DVD Backup - Not Just for Movies
A Backup Article Contributed by Ashley Lister
DVD Backup - Not Just for Movies
Most people don't consider DVDs when it comes to a choice of backup media. Even those with a DVD writer already installed in their computer are slow to realize that this diverse medium can do more than simply record, copy or play movies.
Before Making a DVD Backup.
As a multimedia medium DVD are one of the best ways of storing audio and visual information. The quality of a high resolution movie played on a DVD has an astounding realism and isn't susceptible to the same loss of quality through wear that tape media eventually sustains. DVDs created five years ago will still play with the same quality and clarity today, regardless of how many times they have been watched. The same can rarely be said about any standard video tape.
And it is this consistency of quality and lack of corruption that makes DVD ideal for data backups.
The Choice of DVD Backups.
Deciding to go for DVD backups used to mean committing to either the DVD+RW/+R or the DVD-RW/-R format. The similarity in technologies, and the similar sounding names, has been confusing for some users and worrying for others. Mention of dual format discs adds to the chaos of choice and information overload that make this a tricky subject to understand.
Fortunately those problems will soon be leveled now that dual format/combination drives have arrived on the scene. These clever pieces of hardware are compatible with DVD+RW/+R format and DVD-RW/-R format. Ultimately this means that having to choose between one format or another is a thing of the past.
The only real choice with this media that will remain is whether to use the Write Once, Read Many (WORM) format of the +R or -R, or whether to use re-writable format of either, which in both cases can be rewritten to approximately one thousand times.
The Use of DVD Backups.
Because of their increasing popularity, and because they can store so much information, the majority of backup software producers have made a point of including a DVD option in the backup utilities that they supply. An average DVD can hold 4.7 gigabytes of information. More can be held if any form of compression is employed. It is not unfeasible to store an excess of ten gigabytes on a single disc which does make for an effective use of storage space.
ADmittedly a lot of tape storage devices have been able to offer this size of storage for many years now, but tape storage methods can be seen as an expensive and slow solution compared to the simplicity of a dvd backup.
DVDs are useful for movies - perhaps one of the best ways that movies can be watched through home entertainment - but they are capable of merely duplicating films. For a fast and efficient method of storing large quantities of data, particularly if you have a need to do that with comparatively little cost, DVD backup is probably the right choice for you.
