That RDX-150 looks a handy gadget - it's even got optical in and out. Now if it had co-ax as well...

;o)


MAM-A gold discs sound (ouch!) like a reasonably safe bet... though how someone can say something is good for 300 years has to be viewed with a little scepticism!! Scientists aren't normally wrong, though, are they...?!!

Hard drives were never meant to be put into storage - the lubrication goes sticky and they seize up. Probably why manufacturers put a limited warranty on them as far as resellers are concerned - if sold outside of that warranty, it's the reseller who has to replace a failed drive, not the manufacturer.

They are at their best if left running all the time (hard drives!), so they reach their optimum temperature. Stopping and starting is bad for most electro-mechanical devices; they usually fail when you switch them on, rather than during use.

Fairly regular transfer to another disk of things that matter should avoid most disasters!

We had a server at work with two 18Gb drives in a mirrored array. I installed it in 2000 running Server 2000 SBS and Exchange Server, and it ran until April this year without a hiccup from either drive. We also had a DAT backup drive, but that eventually failed and had to be replaced after four years - it was used five nights per week, every week of the year, so it lasted well.

There was nothing wrong with the server when I de-commissioned it, we simply took the precaution of upgrading it to a better machine with 2003 Server, etc. as the entire company depends upon it for the Hire programme, accounts, documents and email.