[ale] Backup large files to span DVDs

Alex Carver agcarver+ale at acarver.net
Thu Oct 29 09:02:01 EDT 2015


That's all consistent with my own experiences, too.  But in accelerated
lifetime testing there's a significant variance in lifetime probably
owing to production quality and defects between and within manufacturers
and maybe even, to a lesser extent, on the burn quality from the drives
themselves.

The current opinion is that they're not reliable enough on a consistent
basis for long term (>50 year) archiving of data.

On 2015-10-29 04:13, Jim Kinney wrote:
> +1
> 
> I have CDs I burned 15+ years ago that are perfectly fine. They are stored in cool temps and away from UV light. I have a cd burned a year ago that sat near a window and is unreadable. It was a temp need so nothing was lost. Storage of burned optical media is the key to their longevity once the media quality is stable.
> 
> On October 29, 2015 3:29:13 AM EDT, Steve Litt <slitt at troubleshooters.com> wrote:
>> On Wed, 28 Oct 2015 22:09:32 -0700
>> Alex Carver <agcarver+ale at acarver.net> wrote:
>>
>>> On 2015-10-28 20:53, Ken Cochran wrote:
>>>> Given the long-term lack of life expectancy of DVD & Blu-Ray
>>>> recordable media, what about M-Disk?  Any experience(s)?
>>>> Good?  Bad?  Middlin'?  How does CD-R hold up over time?
>>>> Anything "good" in those?  Thanks, -kc
>>>
>>> I believe M-Disk is one of the technologies being evaluated by the
>>> Library of Congress.
>>>
>>> CD-R (aluminum layer) decays, too, if the lamination between the two
>>> halves opens up and exposes the layer to air.  Dye based CD-Rs decay
>>> in a short period of time, too.
>>
>> The repeated talk of quick CD/DVD decay just doesn't match my
>> experience. See this:
>>
>> http://troubleshooters.com/lpm/201408/201408.htm#he_who_laughs_last
>>
>> I've stored my backups as tarballs (and earlier as .zips) on optical
>> media since before the turn of the century, and I don't remember any
>> case of a CD or DVD backup that tested right on backup, and didn't test
>> right years later.
>>
>> All I do is keep the backups in a wooden rolltop box on a shelf. 
>>
>> SteveT
>>
>> Steve Litt 
>> October 2015 featured book: Thriving in Tough Times
>> http://www.troubleshooters.com/thrive
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> 
> 
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