Posted by Gareth R Halfacree on 12/18/05 11:09

thehick@canada.com wrote:
> My company wants to start using DVDs to make backups of our Process
> Control Computer Systems. Presently, we are using CDs for the smaller
> ones and off-line hard drives for the bigger ones.

Personally, I use tapes for all my backups. That said, you can reduce
the chances of losing valuable information by running DVDisaster over
the disc once you've written to it. DVDisaster creates a checksum file
(similar to that used in RAID-5) which makes it possible to recreate
lost information in the event of read errors.

Just be aware of the environmental characteristics of DVD media - they
often can't handle sustained heat for as long as tape can, meaning that
they're only any good as an off-site backup rather than being shoved in
the nearest tape safe.

--
Gareth Halfacree http://gareth.halfacree.co.uk
"If Ace Books ever came out with an edition of The Bible, both books
would be edited down to 40,000 words, and they'd be renamed "Master of
Chaos" and "The Thing With Three Souls." - Terry Carr

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