Archival CD and DVD media should be made with 24K gold. Period. No excuses or half solutions.
If you are truly wanting to archive any data whether it is photos, videos, records or anything of significant importance then there is really no reason not to do it the absolute best way. Unless you have budget constraints that make this impossible the peace of mind in knowing that you have preserved these precious memories for your grandchildren and beyond is priceless.
So you're wondering why the big deal about gold. Not just gold but 24K gold. Right? It has to do with oxidization. Oxidization on a disc occurs when oxygen comes in contact with the metal reflective layer. You know how those silver rings you got as a kid turned your finger green? That is the metal oxidizing. Now imagine your data relying on the silver staying shiny so it can reflect the microscopic details that make up your data. Once the silver loses it's reflective qualities you lose your important photos, etc. Gold does not oxidize at anywhere near the rate that silver or aluminum does. 24K gold, being pure, is at the top of the chart for its ability to resist oxidization. There is no better material to make discs out of. None.
This is especially important with DVDs. The metal on a CD is encased with polymer, therefore affording it a decent amount of protection. This is why a quality silver CD can have an archival rating of 100 years. The DVD on the other hand is made up of two pieces of polymer laminated together. This joint is where the oxygen comes in contact with the metal and starts the oxidizing process. If you're using DVDs for your vital information be sure to use 24K gold with an archival rating of 100 years. Don't trust any disc that doesn't display this attribute. There are some gold/silver discs out now for about half the price that should be avoided if you're serious about archiving. Even weaker than that are some products now that are "gold colored". This is simply a dye in the lacquer surface and is completely bogus as far as archival quality goes.
Showing posts with label Archival CD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Archival CD. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Archiving Your Memories
There has been a lot of talk lately about the best way to store your personal photos, videos and documents. Nearly everyone on the planet has these assets and most of us don't have a solid plan on how we are going to keep these for the future. Do you?
The most common options are hard drives, online storage vaults and optical discs. Each of these solutions has merit and should be considered when developing your own storage plan. Most of us initially transfer pictures from our cameras directly to the hard drives on our computers. Unfortunately too many people stop right there. What happens if your computer is stolen? Your house burns down? And the big "if, not when" your hard drive fails?
Rule #2 is common knowledge to any decent IT person but often overlooked by personal users until they have a bad story to tell. You have to consider the possibility of fire and theft. Be sure to keep a copy at your office or the house of a friend or relative.
Rule # 3 is really easy to cover if you use optical media as your storage solution. Once you have made your archival copies, give one to a family member. This way if something bad happens to you the discs will be harder to miss. There is some risk to using an online storage facility because you may be the only person who knows it exists.
We will dig deeper into optical media solutions in upcoming posts. The various types of CD, DVD and BluRay discs will be looked at and each one will be scrutinized. This is something we have been involved with for a long time and can offer much expertise regarding this. We welcome any posts about other alternative storage methods as our intention is to inform and educate the general public about how to best preserve their family memories.
The most common options are hard drives, online storage vaults and optical discs. Each of these solutions has merit and should be considered when developing your own storage plan. Most of us initially transfer pictures from our cameras directly to the hard drives on our computers. Unfortunately too many people stop right there. What happens if your computer is stolen? Your house burns down? And the big "if, not when" your hard drive fails?
- Rule # 1 ALWAYS have two copies of your important files.
- Rule #2 The second copy needs to be at a different location than the first copy.
- Rule # 3 Remember where you put the backup and tell someone else.
Rule #2 is common knowledge to any decent IT person but often overlooked by personal users until they have a bad story to tell. You have to consider the possibility of fire and theft. Be sure to keep a copy at your office or the house of a friend or relative.
Rule # 3 is really easy to cover if you use optical media as your storage solution. Once you have made your archival copies, give one to a family member. This way if something bad happens to you the discs will be harder to miss. There is some risk to using an online storage facility because you may be the only person who knows it exists.
We will dig deeper into optical media solutions in upcoming posts. The various types of CD, DVD and BluRay discs will be looked at and each one will be scrutinized. This is something we have been involved with for a long time and can offer much expertise regarding this. We welcome any posts about other alternative storage methods as our intention is to inform and educate the general public about how to best preserve their family memories.
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