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Heres the link
Do Burned CDs Have a Short Life Span?
Optical discs may not be your best bet for storing digital media long term, expert says.
John Blau, IDG News Service
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Opinions vary on how to preserve data on digital storage media, such as optical CDs and DVDs. Kurt Gerecke, a physicist and storage expert at IBM Deutschland, has his own view: If you want to avoid having to burn new CDs every few years, use magnetic tapes to store all your pictures, videos and songs for a lifetime.
"Unlike pressed original CDs, burned CDs have a relatively short life span of between two to five years, depending on the quality of the CD," Gerecke says. "There are a few things you can do to extend the life of a burned CD, like keeping the disc in a cool, dark space, but not a whole lot more."
The problem is material degradation. Optical discs commonly used for burning, such as CD-R and CD-RW, have a recording surface consisting of a layer of dye that can be modified by heat to store data. The degradation process can result in the data "shifting" on the surface and thus becoming unreadable to the laser beam.
"Many of the cheap burnable CDs available at discount stores have a life span of around two years," Gerecke says. "Some of the better-quality discs offer a longer life span, of a maximum of five years."
Distinguishing high-quality burnable CDs from low-quality discs is difficult, he says, because few vendors use life span as a selling point.
Similar Limitations
Hard-drive disks also have their limitations, according to Gerecke. The problem with hard drives, he says, is not so much the disk itself as it is the disk bearing, which has a positioning function similar to a ball bearing. "If the hard drive uses an inexpensive disk bearing, that bearing will wear out faster than a more expensive one," he says. His recommendation: a hard-drive disk with 7200 revolutions per minute.
To overcome the preservation limitations of burnable CDs, Gerecke suggests using magnetic tapes, which, he claims, can have a life span of 30 years to 100 years, depending on their quality. "Even if magnetic tapes are also subject to degradation, they're still the superior storage media," he says.
But he's quick to point out that no storage medium lasts forever and, consequently, consumers and business alike need to have a migration plan to new storage technologies.
"Companies, in particular, need to be constantly looking at new storage technologies and have an archiving strategy that allows them to automatically migrate to new technologies," he says. "Otherwise, they're going to wind up in a dead-end. And for those sitting on terabytes of crucial data, that could be a colossal problem."
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A few extra copies may be in order then!
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interesting but also very worrying, got loads of pics of our two kids on dvd-r which i guess will have the same problem, they are stored in a cool dark place but worrying that i may go back in a few years and not be able to get them off
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Yeah, been worried about this for a while now. I have tons of digital photo's on CD/DVD and home made videos on DVD, mainly of the family and kids growing up and from holidays.
I store these in a good quality CD folder, but I guess I should make copies of them every few years.
Also a good idea is to print all the best photo's off from places like jessops that do digital to real photo's.
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Also a good idea is to print all the best photo's off from places like jessops that do digital to real photo's.
Even then, the inks fade. There is no ideal solution.
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How about a quick poll, anyone out there with a 2yo cd or DVD that you cant read??
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Methinks, wonder if Kurt Gerekie has shares in a magnetic tape manufacturer
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I have some 8 yr old cdr's which i burnt myself, they are looking very unhealthy now - but still play perfectly. They probably have only been played a handful of times in that period and have been stored in optimal conditions. Most of them are FUJI or HP ones so good quality.
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Quality will directly affect the lifespan of a CD-R. Have a read of article. It has a link to a site that sells 24 carat gold discs that come with a 100 year warranty.
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Not just quality although that is paramount but storage too. I used cdrs for over 10 years and although I havent tested everyone due to time constraints, the ones I have tested are fine.
I normal burn dvd/cd with verify and then recheck with a utility called cdcheck. I have had some errors whilst just burnt and I discover this before I delete the orginal. Sensitive data I back up and store in the artic in a clean, dust free container.
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Most of the early discs I used to purchased were gold in colour...some are now 8 yr old, still use them now and again, they work ok. there is prolly more of a possibility that a newer writer won't read them rather than they degrade.
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Also remember that with technology changing all the time, you may have to backup that data on to the next generation format, before the hardware becomes obsolete and hence have no hardware to read the discs. With the impending new format on the horizon, okay its years before dvd/cd become obsolete but they will one day.