[SOLVED] M-disk DVDs?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
D

DLes

Reputable
Dec 2, 2019
94
0
4,530
So I've been using M-disks for my long duration, almost indestructable, archival storage. I figure, in fifty years, SOMEONE will be able to read them. The 4.7GB DVDs were fine, in that I don't have really enormous amounts of stuff to preserve. Got myself an M-disk capable DVD writer. Apparently, they've almost STOPPED making the damned things, at least in reasonable quantities. Now, M-disks are almost entirely blu-ray 25GB disks. Duh? So I need to go out an buy a blu-ray M-disk drive now? Can anyone understand why they got people excited about M-disk DVDs, and then pulled the plug on them? Now, I could pay a bundle and get a stack of 100, but I just don't need that many. Maybe one or two per year. They used to sell them in 10-packs, which was handy. I'm kinda pissed.
 
Solution
bignastyid
DLes said:
In a house fire, an M-disk DVD can be pretty safe. They can withstand temps of 180F for several days. The actual melting temperature is much higher. No hard drive will do that. They die in temps of 120F. This is well established.
Click to expand...
A house fire can get to 1500°F, which I am sure is well above the melting temp of a plastic disc.

120°F? Normal HDD operating range is ~32-140°F(depending on the drive). When off the range is a bit larger. Still not going to do well in a fire.

Seen more HDDs survive though as smoke damage can ruin a disc where all it did the the hdd was make it smell like a housefire.
Sort by date Sort by votes
Um, so they put all their effort into blu-ray disks that get stashed away and never read until 2070? Oh, and blu-ray M-disk writer manufacturers get a piece of the pie? The issue is that M-disks are as popular es ever, but now almost entirely blu-ray disks.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
DLes said:
Um, so they put all their effort into blu-ray disks that get stashed away and never read until 2070? Oh, and blu-ray M-disk writer manufacturers get a piece of the pie? The issue is that M-disks are as popular es ever, but now almost entirely blu-ray disks.
Click to expand...
As popular as ever?
I know of exactly zero people that use these.

Hard drives that are routinely read, updated, and replaced when needed are far more prevalent for backup purposes.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Gee, I know lots of people who use them. Especially people whose business is archiving. Many museums use them. So who you know isn't particularly relevant. When the house burns down or floods, a hard drive will be kaput. When a hard drive has to be rescued from a dripping trash heap, it will be useless. When a hard drive suffers a motor failure, you have a major job recovering your data. Optical disks are far more compact than hard drives. Yes, hard drives are more prevalent because people don't want to take the trouble to use M-disks. It is true that if you have multiple hard drives, stored in different places, you have some security. Of course, optical disks in general are becoming obsolete, but there will always be ways to read them. I know services that will read floppy disks.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Sure there are people and organizations that use them.
I was just commenting on my personal experience.

A general backup concept is 3-2-1.
At least 3 different copies, on at least 2 different media, at least 1 offsite or otherwise physically protected.

In a house fire, a DVD is no safer than a hard drive.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
In a house fire, an M-disk DVD can be pretty safe. They can withstand temps of 180F for several days. The actual melting temperature is much higher. No hard drive will do that. They die in temps of 120F. This is well established.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
DLes said:
In a house fire, an M-disk DVD can be pretty safe. They can withstand temps of 180F for several days. The actual melting temperature is much higher. No hard drive will do that. They die in temps of 120F. This is well established.
Click to expand...
A house fire can get to 1500°F, which I am sure is well above the melting temp of a plastic disc.

120°F? Normal HDD operating range is ~32-140°F(depending on the drive). When off the range is a bit larger. Still not going to do well in a fire.

Seen more HDDs survive though as smoke damage can ruin a disc where all it did the the hdd was make it smell like a housefire.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom