Posted on 05/01/2014 3:05:50 PM PDT by MNDude
Once upon a time, the best way for you to back up the entirety of your computer’s data was to use the medium that was once the best way to listen to music: magnetic tape. Writable optical media, cheap hard drives, and cloud storage eventually became the consumer norm, but tape drives still hung around as one of the best options for mass data backup. Sony has developed a new technology that pushes tape drives far beyond where they once were, leading to individual tapes with 185 terabytes of storage capacity.
Back in 2010, the standing record for how much data magnetic tape could store was 29.5GB per square inch. To compare, a standard dual-layer Blu-ray disc can hold 25GB per layer — this is why big budget, current-gen video games can clock in at around 40 or 50GB.
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Up to 170 MB for a 2400 foot tape. I remember lugging those things around with my tape box capable of holding 6 reels. Now you can have almost a thousand tapes of data on a thumb drive.
Speed of restore from tape to Disk storage has to be considered, as well as having 40 different backups on one tape drive ........ and needing 2 or more at the same time.
Tape is sequential.
How many punched cards on a MFCM is that?
I would hope that there is a WORM version for electronic records.
I know where there are some Enver Hoxha posters that are still legible after 45 years stuck to lamp posts and exposed to Upstate New York winters.
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