QUESTION POSED ON: 02 April 2004 Will compliance spell the end of optical storage?
>
Not necessarily. Optical storage can be good for long-term archiving (off-line vaults), especially if you're saving data -- such as key documents and reports -- for more than 10 years. Optical media is probably more stable and readable over the years than tape media. The issue is technological obsolescence: do the drives and software still exist, that can read the data? This was a big problem with unique 14" and 5.25" WORM formats, but current CD-ROM formats are likely to be readable for many years, due to the format's use in consumer products.
At the logical level, saving data in standard formats like XML or PDF -- rather than proprietary database formats -- is another good approach for long-term archiving.
Ed note: If you would like to read additional compliance articles, opinions and expert advice, make sure to sign-up for our ALERTS on compliance. Click here to sign up. SearchStorage.com also offers alerts on low-cost storage.
Do you agree with this expert's response? If you have more to share, post it in one of our discussion forums.
Search and Browse the Expert Answer Center Search and browse more than 25,000 question and
answer pairs from more than 250 TechTarget industry experts.
TechTarget provides technology professionals with the information they need to perform their jobs - from developing strategy, to making cost-effective purchase decisions and managing their organizations' technology projects - with its network of technology-specific websites, events and online magazines.
