)
Date: 9 Aug 1995 14:13:18 GMT

As long as we are on the subject of tape lifetimes, what is the lifetime
of QIC family tapes, such as the ones rated at (compressed) capacities
of 250 MB, 350 MB, and 700 MB?

Also, does one extend the # of uses (usually rated at 3-5 back-ups, due
to the large number of passes required to handle multiple tracks with
one head) of these tapes if they are commercially pre-formatted? 
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  Opinions are mine alone.
  I am not a "Real Programmer".  I only program in the Real World.
  Mitchell R Grunes (grunes at nrlvax.nrl.navy.mil)
  AlliedSignal Technical Services Corp.

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From: mark at sdd.hp.com (Mark Overton)
Date: 9 Aug 1995 20:45:57 GMT

> one head) of these tapes if they are commercially pre-formatted? 

Only 3-5 backups?!

I asked a Colorado tech support person about this, who said that a tape
will last a year if used (weekly or daily or in rotation, I forget).

Our tapes are lasting a year, being used twice a week (ie, around
100 backups).

- Mark

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Mark Overton,  Hewlett-Packard (San Diego Division),  mark at sdd.hp.com
"A hundred thousand lemmings can't be wrong." ... Unknown