Day: June 25, 2005

Back Up to Optical Media

This Slashdot post asks the perennial question, how do you back up all this data you’re creating with that nifty computer and attendant devices?

The person who submitted the item has a misplaced, in my opinion, fear of using optical media citing a study about optical media failures rates. I recently had the opportunity to test the failure rate of optical media and was very pleased with their resiliency.

Here’s my backup method: I use a program that backs up all important files to Zip archives. Every weeknight the program does a differential backup, and every Friday it does a complete backup of what is now well over 200gb of data. On the weekend I burn the complete back up plus the differential backups to DVD+Rs.

I’ve been using this same procedure for about 8 years now, using CD-Rs before writeable DVDs came along. As a result I ended up with hundreds of CD-Rs filled with backups. That was becoming a storage nightmare, so I decided to reduce the storage requirement a bit and extend the preservation of that data by copying all the Zip files on the CDs to a hardd rive and then burning the backup sets back to DVD+Rs.

Out of 1,000 or so CDs that I copied to DVD in this way, only about 20 of them failed. In all cases, these were CDs that had been improperly stored or ill-treated at some point. Of the CDs that I had placed in CD cases and boxed in the basement, not a single one failed, including CDs on no-name brands where the dye looked like it was clearly undergoing chemical changes and the cheap green had taken on an almost orange-ish hue.

So, frankly, I’m convinced of optical media’s use as an archival method for 10 years or so. I’m sure the media can probably last longer than that if stored properly, but I’ll be converting my DVDs to HD-DVDs or whichever of the next generation high-capacity optical media wins over the market.

So in summary, optical media is great if a) you make regular multiple copies, such as on a weekly basis and b) you’re prepared to convert to the latest, great optical media format every decade or so.

I’m Going to a Birthday Party!

So on Friday the 17th I closed on my house, and the next Saturday quite a few family members were over helping tweak some minor problems with the house (its 50 years old and the previous owner had a higher-than-warranted opinion of his handyman skills). The kids are running around, but fortunately Emma had a birthday party for one of her classmates to go to.

So around 12 p.m., my wife takes Emma back to the old house to change her clothes.

About 12:45 p.m., something I was largely spared due to the nature of the small out-of-the-way court I used to live on gets underway — Jehovah’s Witnesses are canvassing the neighborhood. Ugh. When they approach my house, they catch my wife’s grandmother and I quickly get on my cell phone to my wife just so I can look busy so they’ll walk on by.

My wife explains that she left the present at the new house so she’s swing by to pick it up before taking my daughter to the birthday. Emma’s had her medicine, but she’s still hyper due to the move.

So my wife pulls in the driveway and she and Emma get out to retrieve the present. At which point Emma notices one of the Jehovah’s Witnesses — though she has no idea who or what they are other than nicely dressed strangers (she has only the slightest grasp on basic Christianity despite our efforts, much less sectarian differences).

As he’s walking by, one of the JW’s says “hi” to her, to which Emma replies excitedly, “I’m going to a birthday party!”

At which point I’m laughing uncontrollably on the porch, and the man has a very odd look on his face and quickly walks off.