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Transfer of data to new carriers on a regular basis.

Storage systems rely on


safe and complete replication of data, rather than enduring carriers, for data
protection. Data must be copied from carrier to carrier to avoid the impact of
carrier deterioration. As new kinds of carriers prove their usefulness in storage
systems, data is transferred from older kinds of carriers. This must happen
before any hardware or software required to retrieve the data are discarded.

Planning for data transfers is a management challenge, whatever the system


used. For example, a small, low use archive storing data on shelved CDs, must
keep track of the age and condition of the CDs as well as signs that CD
technology will have to be replaced. More sophisticated mass storage systems
generally automate decisions about regular transfer of data between carriers,
but managers still need to decide when carriers should be replaced with new
media, and when underlying technology has been superseded.
Appropriate storage and handling conditions for carriers. Digital data carriers
must be stored in conditions that do not accelerate their rate of deterioration.

The main risks for data carriers are excessive temperature and humidity which
endanger the carrier; dust or other particulates which may obscure access to
the data; and in the case of optically encoded material, light, which may
damage the optically inscribed data. Modern data tapes are of such a high
coercivity, that accidental erasure by a magnetic field does not constitute a
major risk.

Magnetic data tapes may be integrated into a digital storage system. Typically
this would be housed in a clean computer room with controlled temperature
and relatively humidity set at 18C, and 40% RH, a continuous influx of clean,
dust-free air, with daily cleaning to prevent contamination. The conditions
would fluctuate no more than 2C and 10% RH in any given 24 hour period.

Magnetic data tapes stored for optimum carrier life (away from the computer
room environment) should be stored under more stringent conditions, at a
temperature between 18C and 10C, with a daily tolerance of no more than
1C, and between 30 and 40% RH with a tolerance of no more than 3%RH.

Optical carriers, such as CD-Recordable, should be stored under similar


conditions, in a darkened environment due to their sensitivity to light.

There are suggestions that very low temperatures (approaching or lower than
0C), may be detrimental to the life expectancy of certain carriers, however,
this has not been proven.
Redundancy and backup regimes. The importance of redundancy and backup
regimes cannot be overemphasised: they are fundamental to all digital
preservation programmes as a basic insurance against damage or loss to any
single copy.

While storing multiple copies of the same data does offer some protection

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