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OT: DVD Writer for Image Back-up

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This is how I do it:

Save all images to a hard drive in my home. The computer (iMac) is connected to the Internet via broadband. Nightly a sync operation is run on the hard drive by my friends computer, also connected to the Internet via broadband. My computer syncs a hard drive on his computer in turn (to keep things fair!).

Solves the offsite problem, while keeping things cheap and hassle free.

Ian
Andreas Steiner said:
Member said:
Member said:
What about a couple of 120GB harddisks?
Click to expand...
con:
Prone to magnetic fields and shock
Click to expand...
...versus scratches on a CD-R/DVD....
Member said:
Livetime > 10years doubtable especialy when swaped a lot
Click to expand...
...lifetime CD-R even shorter (?), DVD unknown (??)
...both solutions are not optimal regard lifetime, in my opinion.
Member said:
Limited portability
Handling problems
Click to expand...
...not an issue anmyore if you use an external HD in a case that
connects via Firewire, IMO
Member said:
pro
best bang for buck in Bytes/cent and performance/cent
Click to expand...
I'm currently doing both: Saving the pics on CD-R, and storing them
on an (internal) disk. When I run out of diskspace (and that will
happen rather sooner than later when I upgrade from a D30 to a
10D...), I will buy an additional external harddisk.

There are one or two very good essays on this topic on
http://www.luminous-landscape.com , by the way.

Andi

--
http://www.andreassteiner.net/photography
Click to expand...
 
When I read your question, the first thought was this: burn a 2 CD set! :-)

Seriously, DVD writer is a great option for you. I suggest you look at http://www.dvdrhelp.com ; it is really geared toward movies, but the info on the site is of great value in sorting out compatibility with consumer DVD players, what different DVD writers offer in features with feedbacks.

-rdd
David R Stout said:
CDs aren't big enough these days for all the files from just one
shoot. I am considering using DVD Writer for backup. DVD seems to
be a minefield in terms of standards and compatibility. So, has
anybody researched this? What's the best to buy?

My requirements are:

a) Data back-up and be able to read them again in 10 years time

b) Able to create shows for display via a domestic DVD player and TV.

Any advice?

Thanks

David
Click to expand...
 
On the contrary, the +RW format is superior and more compatible both for video and especially for data. +RW is also the one backed by Microsoft.

Plextor is shipping a DVD burner this week, and they've also chosen +RW as the superior format. Lots of people are familiar with Plextor as THE premium maker of optical drives.

Here's a great page which describes the advantages of +RW on a PC. There's also a link to a page which shows the advantages for video:

http://www.dvdplusrw.org/pc/pccomparison.html

--
Steve
dv13 said:
..t
David R Stout said:
CDs aren't big enough these days for all the files from just one
shoot. I am considering using DVD Writer for backup. DVD seems to
be a minefield in terms of standards and compatibility. So, has
anybody researched this? What's the best to buy?

My requirements are:

a) Data back-up and be able to read them again in 10 years time

b) Able to create shows for display via a domestic DVD player and TV.

Any advice?

Thanks

David
Click to expand...
--
Drop by for more digital discussions..
http://www.dv-info.net/cgi-bin/ib/ikonboard.cgi
Click to expand...
 
Plextor just came out with a DVD+RW drive. Plextor's CD-ROM and CD-RW drives have long been regarded as the best available.

Newegg is a great place to buy this stuff:

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=PX%2D504A

--
Steve
David R Stout said:
CDs aren't big enough these days for all the files from just one
shoot. I am considering using DVD Writer for backup. DVD seems to
be a minefield in terms of standards and compatibility. So, has
anybody researched this? What's the best to buy?

My requirements are:

a) Data back-up and be able to read them again in 10 years time

b) Able to create shows for display via a domestic DVD player and TV.

Any advice?

Thanks

David
Click to expand...
 
I know all about dvdplusrw...been there for 2 yrs now...it is ONLY a good site for info on the + format...It is a very biased site to the + format and will not allow any comparisons to other formats, in fact when someone stops in and asks for the pros and cons and comparisons between the + and - the people are trounced like ogres....Oh and I had a + drive, so i do know what I am talking about.....
As for + being backed by MS...one more reason to stay away from it..chuckling..t
kanefsky said:
Plextor is shipping a DVD burner this week, and they've also chosen
+RW as the superior format. Lots of people are familiar with
Plextor as THE premium maker of optical drives.

Here's a great page which describes the advantages of +RW on a PC.
There's also a link to a page which shows the advantages for video:

http://www.dvdplusrw.org/pc/pccomparison.html

--
Steve
dv13 said:
..t
David R Stout said:
CDs aren't big enough these days for all the files from just one
shoot. I am considering using DVD Writer for backup. DVD seems to
be a minefield in terms of standards and compatibility. So, has
anybody researched this? What's the best to buy?

My requirements are:

a) Data back-up and be able to read them again in 10 years time

b) Able to create shows for display via a domestic DVD player and TV.

Any advice?

Thanks

David
Click to expand...
--
Drop by for more digital discussions..
http://www.dv-info.net/cgi-bin/ib/ikonboard.cgi
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--

Drop by for more digital discussions.. http://www.dv-info.net/cgi-bin/ib/ikonboard.cgi
 
The DVD format wars are nearing a close as Microsoft has thrown in with the +R/RW camp.

However the new storage toy on the horizon is Blu-Ray DVD. The Blu-Ray consortium (Hitachi, Ltd., LG Electronics Inc., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Pioneer Corporation, Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Sharp Corporation, Sony Corporation, and Thomson) hasve started licensing the format and Sony has announced a writer @ $3,800.00 USD. Prices are currently high to squeeze the life out of avid (rich) early adopters. The format supports 27GB of data (about 2-3 hours of HDTV or 13 hours of regular TV).

Once the format becomes more widespread, drives will appear for the PC market.
--
Don't anthropomorphize digital cameras. They don't like it.
http://www.echenique.com/galleries/guru
Carlos
 
Stay away from Easy CD Creator and Direct CD. They can make your machine unstable.

Be very careful. My recommendation is to use Ahead Nero. Easy CD creator is very alluring because of the easy user interface. Do not fall for it. Sooner or later you will regret installing it.

Read this: http://www.daemon-tools.net/main.htm
This is note from the manual:

"System crashes and/or blue screen of death on some systems having (or had) Adaptec (Roxio) EasyCD installed. Older versions of this burning program are known to cause lots of trouble in combination with other burning soft or Daemon-Tools. As EasyCD cannot create working copies or images of protected CDs we do not recommend to install it. However newer versions (4.02 and higher) seem to be less incompatible (but still are very often). Anyway these versions are still not able to create 'good' images or even copies. If you encounter problems and have or had EasyCD installed please note that a standard uninstall of EasyCD DOES NOT solve your problems as some drivers of EasyCD are not deinstalled and still loaded when booting your system (imagine this!). Just deleting these files most likely causes your system to crash during next bootup. The easiest way to remove or disable these drivers is to use the (very good) audio CD burning program 'Feurio'. This program runs a system check after installation (can also be started manually by selecting 'Extras' --> 'System Check') pointing to all potential 'trouble-makers' on your system allowing to disable/remove them. "

Good luck!
 
1. You could get an external usb2.0 hard drive.
2. You could get an external firewire Hard drive.
3. You could get the dvd writer.
4. You could use multiple cdr's.

5. They have 20-40 gig portable storage devices now that use laptop drives and are very small.

6. You could use the multi saphire lazer holo-cube which stores all of mans knowledge in the size of a sugar cube.
7. Skip 6 they havent invented that one yet.
David R Stout said:
CDs aren't big enough these days for all the files from just one
shoot. I am considering using DVD Writer for backup. DVD seems to
be a minefield in terms of standards and compatibility. So, has
anybody researched this? What's the best to buy?

My requirements are:

a) Data back-up and be able to read them again in 10 years time

b) Able to create shows for display via a domestic DVD player and TV.

Any advice?

Thanks

David
Click to expand...
 
Lew said:
... Because I
don't assume that I'll be able to read the CRW format easily in ten
years, I burn CRW's along with TIFF's. Something will be able to
read TIFF's, they're way too prevalent that they'll be an unreadble
format. Downside is the required space adds up quickly, even with
a D30. Thus DVD helps.
Click to expand...
Lew, I'm wondering why you would find it hard to read CRW format easily in ten years. wouldn't it be possible to archive the .sit file from Canon along with the installed object of say Raw Image Converter and be assured you can create the tiffs any time you want?

Bob
 
Yes. +RW and -RW both work fine for backing up DVD videos. However most newer films are larger than will fit on a single blank DVD so you need to take some extra steps to split it up into two parts.

--
Steve
hatem tawfik said:
Can I record DVD films on a DVD +RW
Click to expand...
 
With my CD Rewriter I used to use Roxio (Adaptec) because it seemed easy to use but it often froze and trashed discs. I now use Nero and it has only crashed once in over a year and seems to be far better than the Roxio software.

David
kalahari said:
Stay away from Easy CD Creator and Direct CD. They can make your
machine unstable.
Be very careful. My recommendation is to use Ahead Nero. Easy CD
creator is very alluring because of the easy user interface. Do
not fall for it. Sooner or later you will regret installing it.

Read this: http://www.daemon-tools.net/main.htm
This is note from the manual:

"System crashes and/or blue screen of death on some systems having
(or had) Adaptec (Roxio) EasyCD installed. Older versions of this
burning program are known to cause lots of trouble in combination
with other burning soft or Daemon-Tools. As EasyCD cannot create
working copies or images of protected CDs we do not recommend to
install it. However newer versions (4.02 and higher) seem to be
less incompatible (but still are very often). Anyway these versions
are still not able to create 'good' images or even copies. If you
encounter problems and have or had EasyCD installed please note
that a standard uninstall of EasyCD DOES NOT solve your problems as
some drivers of EasyCD are not deinstalled and still loaded when
booting your system (imagine this!). Just deleting these files most
likely causes your system to crash during next bootup. The easiest
way to remove or disable these drivers is to use the (very good)
audio CD burning program 'Feurio'. This program runs a system check
after installation (can also be started manually by selecting
'Extras' --> 'System Check') pointing to all potential
'trouble-makers' on your system allowing to disable/remove them. "

Good luck!
Click to expand...
 
Is USB transfer good enough to transfer data to a DVD Writer? Does it take longer than an EIDE or SCSI drive? I am worried about trashing expensive discs because of buffer underrun problems - the sort of problems we had in the early days of CD burning.

Thanks

David
Conan Butcher said:
The Sony DRU-500AX.

As said above, this works with all the current formats:

DVD R and RW, DVD +R and +RW (not sure about DVD-RAM but who cares)

They also do an external USB 2.0 and Firewire version called the
DRX-500UL.

The external one is the most expensive (in the UK) but both are
priced higher than other brands. But the other brands are limited
to one format.

When I get one I will probably get the Sony unless something
cheaper AND better comes out in the meantime. At least with this
one you have no risk of getting stuck with a potentially redundant
format.

--
Conan
http://www.conanbutcher.com
Click to expand...
 
Andreas Steiner said:
Member said:
Member said:
What about a couple of 120GB harddisks?
Click to expand...
con:
Prone to magnetic fields and shock
Click to expand...
...versus scratches on a CD-R/DVD....
Click to expand...
When Philips created the CD standard they made allowances for some minor scratches. In any case, if your goal is to backup, then do a backup and immediately keep them in a good case/container away from heat. You can make mulitiple copies for your peace of mind, and store them in different locations.

With HD, you cannot have 10 copies of the same thing, unless you want to buy 10 HDs. :-)

With HD you have to factor obsolence and keep an old motherboard with the HD because in 10 years HD will be using other technologies to read them (serial ATA most likely).
Member said:
Member said:
Livetime > 10years doubtable especialy when swaped a lot
Click to expand...
...lifetime CD-R even shorter (?), DVD unknown (??)
...both solutions are not optimal regard lifetime, in my opinion.
Click to expand...
HD have about 5 years life. But even if it lasts 10 years, you cannot

CDs with good brand names like Kodak lasts for at least 100 years. I even have one with a stated life of 200. The problem really is not the disc themselves but if the reader will exist after 10 years!

I have CDs I have burned since 1994-95. They still work. Kept them in a cool place in a CD case. It used to cost around U$9/cd-r (2x).

As for DVDs, I am not sure. My guess is around 25 years. Again, the issue is not whether the DVD will survive but whether there will be readers still by that time. It will be a good policy, therefore, to review the readers or machines that wrote them every 5 years. It may be possible that CD-Rs will be obsolete in 5 years and DVD writers a common thing. Thus I may have to migrate my CD-Rs to DVD in 2-3 years.
Member said:
Member said:
Limited portability
Handling problems
Click to expand...
...not an issue anmyore if you use an external HD in a case that
connects via Firewire, IMO
Click to expand...
I have a USB 2.0 casing. I have placed regular HDs and CD-RW/R in it and it works at the rating of the drives, unlike v1.1.

I would go for a DVD re-writable, preferably the SONY DRU-500AX for -R and +R compatibility. I would get one with dual purpose like the Sony when the price goes down to about U$200. That will be about next year. For now, I am using my notebook's 16x10x24x8 combo drive.

--
  • Caterpillar
 
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