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NIST Releases Study Of CD/DVD Longevity

dirkin writes "The National Institute of Standards and Technology has released a preliminary study of the potential lifespan of CD-Rs and DVD-Rs. The PDF study is here. A good starting point for deciding what type of media to purchase to keep those backups and photos kicking around longer. (You DID buy the silver/gold alloy phthalocyanine CDs, didn't you?)"

31 of 425 comments (clear)

  1. Oh no! by zebs · · Score: 3, Funny

    My pr0n my precious precious prOn!

  2. floppy disks by fredopalus · · Score: 3, Funny

    Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of floppies.

    --
    Jonahweb.com has stuff.
    1. Re:floppy disks by Squareball · · Score: 4, Funny

      Correct! So the obvious solution is MILES AND MILES of paper tape!

  3. Blah, physical backups by fredrikj · · Score: 2, Funny

    Just put your stuff on an FTP site and let the world do the backup for ya.

    1. Re:Blah, physical backups by Jugalator · · Score: 4, Funny

      Or put it in your Kazaa folder and give the filesi maginative names like "horny young teen sex party.mpg", etc... You need to maintain a porn name real name table though in case you'll need the backups again. :-)

      --
      Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
  4. This is not surprising. by Krapangor · · Score: 5, Funny
    The data layer of a CD-R consists of cynanide or phthalocyanine organic dyes. However these dyes have a orientated electric charge like water molecules.
    Take now into account earth's rotation and its magnetic field. It induces an albeit very slow movement of the molecules - the data layer degradation. The same effect causes btw certain currents in the Pacific oceans. While the movement is very slow and in the case of the ocean not very important, it does cause damage after a certain amount of time in the case of a CD-R. You should remember that the scale of the information storage units on a CD-R is in the nanometer range. The information is just "washed away" in an entropy-like effect.

    However, you can slow this movement down. The molecular movement in the data layer is directed. So it can be reversed to a certain degree just be placing the CD-R the other way around. So, all you have to do is to mark the position of the CD-R in your rack exactly. And reverse it's position every month or so. This can increase to the lifetime of a CD-R about 150 percent. More can't achieved (in normal environment) because electric machines like your computer etc. create their own electro-magnetic fields. And the effects of these varing fields are much more difficult to negate.

    BTW: the 100 percent wrong place to store your CD-Rs is on the top of your CRT.

    --
    Owner of a Mensa membership card.
  5. Re:harddisk rack back-up by B747SP · · Score: 4, Funny
    most people I know have trouble just filling up their 'small' 20 or 30 gig drives.

    With respect Sir, most people you know don't download nearly enough pr0n.

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    I find your ideas intriguing and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
  6. Re:To make them last longer... by Chundra · · Score: 1, Funny

    treat them like a mushroom and keep them in the dark

    And feed them lots of shit.

  7. Holographic storage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Holographic storage is almost here. Just more wasted tax dollars on a technology that will be obsolete by the time the media wears out (unless you own ancient cds).

    1. Re:Holographic storage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      That's what makes it such a great archival medium. Centuries from now, holographic storage will still be "almost here", so you never have to worry about it becoming obsolete.

  8. HD by bogaboga · · Score: 4, Funny

    Mine will be kept on a real Hard Disk. What I have now is a 120GB, 7,200 rpm Maxtor HD, which has never disappointed me at all.

    1. Re:HD by bogaboga · · Score: 2, Funny
      I think what you are saying is not correct! My manufacturer NEVER mentioned lying around as one of the items I should avoid.

      Ohh! Better check on it now.

    2. Re:HD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Your manufacturer went bankrupt, and all his source code and engineering documents are now in the public domain. One recent service bulletin does say that lying around is something that should be avoided.

  9. remember kids, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Discerning pr0n collectors choose silver/gold alloy phthalocyanine CDs.

  10. I Use Stone Tablets by Nova+Express · · Score: 4, Funny
    I carve all my important data on stone tablets. If it was good enough for Yaweh, they by Him, its good enough for me! I look forward to over 2000 years of stable storage without data loss! Unless, of course, I need to smite some wayward Israelites with them or something...

    --
    Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)

    http://www.lawrenceperson.com/

    1. Re:I Use Stone Tablets by PocketPick · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeah, I was cool with stone tablets too till I heard about that whole Ten Commandments/DRM fiasco. Something about copyrights, devestating floods and 'pillars of salt' kinda irked me.

    2. Re:I Use Stone Tablets by gardyloo · · Score: 2, Funny

      Lot was really pissed when he wife was turned into a pillar of salt for undocumented sins.

      They were documented in the EULA, tablet 251, paragraph 2, subparagraphs 2-7. Also see Appendix of Glyphs.

  11. phthalocyanine shmithalocyanine by mg2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I still think that corn CDs are the best idea... you'll just need to reburn every once in a while.

    It only becomes a problem if you're a big nacho fan...

    1. Re:phthalocyanine shmithalocyanine by nacturation · · Score: 2, Funny

      But if they make corn DVDs, we will then have pr0n on corn.

      Get with the times, man. It's called a cr0n collection.

      --
      Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
  12. This is important info! by Askjeffro · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm backing up onto my CDR now so I don't lose it. I advise the same to everyone else.

  13. Data loss by Faust7 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I look forward to over 2000 years of stable storage without data loss!

    Yeah, right. Didn't you see Raiders of the Lost Ark? The Ark was full of dust.

    At least you'll be able to melt some Nazis though.

  14. Re:government? by Stevyn · · Score: 4, Funny

    I just write mine down as ones and zeros on paper. It takes me a few months to do a full system backup, but it would take the government years to accomplish the same task. I figure I'll be saved by the statute of limitations by the time they figure out what I've been doing.

  15. Only one solution for long term data storage... by Aardpig · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...papyrus. That, or clay tablets. Nothing else comes close. And I'm not joking.

    --
    Tubal-Cain smokes the white owl.
  16. Damn... by Anita+Coney · · Score: 2, Funny

    All those Netflix movies I've burned will essentially be worthless!

    --
    If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
  17. Fungi by rafael_es_son · · Score: 1, Funny

    This report fails to address the fungi that grows on my cds, as originally pointed out by Dr. Trías.

    --
    HAD
  18. Re:government? by iocat · · Score: 2, Funny

    I uses 1's and lowercase l's. That always confuses the feds.

    --

    Dude, I think I can see my house from here.

  19. Re:Readers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "I still have tons of 5" floppy disks"

    That could be a problem, since the only drives around are for 5.25" disks.

    -Anonymous Phil

  20. Data Corruption by Macrobat · · Score: 3, Funny

    Only problem is, the message gets corrupted really, really fast. Witness the Religious Right in America. Or medieval Europe. Or the tail end of the Roman Empire.

    --
    "Hardly used" will not fetch you a better price for your brain.
  21. Re:government? by Proc6 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I store all my data in FBI digital case files. The government will obviously never have a system in place that can read them, so I'm safe.

    --

    I'm Rick James with mod points biatch!

  22. the study is not really useful without brand names by swschrad · · Score: 2, Funny

    and ordering numbers, folks. not many websites of manufacturers tell you what they're using.

    the only one I can find right now in three websites (verbatim, imation, tdk) is that tdk uses metal-stabilized cyanine dye in their CD-Rs. that would make them a "c5" sample, which is fairly resistant to stray UV, but temperature/humidity sensitive. to me, TDKs sound just a little bright, but it's not bright enough to be a car-only disk.

    verbatim used to boast of using blue azochrome dye, which In The Beginning was prized by burners who wanted accurate audio. verbatim blue is still out there in the "digital vinyl" series at least. that would be an "S1" or "S3", who knows which, which has some issues with both temp/humidity as well as strong UV. Sounded good and neutral.

    what I haven't seen is the richer, "tube" toned deep green of Sony and 3M 2x/4x disks of the late 90s. never knew what it was chemically, either. I'd order a case of them if I could find 'em. no "scatter-shatter" sound on those disks.

    the only thing I've had issues with are budget CD-Rs with a barely-visible green coating to this point. they go away in a dark, double-shielded player in a console in the car, and have shelf life issues in the house as well. After two years, they wouldn't even pass the pre-record test of the burner. Never again.

    but I can't buy for known permanance, despite NIST, because they don't call out whose disks they tested. Hope somebody consumer-oriented gets an idea from this, and beats 'em up with brand names attached. there's going to be somebody out there who has used junk disks forever and never lost a one sitting open under the cat hair on the window ledge, so anecdotal evidence is, uhhh, not reliable. even mine.

    --
    if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
  23. Re:black cd's by istewart · · Score: 2, Funny

    The black CDs supply that extra touch of feigned authenticity that I need for my pirated PlayStation games.