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Distributed DVD Back-up Solution?
SoBeIcedT asks: "I just bought the third season of 24 [fox.com] on DVD and have begun to back it up to DVD+R using DVD-Shrink on Windows XP. Being the gadget loving guy I am, it makes sense that I would have multiple computers. The trouble is I can't make use of all of those CPU cycles and they go to waste. Is there a way (perhaps using clusterKnoppix or something of the sort) that I can easily use all of the processor power in my home to transcode the DVDs?" dvd::rip is one option that has clustering support. Are there any others?
Dvd::rip is definitely quality software, but it doesnt (in my experience) preserve DVD menues. I also havent quite figured out how to rip the title to multiple dvds while maintaining the dvd format in dvd::rip. I end up running dvdshrink via wine, but span the title onto many dvds, nix the menues all together, and preserve the dvd video format.
Does someone have a *nix native way of doing this?
Um, this has nothing to do with what "format" the files are being written in - it has to do with space. A store bought DVD is dual layer, consisting of roughly 8.8 gigs of used space. Sure, they advertise 9.4 - but you can't actually use that much. So, when you buy a normal blank DVD, it's going to let you use 4.4 gigs. See a problem there? It has nothing to do with formats. Now that dual layer burners are out there, you can copy an entire movie onto once disc. However, blanks are not cost effective with dual layer yet.
FYI - I regularly purchase 50-packs of DVD-R and DVD+R discs for less than $20 US. I often times can find them on sale for $15.
That brings the price down to a bit less than "a bit less than $1 US".
If you shop at SuperMediaStore.com you can find dual-layer (A.K.A DVD-9, A.K.A. DVD+R DL) blanks for as little as $5.50 each (Qty 5 or greater). In another 6 months, DVD-9 prices should be down closer to DVD-5 prices. At least I hope so...
Not trying to call you out, just pointing out that your prices a little out of date.
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing -- Emo Phillips
Computers count in Binary, which means that anything a power of 2 is easier to work with. So a kilobyte is 1024 (2^10) rather than 1000 bytes. Back in the days of CD-Rs, a 700mb cd actually was 700*1024*1024 bytes large, more of less. (I remember mine are usually 702 or 703mb)
When DVDs came along, they realized that they could get more marketing power and count a kilobyte as 1000 bytes, just like hard drive manufacturers do. So your "9.4gb" dual layer DVD has 9,400,000,000 bytes of data on it, which works out to 8964mb, or 8.75gb.
Of course, this can't compare to the 200 gig hard drive I bought many moons ago, that only formatted to 186 gigs :/