The information must be preserved

The essential question in archiving is not: how long will my CD last? But: what should I do so that the information on my CD will last longer than the CD? In fact, the lifetime of the carrier is of economic importance. In other words, what is the cost if I have to change carriers regularly to keep the information? Thus, the longevity of the carrier is of course important, but not for the durability of the information.

How long will it last?

We know the question about our systems: how long will it last? So the smiling answer is: the system is made to last indefinitely. Even if a component breaks, the information is still preserved and lasts forever if desired. It is also important to store the data in such a way that it can be converted to another carrier or format in time.

Keep checking

So: keep checking if the information can be accessed. And duplicate storage, in case one medium fails. Plus keep checking if the information is still good. If something happens, the information should be recoverable. That should be noted. For example, you should check a CD once a year or six months, but a hard drive much more often. And then I do mention the Silent Cubes, which are permanently monitored. Duly noted.