[Discussion] Gold CDs [was: Disk Backup to CD

[Carl Gehr]

Joe,
I was just asking an honest question:  Aside from the heat/light, would
the Gold CDs be worth the cost?

As for the expense of the bank safe deposit box, the annual cost is
typically less than $40-50 per year.  And, I have that expense anyhow
for other important documents, items that I would not trust even to a
fire proof safe at home.  There is a clear benefit just to having the
storage totally off-site.  It is also more economical than an on-line
backup service.

Carl

On Thu, 10 May 2007 20:29:42 -0400, Joseph Hansen wrote:

>May 10, 2007
>
>Carl, the reason I posted this information is that, if ond could use  
>a CD that offers very long life and resistance to heat and light,  
>that might avoid the even greater expense of a safe deposit box.
>
>Joe
>
>
>On May 10, 2007, at 8:12 PM, Carl Gehr wrote:
>
>> But, Joe, if I am storing the CDs in a bank's safe deposit box, there
>> will be no excessive heat, no UV, in fact, no light at all, so what
>> would this expensive media do for me?
>>
>> Carl
>>
>> BTW, I did not start this thread.  I simply responded to the original
>> post.  Therefore, I removed my name from the Subject as it was
>> inappropriate.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, 10 May 2007 19:39:13 -0400, Joseph Hansen wrote:
>>
>>> May 10, 2007
>>>
>>> I think I posted this information here about a year ago.
>>>
>>> Inkjet Art sells gold-plated mitsui CDs that are claimed to be highly
>>> resistant to deterioration from heat and UV radiation, with a
>>> projected lifetime of 200 years.  They're expensive: about $1.50 each
>>> in small quantities.
>>>
>>> For more information, see: http://www.inkjetart.com/mitsui/index.html
>>>
>>> I do not have personal experience with these CDs, but would like to
>>> hear from anyone who has.
>>>
>>> Joe
>>>
>>>
>>> On May 10, 2007, at 5:48 PM, Carl Gehr wrote:
>>>
>>>> Specifically regarding STORING of whatever media you use:
>>>> 	I have a Safe Deposit Box at a nearby bank!
>>>> The fireproof safe/box that I keep in house is only temporary
>>>> before the media is moved to the bank.
>>>>
>>>> Carl
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, 10 May 2007 13:00:12 -0700, Bill Nicholls wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Keep in mind that CDs are *not* a robust mechanism for storage.  
>>>>> Both
>>>>> heat and light will accelerate the aging of the CD.
>>>>>
>>>>> As my friend Van found out, never leave you CD on a windowsill. He
>>>>> picked it up after the afternoon sun had hit it for about two
>>>>> hours and
>>>>> it was totally erased.
>>>>>
>>>>> Unless you have a fireproof safe that limits the inside temp to
>>>>> boiling
>>>>> water, the heat from a fire will also destroy non-stamped CDs.  
>>>>> All in
>>>>> all, they really are only a temporary storage medium.
>>>>>
>>>>> Alternatives:
>>>>> 1. DVDs - these are harder to erase, but not proof against a lot of
>>>>> light or heat.
>>>>> 2. Tape - the traditional backup still has a lot of value. Van
>>>>> tells me
>>>>> that good tape drives, often with useable tapes, are available on
>>>>> ebay
>>>>> for 5% of original cost, sometimes less. A good tape in a (non- 
>>>>> cheap
>>>>> 2000 degree F, 2 hours)) fireproof safe will survive even a very
>>>>> hot fire.
>>>>> 3. Raid Drives - This is my current mecanism for backup, though I
>>>>> am in
>>>>> the process of setting up a cheap DDS4 tape backup system, using
>>>>> Bacula
>>>>> (recommended open source). A pair of RAID1 200GB drives is about
>>>>> $125,
>>>>> and even a fire is unlikely to destroy the data unless the  
>>>>> drives get
>>>>> hot enough to warp.
>>>>>
>>>>> Recommendation:
>>>>> This is what I am doing. I already have multiple RAID1 drives in
>>>>> different systems. I backup core files to two sets of raid  
>>>>> drives if
>>>>> they are important. For my video files I have a 1T RAID5 that  
>>>>> can be
>>>>> expanded to 2.5T with three more 500GB drives. I can recommend
>>>>> Hitachi
>>>>> for this, though Segate's best are also fine, about the same price.
>>>>> Currently high quality 500GB drives go for about $130-140.
>>>>>
>>>>> In the next month I will be setting up the tapes and buying a  
>>>>> $3-400
>>>>> fireproof safe.
>>>>>
>>>>> I know it's not cheap, but have you considered how much it costs to
>>>>> recover data from one drive? $300 down, no upper limit and no
>>>>> guarantee.
>>>>> Ouch!  Remember, digital photos and other personal stuff cannot be
>>>>> replaced and insurance is not much compensation.
>>>>>
>>>>> BillN