Let Them Eat Tape: Multi-Decade Information Storage Problems
Blocks&Files, Wednesday, May 29th, 2024
Customers are sometimes faced with costly and sometimes unexpected permanent withdrawal fees when ending digital tape cartridge vaulting contracts. What lessons should be learned from this and how should organizations deal with multi-decade information retention?
For companies wanting to store physical media for long periods, Iron Mountain, for example, has long provided physical storage of boxed paper records in its vaults, initially inside the deep excavated caverns of an old iron ore mine, and subsequently in storage vault buildings around the globe.
Organizations with overflowing filed paper archives can send them offsite to Iron Mountain facilities for long-term storage, paying a yearly fee for the privilege. Extending this to storage of digital tape cartridges was a natural step for Iron Mountain.