hanasaki wrote:
Subject: backups to cd and other disks and maintaining file attribs
Oh yes. I should also mention that RW-media of all types is little more than a film that changes its color under the write laser. Like film, there are a number of environmental conditions that can contribute the the media failing. I've heard as little as 3 - 5 years of shelf life is all you'll get out of the media.
On the other hand, MO and DVD-RAM are attractive options. MO media has a rare-mineral substrate in which the electron spin of the mollecules can only be altered if the media has first been heated by the write laser to an astronomical temperature. Essentially, the data is store magnetically and its guaranteed to not do any bitflipping because the conditions to allow that to occur would never occur naturally. I'm not sure what MO is rated for in terms of shelf life but it is high. A protective cartridge is also mandated.
DVD-RAM also has a substrate that's composed of some rare minerals -- the latest forms of DVD-RAM (5x) use bismuth coupled substrates. The write laser heats the localized area to 1,400F to change the reflective index to record a 1 bit. (4|9)00F is used to set it back to 0. These are changes that are much more substantive and thus, the shelf life here is approximately 30 years. Protective cartridge is optional.