1 Designing Storage Architectures Meeting September 17-18, 2007 Washington, DC Robert M. Raymond Tape Drive Engineering Storage Group Sun Microsystems

2 Question 2 2. What hardware technology are you least concerned about for preservation archives in terms of reliability of the bits, and why. > Tape >Most of the digital archive data is on tape -> good track record. >There are still some customers with 3420s and 4480s out there, technology yrs old >Many independent studies done to predict archive life – years – Manufacturers typically recommend 30 years maximum – Possible failure mechanisms ● Particle corrosion ● Binder and substrate aging ● Magnetic thermal stability >Consider technology refresh every 8 to11 years due to equipment obsolescence – Tape has high data rate for more efficient media conversion to next technology – Virtual tape solutions can help in migration to new technologies

3 Question 3 3. What hardware technology being developed in 1, 2, or 5 years would either increase or reduce the concern about the reliability of the bits (defined as: the bits "in" will be the same as the bits "out") and why. > Holographic storage would increase the concern about data archive reliability because it is new and unknown. – Difficult technical problems -> Long 40 year development history with no major commercial products yet. – Promising archive life but no field history on media archival reliability, so real failure mechanisms are unknown. – Is roadmap compelling enough when compared to current archive technologies? Will it really become mainstream or just niche market?

4 Discussion Topics 1. What hardware standards and/or hardware technologies can now apply (and will apply in the near future) to digital preservation in terms of: Magnetic Tape > a. Costs of long-term storage, including media and facilities Tape Media is lowest cost GB technology suitable for archive. Need to include floor space and environmental control costs for long term storage. > b. Reliabilty of media and other components Long history of reliable use > c. Migration to new technologies Fast data rate for more efficent migration > d. Security Encryption available 2. What hardware technologies if any have the potential in the 2012 timeframe to change current methods and techniques of digital preservation? Unknown 3. What is the one thing that would be most useful to get from software that could support the items in Topic #1? Background migration to newer technologies every 8-11 years

5 Access vs Power /CO 2

6 What about throughput?

7 Tape Roadmap

8 Thank You!

9 ‘The Growing Importance of Archive”, R. Abraham, May 2006, The total installed base of all archived computer data is EB, or 79.5% of all stored data. The projected CAGR of the installed base of all stored computer capacity is 49% through % of all archived data reside on tape media. May 2006 Where’s the world’s archived data stored?

10 Tape Archive Life Studies (MP media) “Tape Technology 2000 the exciting future of magnetic tape”, James Goins, THIC Oct MP1 media years archive life “Media stability and life expectancies of magnetic tape for use with IBM 3590 and digital linear tape systems”, Judge, J.S.; Schmidt, R.G.; Weiss, R.D.; Miller, G.; Mass Storage Storage Systems and Technologies, (MSST 2003). Proceedings, 20th IEEE/11th NASA Goddard Conference Mass Storage pp , April > MP media years archive life “Longevity of high density magnetic media”, Vivek Navale, National Archives and Records Administration, THIC > MP media years archive life “Magnetic Tape Storage and Handling; A Guide for Libraries and Archives", John W. C. Van Bogart, The Commission on Preservation and Access and National Media Laboratory, June > Media years archive life “An investigation of the archivability of metal particle tape”, Sides, P.J.; Spratt, G.; Kampf, J.P.; IEEE Trans. Mag. Vol. 30, Issue 6, Part 1-2, pp,4059 – 4064, Nov > MP corrosion resistance as good or better than Chromium Dioxide tape

11 Tape Archive Environmental Requirements The National Bureau of Standards publication, Care and Handling of Computer Magnetic Storage Media, June 1983: recommends that magnetic tape be stored at 65 +/- 3 degrees Fahrenheit and 40% +/- 5% Relative Humidity.

12 Proposed Holographic roadmap in black 1 Tape in Red 2 year Capacity (GB) Holographic/Tape Data Rate (MB/sec) Holographic/Tape Holographic media Tape media / 50020/120 WORM Re-writable & WORM / />120 WORM Re-writable & WORM / />120 re-writable Re-writable & WORM / />200 WORM Re-writable & WORM / />200 re-writable Re-writable & WORM 1 INSIC 2006 International Optical Data Storage Roadmap 2 INSIC 2005 Tape Roadmap