At ICPSR we've wrestled with this question over the past 3-4 years.  Here
is my take.

The pro for storing objects outside of a specific repository technology
(e.g., like a filesystem) is that it makes it easy to bring file management
tools to bear on problems, and to inject content into many disparate
storage architectures.  For example, we can use simple tools like md5sum
and rsync to check fixity and to move content, respectively.  And we can
move content from filesystem-type storage to other filesystems (we have a
copy at MATRIX @ MSU, for example), clouds (like DuraCloud or AWS S3
directly), or specialized storage platforms (like the SAFE Archive operated
by Data-PASS).

The con for storing objects outside of something like Fedora is that it
forces one to ensure that the proper preservation metadata exist, and are
stored in some reasonable fashion so that they can be accessed easily (say,
by fixity checkers) and are durable across changes in tech and policy.  If
one is using special-purpose preservation technology like Fedora, my sense
is that one gets this as part of the solution.

    -- bryan


On Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 10:54 AM, Schmidt, Lisa (lschmidt) <[log in to unmask]
> wrote:

> At the Michigan State University Archives, we are wrestling with the
> question of where to store digital objects/AIPs: within our Fedora
> repository, or externally.
>
> What are the pros and cons of each approach?
>
> We have external storage available on an IX Systems storage device, and
> have been planning to use it for archival storage of AIPs with pointers in
> the Fedora repository; it would be synched to a second IX storage device
> that would function as our dark archive. We want to do our due diligence,
> however, to ensure that this is the right approach.
>
> Thank you,
> Lisa
> ____________________________________________________
>
> Lisa M. Schmidt
> Electronic Records Archivist
> University Archives & Historical Collections
> 888 Wilson Road
> Room 101 , Conrad Hall
> Michigan State University
> East Lansing, MI  48824
>
> [log in to unmask]
> 1-517-884-6441
>
>
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