CDs, DVDs Eyed For Long-Term Archival Use

Alien54 writes "Computer scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are launching an effort to develop specifications for 'archival quality' CD and DVD media that agencies could use to ensure the procurement of sufficiently robust media for their long-term archiving needs (i.e., 50 years and longer). See the press release at the NIST site." The research involves "...enclosed chambers that use temperature and humidity changes to artificially age the media some 20 years in only six weeks."

Comments

Anyone have CDs from the 80's?

[jabbadabbadoo]

It's almost 20 years ago since the first CD's came along.

Are they still working?

I'd settle for 10 years

[dew-genen-ny]

Honestly,

I've got CDs that I burned just 2 years ago, and my CD drive has trouble reading them - no scratches, it just appears that they age waaaay to quick. I know a lot of people who keep photos on CD, I hope they realise that it's not so permanent.

Maybe something good would come of this. I'd actually be willing to pay out $5 to $10 to get a CD that once burned would stick around for a while.

Re:I'd settle for 10 years

[TheRaven64]

It depends on the quality of the CD. Most of the time I use ultra-cheap no-brand CDs, since I use them for copying a few files onto to give to friends. For archiving, I have had good experiences with the Kodak Gold CDs, which have the added bonus of being a nicer than the standard vile green. They don't seem to degrade nearly as quickly. This is probably partly to do with the fact that the data layer is inside the plastic disk. With most cheap CDRs, the data layer is on top, and so can be scratched or damaged by high intensity light quite easily.

Read between the lines...

[Zog The Undeniable]

The implication is that current CD-R/DVD-R/DVD+R technology does not last as long as some people expect it to (many people archive all their digital photos to CD, for example).

The only sure way to archive data is to keep it on a network-attached device - and migrate it regularly with changes in technology. No removable media is foolproof as hardware can break down at a time when it can't be repaired or replaced. Ask anyone with a Betamax video collection or, more relevantly, the BBC, who had great trouble reading their not-very-old Domesday archive on laserdisc. BTW, that's not a really small computer in the photo, it's a really big CD!

Very relevant to a project of mine...

[heironymouscoward]

We just had a baby girl (yes, even geeks need to reproduce). So people ask "what can we bring the little gorgeous thing?" (they don't have to sit through nights of "woaAAAHHH!") I've figured that the best thing would be presents that she can open when she's old enough to appreciate them, like on her 18th birthday.

DVD players may still be around in 2021, after all I can still read 3.5" floppies. But DVD media has a shelf life of 5-7 years AFAICT, several older DVDs I've tried recently don't work anymore. CDs may be less delicate, resist better.

But if you wanted to give someone a digital present (say a bunch of their baby photos) for 18 years hence, how would you go about it?

This was going to be an Ask Slashdot, but (a) I'm too tired, and (b) the whole "what can I give a gurgling baby" thing is not really stuff that interests geeks.

Digital Short-comings

[locarecords.com]

The UK Parliament not so long ago debated the benefits of storage of Government documents and after heated arguments decided that digital was unproven and paper itself not good enough.. especially as they want records to last 500 years.

It shows that digital still has a long way to go compared to the current UK practice of printing on vellum... in other words goats skin !!!

Quote: "... we compare longevity of 250 or 500 years [of long-life paper] with the 1,500 years of vellum"

Re: CD decay rates

[perly-king-69]

It looks like it will become necessary to copy everything to new media every year or so...

A common mistake is that archives (digital or otherwise) require no maintenance. In the case of digital archives you should be checking them, on an annual basis, not just for physical degradation.

A more common problem is that the applications used to create the data and/or their documentation do not exist any more, rendering the data as useless as if the physical media had been destroyed.

Vinyl records don't evaporate.

[crovira]

And acid free paper doesn't turn to ash.

The RIAA must be ROTFLTAO at the thought that the plastic they sell is a perishable good. Only slightly (take the long view, some books are hundreds of years old,) more perishable that the original source which only lasts as long as an echo.

I have vinyl from the '60s and '70s that I played on a good turntable then and (since I still have that turn table,) I can still listen to now.

Since the early 20th century, our industrial processes have been destroying our heritage.

Good idea; data decay rate on CDRs is surprising

[bigberk]

When I read the previous slashdot post about CDRs rapidly decaying (even becoming unreadable in a few years) I had trouble believing this... but I ran my own tests using the "Nero CD Speed" tool's ScanDisc option.

What I found was that my 3 to 4 year old archival CDs had anywhere between 20% to 50% of their surface damaged; they had (recoverable) errors. This spanned multiple brands, including Memorex, Acer, and HP.

Remember that data correction algorithms can recover from minor errors, but if data is becoming damaged this quickly it will be not too long before data is actually lost on CDRs.