Digital BW, The Print

Considering how often hard drives fail, I do not think this is a wise
choice. 
 We've been doing an archiving project for a religious organization
for many years---scannng and storing all of their negatives. We have 
used Mitsui Gold CDs since the onset of the project. All images are
placed onto the CDs in TIFF format. We actually make a total of 4 for
each roll of film. They are stored in 4 different locations. We use a
high-quality CD copier unit to quickly accomplish this step burning at 8x.
 The project has been ongoing for close to 8 years. 
 We test 3 Gold CDs annually from each batch and compare them with the
original data. Thus far our degradation has been zero. 
Truly---ZERO. Our plan all along has been to make new generational
copies on new Gold media when we begin to see signs of significant
degradation.
 I don't advise using HDs for long-term storage. We have suffered a
myriad of HD losses during the same time period. We have always used
the highest quality Seagate SCSI HDs. Seagate HDs are currently
guaranteed for 5 years. They have rarely made it that long. (Thank God
for Ghost backups!)
 The CDs are stored in jeweled cases within a beautifully made, lined,
oak storage unit kept at a reasonable temperature and humidity. The
units are extremely well made and nice to look at, as well. 
http://www.musicstorage.com/cd-storage-4-drawer.htm
 Yes, DVDs have a lot more space than CDs but Gold DVDs have only very
recently become available. We are currently testing Mitsui Archival
Gold DVDs. Even if we DO switch to the Gold DVDs sometime soon, we
will continue to have storage on CDs as well since our experience with
them has been stellar. 
 BTW, all Gold CDs are not equal! A few years ago when we tested Kodak
Golds and they contained many errors. No point having a Gold CD last
200 years if there are many errors already present on day one.
 Taiyo Yuden CDs have always tested well but I am not aware of them
producing a Gold product yet.
 I hope this information is of some use to you.
 Best Regards
 Howard
 
  





  

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Steve Gledhill
<stephengledhill@...> wrote:
>
> Wise approach Clayton.  I commented on external hard disk backup to 
> external drives a few months ago (post 71205) suggesting it's the only 
> way to be sure of keeping your data secure.  The moment you narrow your 
> secured copy of your files to a single instance which is never 
> 'refreshed' - then you're vulnerable.  If you always use current
storage 
> technology with multiple copies (stored separately) that's about as 
> secure as you can get.  Data storage is very cheap and easy to do to 
> external hard disks - and fast.  But securing your data means you do 
> have to have the discipline to make sure you do the deed and swap disks 
> regularly / frequently - every week for me with daily incremental 
> backups too.
> Steve Gledhill ----- http://www.virtuallygrey.co.uk/
> 
> Clayton Jones wrote:
> 
> > Hello Rob,
> >
> > >http://www.best-dvd-burning-software-reviews.com/best-blank-dvd-
> > >media.asp
> > > or (shortened)
> > > http://tinyurl.com/7lssl
> >
> > What a great site, thanks very much.  I haven't used DVD, so was
> > unaware of the problem in this kind of detail.  I've been using
> > outboard USB hard drives for my backups - I think I'll continue
> > expanding in that avenue.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Clayton
> >
> > Info on black and white digital printing at   
> > http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm
> 
> 
> 		
> ___________________________________________________________ 
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