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

[James Cannon]

Hi Don,

Thanks for the tidbit. I use a microwave to take care
of the problem ;)

Sincerely,
James Cannon

--- Don Burch <theunk at telus.net> wrote:

> I do recall in the past someone (not on this list),
> somewhere had 
> commented that nature has an abundance of little
> critters (molds, fungus 
> and the like) that are quite capable of penetrating
> the layers of the 
> media from the edge. If true, you need to invest in
> very high quality 
> media or store them in a clean room.
> I believe the same article recommended transferring
> critical data onto 
> fresh media every 5 years. This is a good idea as
> would help one to 
> remember what was on the disk, and where it was kept
> :-)
> 
> Don Burch
> 
> Carl Gehr wrote:
> > 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
> > 
> > 
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