Better way to archive data than DVD -+R/W ?

[horizon_grazer]

Read up on a article yesterday, state that DVD-RAM is a better technology to archive ur data/photos
than DVD -R/RW +R/W coz it uses a different technology.

How truth is this statement?

 

[ExplorerZ]

Read up on a article yesterday, state that DVD-RAM is a better technology to archive ur data/photos
than DVD -R/RW +R/W coz it uses a different technology.

How truth is this statement?

not very sure, but dvd-ram cost much much more... the last time i saw a 4.7gb dvd-ram is about $13 while dvd-/+rw is only about $2. :dunno:

 

[madscientist]

Hi,

RAM is different from R/W in the sense that R/W is recorded in a contineous stream while RAM is recorded like your harddisk, data is scattered everywhere. This makes RAM easier to modify. Other than that, I see no difference. RAM is much more expensive than R/W. So it's better to stick to R/W to save costs. Anyhow, for me, archiving usually does not require any modification after recording.

Personally, I would wait for Blu-Ray units to get as cheap as DVDs, 25GB of data in a disc! Oh my...

 

[diediealsomustdive]

I was told that DVD-RAM uses different technology, like magneto opto, rather than changing dye colours. Should be more stable, plus the casing construct makes it less subsceptible to damage.

Personally, I would wait for Blu-Ray units to get as cheap as DVDs, 25GB of data in a disc! Oh my...

When 1 disc crashes, 25GB goes.

I use both harddisk and DVD-R. 2 copies each. DVD-R would be recopied every 3 years, same with my harddisk, onto newer, cheaper disks. Blue Ray if they get cheap enough.

Oh, 2 copies of DVD-R from different brands. Avoiding "common mode failure", i.e. one fail, all in same batch likely to fail also.

 

[horizon_grazer]

I was told that DVD-RAM uses different technology, like magneto opto, rather than changing dye colours. Should be more stable, plus the casing construct makes it less subsceptible to damage.

Bro, I also have the misconception after reading the Digital Life article, however

It is a common misconception that DVD-RAM uses magneto-optical (MO) technologies: DVD-RAM is a pure phase change medium, similar to CD-RW or DVD-RW.

However DVD-RAM is still more secure than DVD +- R/W technology, refer to advantages below

1. Long life — without physical damage, data is retained for 30 years minimum. However it is suspected that this is just a theoretical claim without firm proof.
2. Can be rewritten over 100,000 times (DVD±RW can be rewritten approx. 1,000 times). Faster DVD-RAMs support fewer rewrites (3x speed: 100,000, 5x speed: 10,000) , but still more than DVD±RW. (Remember, these are theoretical numbers. In practice they could be smaller depending on the drive, the treatment of the disc and the file system.)
3. Reliable writing of discs. Verification done in hardware by the drive, so post-write verification by software is unnecessary.
4. Disc defect management safeguards data.
5. Write speed twice as fast (when verification not enabled) as DVD+-RW (Note: 12x DVD-RAM spec = 16 DVD-+RW spec. As of 7/24/06, DVD+-RW write speed was at 8x (DVD+-RW specification) while DVD-RAM is at 12x (DVD-RAM speed specification)).
6. DVD burning software may not be required – discs can be used and accessed like a removable hard disk. Mac OS (8.6 or later) supports DVD-RAM directly. Windows XP supports DVD-RAM directly only for FAT32-formatted discs. Device drivers or other software are needed for ealier versions of Windows or if one wants to use the decidedly better UDF format rather than FAT32.
7. Easier to use than other DVD technology.
8. Very fast access of smaller files on the disc.
9. 2 KB disc block size wastes less space when writing small files.
10. Finalization not necessary
11. Media available with or without protective cartridges.
12. In video recorders, DVD-RAM can be written to and watched (even separate programs) at the same time, much like TiVO.
13. Supports time slip recording and recording without border in/out writing

## All information in Italic form referred from Wikipedia
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-RAM

When 1 disc crashes, 25GB goes.

I use both harddisk and DVD-R. 2 copies each. DVD-R would be recopied every 3 years, same with my harddisk, onto newer, cheaper disks. Blue Ray if they get cheap enough.

Oh, 2 copies of DVD-R from different brands. Avoiding "common mode failure", i.e. one fail, all in same batch likely to fail also.

:bigeyes: Really vry fool-proof way of storing ur data :thumbsup:



BTW, I already tk the plunge & bought a DVD-RAM drive because I prefer stability of my stored data over capacity.