Chisel it into the walls inside Chernobyl.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nalano
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Chisel it into the walls inside Chernobyl.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nalano
Well I stuffed the IDE NEC drive in - re-enabled IDE in the BIOS and it's working (tho the cable situation is chronic!)
One firmware upgrade (from 1.00 to 3.27 - quite a leap!!) and it's burning discs at 12x (it says it should do 16x but I'm not too worried)
IDE is the new Sata then...
I was not aware there was such a thing as a fire-resistant hard drive, that's interesting to know. I certainly make backups to external HD's, but platter drives have comparatively short lifetimes compared to a well-cared-for optical disc, and SSD's have that rewrite issue. While I agree with you concern about environmental effects like heat, I'd still suggest that I can put a disc in a jewel case on a shelf for 5 years and be 100% certain it'll work if I need that data again. I can't make that prediction with the same confidence with a mechanical hard drive.Quote:
Originally Posted by Internet
I've been using writable optical storage since it cost £500 for a drive and a handful of discs (so mid 90s) as I developed an CD-based multimedia doodah for a client who had lots of cash at the time.
I still have many discs we burned back then - as well as a variety of discs burned in the years since - and I can tell you, with some confidence, that burned optical backups are a risky proposition.
None of the early discs are now readable without much faffing around - in fact I have discs which are only maybe 10 years old and despite being been stored in cool/dry conditions (out of direct light) they're all showing visible signs of decay (yellowing of the plastic and discolouration of the writable layers).
Furthermore, there's the classic issue of some drives simply reading some types of media better than others - meaning something written on one drive (and readable in it) may not be readable on another. You can get around that to some degree by spending hours choosing the right media but it's not ideal by any means.
Put another way - paper is a better medium to store data than CD/DVDs :)
Of course all forms of backup are useless on their own - the key is to have many copies of your data. Multiply optical backups and multiple other forms of backup.
As for fire resistance - I've worked in 2 places which have suffered fires and I can tell you with some confidence that ANYTHING caught in a fire is going to die. The last place I worked had a rated fire-safe with a 'data safe' drawer which claimed it could resist "upto 2 hours of 'intense heat'. What we got out of it was not readable - in fact it wasn't identifiable - the fire was insane tho, the office was a prefabbed structure inside a warehouse and when I was allowed to go in, what I found was was NOTHING of the office - no structure, no furniture or shelving, no paperwork - nothing - just dust. The first safe was 'intact' - it was the only identifiable thing, in fact, but a rep for the company had to come to open it - and then explain why it hadn't worked!
He guesstimated the max heat of the fire had been 3 times it's rated limit - hot enough to make the fire extinguishers we'd had, explode!
That's what I do. My current PC doesn't have an optical drive, but I do have a USB one if I ever need it (not once since building my PC last July).Quote:
Originally Posted by sirgoit
I can also boost my hardcore street cred by saying I have a 3.5 floppy in a drawer 'just in case' ;)
Had to go get a cheap USB floppy drive after helping a dude figure out and buy a new computer because he had shit from way back stored in goddamn dust sleeves.Quote:
Originally Posted by trjp
I dug out an old laptop (circa 1999/2000ish) and in the case there were floppies marking "System Backup" - in 2000 I could put a SYSTEM backup on a floppy disc - well, 2, in fact...
There's still useful data on that laptop too - ah how time passes, it cost over a grand and has a whopping 768Mb of memory and a huge 12Gb HDD...
The more I think about it the more struck I am by what a time consuming (and/or expensive) proposition deciding to move away from optical storage would really be. I can't fathom how anyone (or at least anyone older than their teens) can manage such a thing, nor do I really see the point. If my next rig were to be optical drive free I would need to do all of the following before losing my optical drive:
-rip or repurchase 100+ CD's that I've not gotten around to ripping yet
-repurchase or abandon dozens of games I currently have only on disc, including quite a few -favorites
-permanently lose quite a few of my favorite games, which are only available on disc (see: Rise of Nations)
-purchase external drives appropriate to handle data from a decade's worth of disc backups
That's a lot of cost. What's the benefit, again?
For you, apparently nothing. For others there may be plenty.Quote:
Originally Posted by vinraith
I haven't purchased a music CD in about five years, and all the CDs I own were ripped years ago. Even if they weren't, internet radio fills this need. In that regard, I have watched exactly one movie on disc in about a year (a very slow day at work). That includes my home theater system too. Streaming media is so much more convenient for me, whether it is Netflix, AT&T U-Verse or things like HBOGO.
Thanks to sites like GOG most of my favorite older game are available online, and pretty cheaply too. Sure there's a price attached, but for me the few dollars here and there far outweigh hassles like finding patches. At this stage in my life I have more money than free time, and that's only going to become a greater issue with age (until I retire I suppose). Sure some games aren't available, but since I don't play old games that much anyway it's not a big deal for me. Besides, I've found that even with sites like GOG nostalgia is often best left to memory.
Do you actually use the data from disc backups? I have discs with backup data on them that I never touch. I have a NAS with a few hundred gigs of storage and it has lasted me many years with no problems.
Another benefit is space. Less shit in my home that does nothing but collect dust.
I'm not trying to convince you, as I'm pretty sure you wouldn't give up your optical media for anything, but just because it doesn't make sense for you does not mean it doesn't make sense for others.
Also, I'm several decades past being a teenager.
I've already ripped all my music CDs so I can use the music on mp3 players. Movies, also ripped for convenience. I do have my old Baldur's Gate and KOTOR discs etc., but most of them won't run under Win 7 anyway, so they really don't matter much.Quote:
Originally Posted by vinraith
So there's really nothing I need the optical drive for. I just reused my old one in my new computer since I already had it. All I've used it for is installing Windows, and I could have just as easily done that via USB.
PS: I'm one of those 30-year old whippersnappers though.
See, this is the kind of thing that honestly confuses me. Streaming services have a tiny, tiny fraction of what's available on disc. The one is in no way a replacement for the other.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fumarole
And again, sites like GOG are missing scads of games, some of them fairly recent (early to mid 2000's) and not at all "nostalgia purchases."Quote:
Thanks to sites like GOG most of my favorite older game are available online, and pretty cheaply too. Sure there's a price attached, but for me the few dollars here and there far outweigh hassles like finding patches. At this stage in my life I have more money than free time, and that's only going to become a greater issue with age (until I retire I suppose). Sure some games aren't available, but since I don't play old games that much anyway it's not a big deal for me. Besides, I've found that even with sites like GOG nostalgia is often best left to memory.
I'm not trying to get into an argument here. I'm just honestly baffled by the (seemingly common) willingness to simply abandon any media that isn't available digitally, and to rebuy tons of older media that is available digitally.
There is lots of streamed content you can't find on physical media either. However, anything on physical media can be ripped, so optical discs really are redundant. Especially with all the artificial limitations they put on content. Especially with regard to mobility and playlists. I can carry dozens of CDs (or DVDs) worth of songs on a tiny little mp3 player, and can easily mix and match the content, rather than having to burn a new CD every time I want some little adjustment.Quote:
Originally Posted by vinraith
So in many ways, optical discs are obsolete. And I really don't see what I'm missing out on by not using them anymore. I can buy MoO2 online, I definitely can't go out and buy MoO2 on CD-ROM.
It's not an either/or thing Sakkura. It's not as though continuing to use optical discs for media that is only on optical disc somehow prevents me from using streaming, and I'll also note that you can't rip media from a disc if you don't have an optical drive anymore. I'm not saying it's the only thing to use, or even the primary thing to use. I'm just saying I don't understand why anyone would slam the door on it quite yet.
But there is no reason to split your library. I'm not seeing the reason to buy or burn anything on optical discs anymore. And everything I wanted ripped was ripped years ago.
It doesn't make sense to back up data on BDs at all. Small space and high cost when you can get 1TB USB3 drives now for around 30 to 40 quid.