Bruce Lane <kyrrin2@wizards.net> wrote to me instead of port-vax:
> I'll be darned... the only 40's I have are the proprietary interface...
   In what form have you got them, as internal devices (what form-factor?)
or in external boxes? Have you got the adapter boards? As I have said in my
previous posting, I'm pretty sure that the drive itself has that
proprietary interface, but a special adapter board (which is external to
the drive itself, usually mounted on its top) makes it SCSI. This is just
like TK50: the internal drive has the funny 26-pin interface, but when it's
in a special external box an adapter board makes it SCSI and calls it
"TK50Z". I guess that you haven't read my previous posting carefully
enough, and I suggest that you go back and re-read it.
> [...] I bought a good CD-ROM
> burner for the express purpose of long-term archiving of the contents of
> RX50 floppies and similar media that's comparatively short-lived.
   I agree 100% about RX50 floppies, but what about Exabyte 8mm tapes?
> By using Teledisk, I can convert the contents of any floppy, in an exact
> digital image of the original, to a compressed archive file. This file
> may then be stored on any medium (in my case, CD-R). Teledisk can then
> recreate an exact copy of the original floppy, from this file, at any
> point down the road.
   Actually I have written my own gadgets for creating and restoring sector
images of floppy disks. One's own software is _ALWAYS_ better than anyone
else's, don't you agree?
> Since optical media has a much higher archival survival rate than
> floppies, I opted for CD-R for my long-term archive. This does not mean
> I'm against tape or other mediums. I simply want to preserve the material
> that's hardest to get in the most long-term manner possible.
   I agree 100% with your idea, I'm simply not sure that CD-ROMs are more
reliable than Exabyte 8mm tapes. But if they really are, I'll definitely
consider using a CD writer too. Note the "too". I plan to use _REALLY_
serious backup procedures: make several copies, keep them both at home and
in my office, maybe even send a copy to my relatives in Russia, etc.
Keeping copies on both tapes and CDs may be a good idea.
   
   Sincerely,
   Michael Sokolov
   Phone: 440-449-0299
   ARPA Internet SMTP mail: sokolov@alpha.ces.cwru.edu