One of the puzzles of the universe is a branding of used back-up tape as 'certified'.  The idea being that a backup tape is like used tires and one can determine the expected life of the used product.  The amazing part is the concept of storing backup data on used data tape.  Now in the market they don't like to use the word 'used' but that is exactly what certified data tapes are and further their 'cheap' price is deceitful. 

Many times we have priced tapes to find some amazing deals only to find out that they are actually the used data tapes.  Very little information is provided on exactly what a 'certified tape' means. Nor is there any industry studies on the consequences of using such 'certified back up tapes'. One is simply buying a used tire with little or no tread left.  Trust your back up data only to new back up tapes if you care about recovering your data.

We were asked the other day about the advantages and disadvantages of CD-R or DVD recordable disc. 

This certainly is not an easy answer with all the various types of data storage available today.

CD-R and DVD-R and DVD+R are 'Write Once, Read Many' formats.  This capability is called "WORM' for short.

 This means you can only write to the disc once (or in multi-session several times to different locations on the disc before finalizing).

This is unlike other formats used for hard drives, flash memory, backup tape and certain optical formats like the +RW and -RW in DVD recordable that can be erased and re written hundreds or millions of times (in disc based hard drives).

A CD-R or recordable DVD provides an "archive", or permanent record of the data copied.  That is it's main advantage over all other types of data storage.

Disc longevity compliments the WORM feature by protecting the data for 100 years or more.  This is where a quality disc surpasses the bargain disc.  Bargain discs life span can be in days instead of years.

The disadvantages of recordable discs are numerous.  

There is a unique group of specialized disc reader/writer and caching (storing a disc ISO image on a hard drive) that gives a great deal of flexibility using optical storage. These devices are designed for archiving data and retrieving it.  Archived data can appear like a normal file share when the disc image is mounted. that is when you look at "my computer" the disc or files show up as a drive letter.

For network access via server or network attached storage the direct attached DVD-ROM towers, Network Attached DVD-ROM towers, Disc Caching towers and robotic disc libraries or "jukeboxes" are an excellent method of putting a disc on the network.

These are mountable disc images that can be accessed anywhere on a local area network or shared out into the Internet.

DVD-ROM towers are similar to a DVD duplicator in form factor but instead of recorders (burners) the system is equipped with readers. DVD-ROM towers can be connected directly to a workstation or server via a SCSI connection and are considered "direct attached storage".

It can be intimidating when faced with so many choices and options for CD and DVD publishing and selecting a DVD publisher.  Making things even more complicated for a photographer and videographer is the issue of protecting your work if you provide a portfolio on disc to a prospective client.  We are going to go over some options and I promise to keep it simple. The objective is to get you to think about your needs before being forced by circumstances to compromising your work through piracy. 

There are some CD DVD recordable disc publishers that can provide specific encryption to make a disc impossible to copy. The disc is fully playable, it just can not be copied.  These systems can provide custom graphics for labeling the CD or DVD in uniquely labeled disc.  

 With ever increasing data storage requirements and the need to safely archive your data on stable media that is not effected by magnetic radiation and wear from contact with a read/write head. Recordable Blu-ray provides the next generation to DVD for archival data storage.  Not only does Blu-ray offer Write Once Read Many (WORM) type discs, rewritable recordable Blu-ray media is also available. Unlike having just a Blu-ray recorder the key to successful archiving is automatic operation and a robust file management system.  

Rule based file and drive backup is extremly important for many industries.  Especially with the requirements of high resolution imaging we see so much with the "Google Earth" experience.