Now that the pitfalls of tape for archiving are becoming more evident, some organizations are considering disk as a storage medium for important archives. It is true that disk offers the advantage of easy access to information, compared to tape. But disk is not the ideal choice for long-term storage of fixed content. With an average shelf life of three years, disk does not offer permanence. Valuable records, archived for regulatory compliance purposes or historical analysis, need to be stored on a medium with a far longer lifespan. Also, vital data cannot run the risk of being overwritten or altered. In addition, while disks are declining in price, they are still exceedingly expensive. An organization may be able to cost-justify storing a few records on disk, but not a large and growing volume of archives.