Re: DVD RAM?

Arno Wagner wrote:

Previously J. Clarke <jclarke.usenet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Pete wrote:

Hi

I have read that DVD RAM is a much more reliable media for important
backups. However I cant seem to see any drives that take the media in
their cartridge, only DVD re-writers like the GSA 4167b that mention
DVD RAM but pressumably use the type 4 cartridge with the disk removed.

Can anyone recommend makes/models that use the disks in their caddies?

You're looking for older SCSI drives. Ebay is your best bet, brands
would be Pioneer or Plasmon (not sure if Plasmon made drives or just
relabelled Pioneer).

The chemistry of DVD-RAM is the same as for DVD-RW, all that is different
is
the formatting. There's no real reason to believe that DVD-RAM will be
any more durable than DVD-RW, its main advantage is convenience--DVD-RAM
is designed for data storage and can be treated like just another disk
without kluges such as packet-writing.

Actually there is a serious advantage: RVD-RAM uses verify on write
and does defect management.

Verify on write doesn't mean that the data is going to be there a year down
the road when you need it. The big problem with DVD as an archival storage
medium is the stability of the chemistry, not the integrity of the writing
process.

There is also a second serious advantage:
The cartridge.

Which protects against scratches but does absolutely nothing to make the
chemistry more stable. Scratches are relatively easy to fix--there's a lot
of Lexan there to work with. The main real-world benefit of the cartridge
IMO is that it gives you a way to put an easily readable label on a
double-sided DVD-RAM. By the way, the cartridge does little to protect
against spills--first time I saw an optical disk demonstrated the salesman
to his dismay couldn't get the drive to read it. While he was off in
search of techs I idly examined the cartridge, opened the slider, and found
that it was full of several day old coffee.

Further, the cartridge is not required for something to be a DVD-RAM.

If you want durable random-access media in that capacity range you would
do better to go with magneto-optical.

Agreed. DVD-RAM was intended to be the MOD succesor, but it is not
up to it. I have all my important stuff on 3.5" MODs. Usually two
copies. So far I have not los a single bit in 7 years using
this technology.

Would you have lost any of it without that technology?

Arno

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)
.

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