Massive DASD

With the upcoming ASCII conversion, one has to start thinking about how to handle the growth of the database. Firstly, there must be enough disk space to accommodate the growth. Next, backup windows don't magically get larger just because the database does. Lastly, there also needs to be disks aplenty to handle the copies of the database. This last consideration is the juggernaut.

What does one do?

There are 3rd party software solutions for copies. These products either make copies smaller or create smaller copies. Both work well enough depending on a companies needs. However, cost may be a stopping point.

How can one justify a software purchase to offset disk costs when buying the disk is cheaper than the software itself?

As technology advances and gazillion byte hard drives come to market will it really matter if a database is several gazillion bytes? But what about backups!?!?! There's been no lag of tape drive technology. It's fast, large and always getting faster.

The kicker comes in when you get to math. More disk space can be acquired each year for less and less dollars. The maintenance on the software remains constant (and can even go up). Looking at some bids one can calculate that for maintenance of the 3rd party solution 7 years worth of database growth can be purchased in hard drive space. Have fun taking that to management =)