Data Burned to Most CD and DVD Discs Fades Away in 5 Years or Less
THE PROBLEM: Do Burned CDs Have a Short Life Span? (full article link)
"Many of the cheap burnable CDs available at discount stores have a life span of around two years," Gerecke says. "Some of the better-quality discs offer a longer life span, of a maximum of five years."
"Opinions vary on how to preserve data on digital storage media, such as optical CDs and DVDs. Kurt Gerecke, a physicist and storage expert at IBM Deutschland, has his own view: If you want to avoid having to burn new CDs every few years, use magnetic tapes to store all your pictures, videos and songs for a lifetime."
SOLUTIONS:
This is a great article! Includes recommended brands and why they work. "CD-R Media Lifespan"
Another Solution for Video Camera Owners-- FIRESTREAMER
(Thanks to Enric from VideoBloggingBusiness Yahoo Group for this article about Firestreamer)
"Instead of investing in a tape drive and expensive tape media, your Digital Video camera and affordable MiniDV tapes provide a resource for 10-15GB backups compatible with millions of drive units available in homes all over the country."
"The one catch in using MiniDV tape as a backup solution is compatibility. Computers are designed to recognize DV cameras as a video source, not as tape drives. You need software to make the connection. Firestreamer is the one reliable solution I've found for consistently backing up data to MiniDV tape and restoring from MiniDV tape. Firestreamer acts as a bridge between your DV camera and the Windows XP Backup software."
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That's a wrap! Say it with video! Nerissa Oden http://TheVideoQueen.com/blog.html
