RE: Lois Lerner's emails.
June 17, 2014 at 3:02 pm
(This post was last modified: June 17, 2014 at 3:03 pm by Jackalope.)
(June 17, 2014 at 2:42 pm)Minimalist Wrote:(June 17, 2014 at 1:08 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote: Show me a technology for reliable intermediate-term storage of high-volume archival data that isn't tape, which can come close to being as economical.
Tape is still widely used.
As I said, I've been retired for 10 years and long before I left I saw a presentation about replacing the tape system - which is old and slow and very expensive - with a large compact disk system. The presentation was very professional but, of course, they never got the money to implement it.
So the plan was to replace something old, slow and expensive, with something new, slow, and expensive. Interesting plan.
Ten years ago, optical may have actually been a viable option - barring any nonsense like proprietary formats, etc. Today your options are basically archiving to disk (fast, but by comparison insanely expensive if you're maintaining multiple archival copies and backup sets), or tape (actually, lots of tapes, and in an operation the size of IRS, a robotic system).
(June 17, 2014 at 2:42 pm)Minimalist Wrote: The note I saw yesterday mentioned that the tapes had been re-cycled as a cost control measure. It seems that until the witch hunt erupted the policy had been to retain 6 months of backed-up emails on tape and then recycle the tapes.
That's typical - define some length of time for data retention, do periodic full snapshots and archive them offsite, and once an archive "expires", you put the tape back in the rotation. This is in addition to regular full and incremental backups which get routinely re-used (and replaced as they age).
(June 17, 2014 at 2:42 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Yes, its Microsoft Outlook but it is buried behind layers of security software and it is this software (encryption shit) and multiple passwords which breaks down constantly and causes all the problems.
I can imagine.
(June 17, 2014 at 2:42 pm)Minimalist Wrote: The note, btw, was propaganda for the work force which the IRS incorrectly assumes gives a rats ass about management issues.
True story: In the Spring of 2001 the IRS fully implemented a computerized system for its Revenue Officers (tax collectors) in the North East. All paper records were done away with and they patted themselves on the back for creating a system which took at least twice as long to do something as the old way.
Job security and saved paper! Win/win.
(June 17, 2014 at 2:42 pm)Minimalist Wrote: They never fucking learn.
Amen.
