High Capacity Writable Storage?

[myxpykalix]

Does anyone know of a high capacity writable storage device to be able to write high capacity dvds? I recall some time ago reading about a red or blue(?) laser that would record 6 to 10 times the amount of a typical 4 gig dvd. I don't know if that ever came to pass.

I have at least 100 gigs of material that i would like to preserve and these hard drives die all the time so i don't trust them and i don't want to have to make 25 dvds and i don't want to lose a bunch of stuff either:eek:

[adrianm]

Hard to beat good old tape for long term storage. DDS tape is now up to nearly 160gb uncompressed and twice that compressed. LTO goes much larger but the actual units are far more expensive.

There are some good bargains around with reader/writers if you go for one of the slightly older formats such as DDS-3 (12/24gb) or DDS-4 (20/40gb).

At the moment I use 1TB hard drives in an external USB-3 cradle. I make sure that each backup/copy is always on 3 separate drives so I can physically separate them and cover myself against mechanical problems.

I am switching over to tape as soon as I can find the right equipment at the right price though.

[myxpykalix]

A friend of mine when they first started our local internet service provider they had a machine that looked like it held a bank of cassette tapes that backed up EVERYTHING that went thru their servers. This sounds kind of like that.

[Brady Watson]

1 or 2 TB USB drives are cheap and reliable. Copy files up and unplug it.

-B

[ssflyer]

Jack,

The "blue laser" thing you read about is called Blu-Ray :D
They even have a new format called BDXL that will hold up to 128GB per disc! Panasonic has a unit - the BDXL BDR-206MBK that can be had for ~$100. The downside is that the discs are expensive - Like $85+!! Normal standard and double layer Blu-Ray burners are commonplace, and the media is much cheaper, but only hold 25 - 50GB.

All that being said, I use an eSATA external drive - as fast as my internal drives, and have never had a problem. It automatically powers down when not in use. Great for backups, however the Blu-Ray solution may be better for archival purposes. A couple of discs don't take up much room and they reportedly have good shelf life.

[paul_z]

I use a 1TByte pocket drive that I bought from walmart for $84. It is small enough to carry with my laptop if I need to. It is powered through the USB plug so I don't have to find yet one more 110 outlet.

Paul Z

[myxpykalix]

I have a 500 Gig external drive like Ron explains which is my "Repository" for files but since it is a regular hard drive it is subject to inevitable failure and i wanted something that i could archive without fear of failure.

Its funny you explain that it is Blu-ray:D I knew of bluray movies, ect but did not make the connection...DUH!:eek:

I guess i need to make a trip to best buy. Should i post my "wish list" here for anyone who wants to buy me a Christmas present? You know, in some places for underpriviledged children they have an Angel Tree where you can take a stocking off the tree and buy something for a kid....Well:)

[michael_schwartz]

Get 2 drives and then set them up in a mirrored raid array. If that isn't good enough periodically backup to a third which you store in a separate location. I don't trust cloud based backup because you never know what will happen if the company decides to go out of business.

DVD's are great for archiving stuff like photos that you could otherwise get rid of.

[dana_swift]

Good advice in this list! I personally use a pair of 2Tb USB drives. Each time I backup to alternate ones. I also keep the history of archives as long as there is room on the drives. Each drive is something like $99. Much better than DVD anything, although I use DVDR disks also for some purposes.

Michaels idea of a RAID array is interesting, thanks for the suggestion!

D