Do you burn CDs or DVDs?

EOS_JD · Jul 19, 2007

usayit said:
no one mentioned that CD-Rs typically have longer life than DVD-R media of similar quality.

For me... archival for backups is the upmost importance. As a result, I use CD-Rs (Gold). I use DVD-Rs only as a tertiary offsite backup.

If you want archival DVDs then DVD-RAM is the best option in my book. The problem is not every device reads or writes DVD-RAM but it is pretty reliable.

Still I'd not trust my data to a small shiny easily scratched and broken disk. Fine to take down tpo jessops to get prints but that would be it (in fact to get prints I'd probably copy to my flash card and use that now!

glaston · Jul 19, 2007

I'll 2nd what sabbath said.
I'll also add that I've had problems with people making CD's and DVD's incorrectly.
Somehow they manage to make a disc that has a buffer-underrun or wasn't properly closed.
Sometimes people don't know whether to close the session on the disc or leave it open so they leave it open as it sounds like a non destructive action to take when unsure.
Sometimes if the disc fails at the very end of the write it seems as if it worked because you can see it's contents on your own computer. But in any other reader the disc is no good.

usayit · Jul 19, 2007

EOS_JD said:
If you want archival DVDs then DVD-RAM is the best option in my book. The problem is not every device reads or writes DVD-RAM but it is pretty reliable.

The best I've seen is 30years. Archival CDRs are rated at 100years some go up to a supposedly 300years. My primary backup is on old fashioned magnetic tape.

smyth · Jul 21, 2007

usayit said:
The best I've seen is 30years. Archival CDRs are rated at 100years some go up to a supposedly 300years. My primary backup is on old fashioned magnetic tape.

not that 300 yr archival will matter.... I doubt in 300 or even 100 yrs CD drives will be around....

usayit · Jul 23, 2007

of course... its all relative...

Ultimately... I am a believer that my film will outlast my digital archive......

deanimator · Jul 23, 2007

DO NOT use DVDs for archival back-up.

If you are gonna use discs, the only discs worth considering are CDs...preferably made by Taio Yuden or Verbatim (but only those manufactured in Japan or Taiwan). The type of burner and burn speed also makes a big difference.
It´s a complex and controversial subject, and every expert has an opinion, but I belong to a forum where this is THE TOPIC...quality and longevity of media.

Take a look here...http://club.cdfreaks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33
Sign up and fire them your questions...they are VERY helpful and knowledgeable.

usayit · Jul 23, 2007

Well itsa about time.... for a second I started second guessing that I might be wrong stating that CD-Rs are more archival than DVD-Rs.

I've got a few DVDs that were burned a few years ago that are showing corrupted files but don't contain any data that I really cared for from the getgo...

EOS_JD · Jul 23, 2007

usayit said:
Well itsa about time.... for a second I started second guessing that I might be wrong stating that CD-Rs are more archival than DVD-Rs.

I've got a few DVDs that were burned a few years ago that are showing corrupted files but don't contain any data that I really cared for from the getgo...

Still can't understand why someone would want to archive say 400Gb of data to CDs and not multiple hard drives. Speed, capacity, desk space mean HDD is easily better. 2 x external HDD take up way less desk space than 10xCDs, is much quicker to archive and quicker to access.

To get 400Gb of capacity from CD you need about 650 CDs!!!!!! Where is the sense in that??

Look also at the new Drobo (storage robot) and the archive solution we've been looking for may be here.....

http://www.drobo.com/

usayit · Jul 24, 2007

Its a matter of what is more important to you...
Speed/capacity or archival quality

For backups that you want to last the years to come, I hardly believe speed/capacity is high priority.

If you are a business that archives data that approaches 1TB of disk space, its to the business' best interest to invest in a backup/recovery strategy that may or may not include a magnetic tape library of some sort.

deanimator · Jul 24, 2007

The average working life of a hard-drive is between 2 and 5 years.

CDs are also less than was once claimed.

Hard work it may be...but ONE 700MB CD lost after 3 years...and the rest re-backed-up...is better than discovering a 400Gb HD is dead!

However, the current recommendation is still CDs AND hard-drives. If you have the opportunity, also consider on-line services and magnetic drives.

Real alternatives are unfortunately still unknown...the industry is still "too young" !!!

One comment about film...it faded, was scratched or damaged, but it was always possible to obtain some sort of image...which could perhaps be digitally enhanced. Digital data, on the other hand, is more or less gone when it´s gone...little can be done to recover it!