[ale] Backup large files to span DVDs

[Alex Carver]

On 2015-10-28 11:24, James Sumners wrote:
> On Wed, Oct 28, 2015 at 2:07 PM, Alex Carver <agcarver+ale at acarver.net>
> wrote:
> 
>> Parchive is not currently on the approved list of utilities.  I can only
>> use very well known utilities and methods that have a high degree of
>> longevity in terms of support or understanding.  Things like tar and cat
>> are very well understood, have been around for decades and are not
>> likely to go anywhere for a long time.  Parchive hasn't been around as
>> long and the specification and implementation is still changing.
>>
> 
> I'm not clear on your understanding of how Parchive works and what it is
> for. It's merely for verifying the integrity of data, and repairing said
> data if there is corruption. It is not an archive file format ala tar, zip,
> et alii.
> 
> As for longevity, Parchive is nothing more than an application of
> Reed-Solomon coding. The algorithm isn't new, and it is used pretty much
> everywhere[1].
> 
> [1] -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed–Solomon_error_correction


I understand that it's not a file format itself but it does require an
additional utility to implement the method (the parchive client) and
that's what I'm not allowed to use.  Generating the parity files would
just be a waste of time in this case because I would not be able to get
the utility approved.  The current approved method for corruption
mitigation is multiple media types and duplicate copies (e.g. a magnetic
copy, an optical copy, a hard copy for things that can be printed, etc.)

I'll certainly consider it for my personal data storage because it looks
like a good thing to have, but I just can't do it at work.  This is why
there are ten hard drives, many spindles of disc blanks, and lots of
binders at my desk.