5 ms·

CDs degrade over time, both flash and CDs are bad long-term choices.

by xyproto 10y ago

ReverseCold 10y ago
Flash storage too? As in SSDs?
- lutusp 10y ago
  > Flash storage too? As in SSDs? All information storage media degrade over time, it ultimately comes down to differences in durability. Stone tablets outlast SSDs, but for both, the clock is ticking.
- detaro 10y ago
  SSDs have to hold electric charge to retain their data, so if they are unpowered they slowly discharge. The warmer they get, the worse it is: afaik common specifications only guarantee one year data retention at 30°C, but with lower temps it gets better.
dragontamer 10y ago
Ink-based CD-Rs (or DVD-R or DVD+R) degrade over time (and due to exposure to the sun). There are some other technologies that seem like they'll last a long time (MDISC), but I'm not really sure if they're worth their cost... or if I should just go for a Hard Drive at that point.
- digi_owl 10y ago
  I just wish that HDDs didn't have all these layers between the data and the OS. Blow the controll board in some way and your sunk. Blow the mechanics and your sunk. with optical media at least you have this passive disc that just sits there.
  - JdeBP 10y ago
    The lesson of the BBC Domesday Project is that there's more to it than that with optical media.
    - digi_owl 10y ago
      Not sure how much of that can be transferred to later optical media. Right now a fresh off the shelf BR drive can still read (and possibly write) a CD.
  - aaronmdjones 10y ago
    > Blow the controll board in some way and your sunk. Blow the mechanics and your sunk. Not to rain on your parade, but there are several data recovery and forensics services that will pull the data off of such disks. If you have a clean room, you can even do it yourself: all you need is an identical model drive, and to just transfer the physical platters from the broken disk, to the good disk. Think of it like swapping the engine in a car instead of buying a new car. Of course, with the new Helium-filled hard drives coming out these days, that's going to be a lot tougher ...

CDs degrade over time, both flash and CDs are bad long-term choices.

by xyproto 10y ago

CDs degrade over time, both flash and CDs are bad long-term choices.

ReverseCold 10y ago

Flash storage too? As in SSDs?

lutusp 10y ago
> Flash storage too? As in SSDs? All information storage media degrade over time, it ultimately comes down to differences in durability. Stone tablets outlast SSDs, but for both, the clock is ticking.
detaro 10y ago
SSDs have to hold electric charge to retain their data, so if they are unpowered they slowly discharge. The warmer they get, the worse it is: afaik common specifications only guarantee one year data retention at 30°C, but with lower temps it gets better.

dragontamer 10y ago

Ink-based CD-Rs (or DVD-R or DVD+R) degrade over time (and due to exposure to the sun). There are some other technologies that seem like they'll last a long time (MDISC), but I'm not really sure if they're worth their cost... or if I should just go for a Hard Drive at that point.

digi_owl 10y ago
I just wish that HDDs didn't have all these layers between the data and the OS. Blow the controll board in some way and your sunk. Blow the mechanics and your sunk. with optical media at least you have this passive disc that just sits there.
- JdeBP 10y ago
  The lesson of the BBC Domesday Project is that there's more to it than that with optical media.
  - digi_owl 10y ago
    Not sure how much of that can be transferred to later optical media. Right now a fresh off the shelf BR drive can still read (and possibly write) a CD.
- aaronmdjones 10y ago
  > Blow the controll board in some way and your sunk. Blow the mechanics and your sunk. Not to rain on your parade, but there are several data recovery and forensics services that will pull the data off of such disks. If you have a clean room, you can even do it yourself: all you need is an identical model drive, and to just transfer the physical platters from the broken disk, to the good disk. Think of it like swapping the engine in a car instead of buying a new car. Of course, with the new Helium-filled hard drives coming out these days, that's going to be a lot tougher ...