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Will your digital media last forever?

CDs-CD-ROM-compact-disk

(Transcript) Even in this digital age, many people fail to realize that computer media are not permanent. Things like CD-ROMs, tape backups, and microfilm last only about five to eight years if they are not stored in the proper environmental conditions, and right now companies are legally obligated to keep their records for much longer than that. Having your digital records fade to an unusable condition in only a few years surely will damage, if not destroy, the health and vitality of your business. Based on recent courtroom decisions, such loss of records can result in devastating, long-term legal problems as well. It is often difficult, if not impossible, and certainly cost-prohibitive, to restore damaged digital media to usable condition.

During a fire, concrete vaults fill with steam and reach boiling temperatures and dangerous humidity levels in a short time. Paper may withstand those extremes, but digital media is damaged at temperatures greater than 125° and relative humidity above 80%. With 93% of all data committed to digital form and only 30% printed on paper, proper protection is mandatory for continued data integrity.

It has been shown that digital media stored within a FIRELOCK® fireproof modular vault will last up to three times longer than using other methods. Without protection, CD-ROMs, tapes, and microfilm may last only five to eight years.

With a FIRELOCK® vault, you invest in the highest-performing vault on the market today to ensure the protection of your most vital records and irreplaceable items. You gain the ability to store microfilm, computer media, file servers, and paper in one location, and the peace of mind that comes from knowing that all the environmental and fire protection elements are in place.

FIRELOCK® provides these articles for information purposes only. We do not necessarily provide all products and services mentioned; they are for comparison purposes only. Always contact a professional about non-FIRELOCK® products and services mentioned. 

About FIRELOCK®

Since 1982, FIRELOCK® has been the world’s leading manufacturer of media-rated modular vault chambers. Unlike poured-in-place concrete vaults, FIRELOCK® vaults are constructed from individual panels, filled with a heat-resistant ceramic material, and they are lightweight, movable, and expandable. When combined with current high-density storage systems,

FIRELOCK® vaults offer extremely high space efficiency at a considerable cost advantage per cubic foot of storage. The value of assets stored in FIRELOCK® vaults today reaches hundreds of billions of dollars and ranges from priceless animation cells and World Wrestling Entertainment videos to pharmaceutical research records and U.S. Department of Education student loan information.

With a FIRELOCK® vault, you invest in the highest-performing vault on the market today to ensure the protection of your most vital records and irreplaceable items. You gain the ability to store microfilm, computer media, file servers, and paper in one location, as well as the peace of mind that comes from knowing that all the environmental- and fire-protection elements are in place.

FIRELOCK® has been in business since 1982, and we have installed over 2000 vaults around the world. Because of this broad experience, we know how to build a vault that will provide you with maximum protection today and the flexibility to grow with you into the future.