Report: CD-Rs Are not Reliable

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d_kuhn

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IMO The key to keeping data safe is REDUNDANCY. Don't rely on any one technology or technique and assume your data is going to be there. DVD-R's and CD-R's are good for storage (especially the better quality discs), but if I REALLY want to keep a file safe I always store it on a drive in addition to burning it to media, and the drive I store to is regularly backed up. It doesn't mean the data is 100% safe but it's pretty darn close.
 

Wayoffbase

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The only real way to safeguard data is to chisel it into stone, and only a fraction of that is going to survive. Everything printed on paper or stored in digital form is temporary.
 

jawshoeaw

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I'm tempted to shout fir....! Never trusted CDs, DVDs or any other storage media for that matter, for longer than a few years. But then, that's how long data is usually important, until advent of digital photography, etc. So far, leapfrogging (buy a new one every few years) hard drives is medium of choice, with online backup of a few other things. But what about the family "photo album"?

Read an article a few years ago that said the most secure form of data storage was pigment based ink on archival quality paper - believed to last hundreds of years. You can print 2D array of data which can be easily read with inexpensive scanners. Downside is "areal density", a little low.
 

San Pedro

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[citation][nom]Wayoffbase[/nom]The only real way to safeguard data is to chisel it into stone, and only a fraction of that is going to survive. Everything printed on paper or stored in digital form is temporary.[/citation]
Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind. . .
 

Clintonio

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Anything is temporary, full stop.

---

I'm not suprised to be honest. These days though, I'd archive a lot of things online. Or in a RAID1 configuration. Then, take the disks out and put them in storage seperately.
 

michaelahess

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I have 5.25 inch floppies that still work and they are over 20 years old, supposedly they aren't supposed to last that long. I've also got 11 year old cd-r's that are still working great.
 

one-shot

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[citation][nom]Clintonio[/nom]Anything is temporary, full stop. ---I'm not suprised to be honest. These days though, I'd archive a lot of things online. Or in a RAID1 configuration. Then, take the disks out and put them in storage seperately.[/citation]

RAID 1 is not a backup solution.
 

Wayoffbase

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[citation][nom]maigo[/nom]I've never had high hopes about digital media lifespans. I vote stone tablets or stainless steel punchcards[/citation]
was it the mormons or the scientoligists that had their magic spells etched on titanium plates? I always get those two mixed up.
 
G

Guest

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Many (almost all) of my 1995 CD ROM disks are unreadable.
Fewer DVD's than CDROM's have flaws.
I also seem to notice that some DVD's are hard to not readable on my laptop, while they are readable on my desktop.
I don't know why.

Also, I had many files backed up on an external HD, but it fell off a chair, and the axis broke. At that time it would have been restored for $700, but I decided that the data on it was not worth $700; so I just spend a couple of months looking for online versions of the original software and files I had back then.

So far SSD's are said to last longest, but I need to see about that first! So far one of my USB flash memory sticks (with USB1 interface) seem to last at least 3 years without failing, but haven't been tested thoroughly yet.
 
G

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The internet and TPB is a good source for backups!
Loads of guys willing to host your original program for a couple of months to years, without server costs!
 
G

Guest

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Old news to me, I've witnessed CD/DVD burned discs degradation first hand, and in the area where you don't expect the kind of degradation in display.
 

Shadow703793

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[citation][nom]ProDigit80[/nom]The internet and TPB is a good source for backups!Loads of guys willing to host your original program for a couple of months to years, without server costs![/citation]
Bad idea. Assuming it's not encrypted.

Anyways, more people should check out GmailFS:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GmailFS
 

Maxor127

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I've never had a DVD or CD magically go bad until I built my new computer with Vista installed. Don't know if it's my burner or Vista, but a lot of times when I burn a DVD, I'll get redundancy errors when I try to copy or access files from it on another computer installed with XP. But it worked fine in Vista. So everytime I burn a disc on my computer, I have to copy its contents to the HD of another computer to make sure it burned right with no errors.
 

anhxeom

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I remembered back when CD-R drives were just beginning to become available, CD-R disc manufacturer were advertising them to last more than 100 years. I still have a box of TDK blanks that is advertised to last 70 years, it's printed on the package.
 
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