optical media – Page 4

Do’s and Don’ts in Optical Media Data Archiving.

We all have some data or information that we want to preserve for as long a period of time as possible: whether it is family home videos or photo albums, precious memories of the past, or something that has the magical ability to recreate the best moments of our lives. As we wrote in one of our previous blog articles, many of us still have our old video archives stored on VHS tapes. When it comes to the photographs, it is very often the same story: how many of you still remembers Grandma’s old photo-albums with black and white photographs in them?

Old family photographs tend to fade out with time. Might be a good idea to store their digital copies.

In this article we will discuss a little more about the preservation of digital data using CDs and DVDs. We gathered some valuable guidelines from a number of sources including NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), other DVD and CD manufacturers and data archiving specialists.

The consensus of opinions, based on accelerated lifetime testing conducted by specialists worldwide, is that a high quality archival grade CDs and DVDs, if properly handled and stored, should preserve data for at least 100 years. Some professional grade optical media like FalconMedia Century Archival with gold and platinum layers even suggest a lifetime as long as 300-500 years before the data becomes unreadable.

Comparative lifespan of various data storage devices.

Of course, whether the hardware required to read a current CD or DVD will be around in 75 or 200 years is another matter. Most system today don’t have even the hardware to read 5.25″ floppy disks (which were common and popular 25 years ago). But in any case, the lifespan of optical media as a data storage medium is expected to be at least 4 times longer than that.

The key points here are that long life depends on using HIGH QUALITY archival DVDs and CDs and handling and storing them properly. The less you handle them the better, so for real archival use it is strongly recommended to make at least two copies. Put one away in storage under the conditions outlined below (vertical storage in a case under low temperature and low humidity conditions) and use one as your “working” copy.

THINGS TO DO:

Handle discs by the outer edge or the center hole.
Use a non solvent-based felt-tip permanent marker to mark the label side of the disc.
Keep dirt or other foreign matter from the disc.
Store discs upright (book style) in plastic cases specified for CDs and DVDs.
Return discs to storage cases immediately after use.
Leave discs in their packaging (or cases) to minimize the effects of environmental changes.
Open a recordable disc package only when you are ready to record data on that disc.
Store in a cool, dry, dark environment in which the air is clean.
Remove dirt, foreign material, fingerprints, smudges, and liquids by wiping with a clean cotton fabric in a straight line from the center of the disc toward the outer edge.
Use CD/DVD cleaning detergent, isopropyl alcohol or methanol to remove stubborn dirt or material.
Check the disc surface before recording.

Store discs in vertical position to ensure longer lifespan and data readability.

A standard jewel case is adequate for storage. In jewel cases, the disc is suspended by the center hole and isolates the written area from contacting any surface, it also offers some protection against rapid temperature changes

THINGS NOT TO DO:

Bend the disc.
Use adhesive labels.
Store discs horizontally for a long time (years).
Open a recordable optical disc package if you are not ready to record.
Expose discs to extreme heat or high humidity.
Expose discs to extreme rapid temperature or humidity changes.
Expose recordable discs to prolonged sunlight or other sources of UV light.
Write or mark in the data area of the disc (area where the laser “reads”).
Clean in a circular direction around the disc.
Scratch the label side of a CD.
Use a pen, pencil, or fine tip marker to write on the disc.
Write on the disc with markers that contain solvents.
Try to peel off or re-position a label.

It is strongly recommended to use special CD-PEN to label CDs and DVDs

Here are some more general recommendations on storing the archival optical media:

For archiving recordable (R) discs, discs that have a gold metal reflective layer are recommended. It’s said that with current disks, which are better sealed than they used to be, the use of gold as a reflecting layer is less important than it was, however it certainly doesn’t hurt!
For general storage, a temperature between 4°C (39°F) and 20°C (68°F) is recommended with a relative humidity of 20% to 50%
For long term storage, 18°C and 40% RH are recommended.
For extended term archival storage even lower temperature and humidity are recommended.
Storage in the dark, while not absolutely required, can’t hurt.

5555

FalconMedia products are amongst the highest quality CDs and DVD in the world today, with benchmark testing against other optical media products from the main players in the market showing improved durability, longevity and disc-to-disc consistency. They have also demonstrated lower error rates and jitters, and the printable layers of their discs show excellent ink-drying results and high resistance to water. The combination of these factors makes FalconMedia products the more secure archival media solution available in the market today.

Brand New Sound Enriching Premium CD Player to be Launched in September

Music is life – and therefore good quality sound is like pure fresh air. This is the kind of philosophy that inspires Marantz, a recognized world leader in advanced audio technologies, that is ready to prove one more time that there is no better sound than the sound recorded on optical media and played on the Premium-class CD player.

The company has announced the launch of the brand new HD-CD1 Player with superb, elegant, classic design. While compact in size, it is engineered and developed on the basis of Marantz state-of-the-art technology carried over the company’s award winning CD players, including the famous Marantz HDAM-SA2 amplifier modules. The new model is expected to be launched to the markets as soon as September 2016.

The HD-CD1 is a premium class CD player in the compact form and with attractive design feature, a product that would be a good addition to any audio-enthusiast’s collection of audio compact discs. It combines the company’s 30 years experience in compact disc playback with the latest developments in digital audio technology.

This product is ideal for use as a CD transport when used with the HD-AMP1, or as a CD player in any situation where a compact device is required without any compromise on sound quality. Selected components are used throughout the audio signal path, for the very best reproduction of music. A centralized CD mechanism, able to play MP3, WMA and AAC files as well as standard CDs, is also used for ultra-accurate disc-reading.

Marantz HD-CD1 used in pair with Marantz HD-AMP1

The morale here for all music and other audio format-lovers is simple – don’t hurry to dump your old CD’s: the audio recorded on them is certainly still worth listening to, and there are still good CD players out there to enhance your experience.
Falcon Technologies International is a world-leading producer of optical media products including CD-R’s and DVD’s, which are the perfect compliment to Marantz CD player to ensure a blissful listening experience.

5D Glass Disc – Future of Optical Media?

As we move forward and the evolution of Informational Technology goes on, the challenge of constantly increasing data arrays storage becomes more obvious. Flash-memory, HDDs and SSDs have their limits: both in volume and reliability. The natural question “What’s next?” – sounds relevant in this context. The University of Southampton believes that the answer is Five-Dimensional (5D) Glass Discs.

5D quartz disc - future of optical media storage — 5D quartz disc – future of optical media storage

As it was mentioned previously on our blog, traditional flash wears out, HDDs occasionally fail, physical photographs fade and paper books rot. Optical media meets archival purposes best, and this is why the industry re-shaped driven by the market conditions partially in this segment. It sets certain important tasks in front of Optical Media: preservation and security of humanity’s collective culture heritage for generations to come. Currently this critical data is transferred from one slowly failing storage medium to other one, but what if we had means to store it once and forget about it?

The possible next-generation optical media – 5D Glass Disc is something that may serve as “everlasting” data storage solution. The technology uses data encoding within sub-microscopic nanostructures in glass. Existing optical media, such as CDs and DVDs use two dimensions to store data, while the new technology adds three more dimensions to it: nanograting orientation, refraction ‘strength’ and location within x, y and z axis. Researchers say that three additional dimensions increase the storage capacity up to 360 Terabytes per disc.

Speed aging tests of the glass disc showed fantastic results: the data stored on such kind of media may outlive the planet itself: at 190 °C operational lifetime is calculated to be a ‘mere’ 13.8 billion years!

It all sounds like a technology from Star Wars Universe or any other fantastic saga’s, but in fact it is an actual technology, that may re-define the entire optical media industry in future (at least the data archiving segment of it). It would be fair to note here, that in the very beginning of CD-era in the mid-80s nobody would ever think that optical media would later become so cost-effective for personal and corporate use.

See the video displaying data-writing on 5D glass disc.

End of the VHS-era: How Home Video Shaped The Media Industry.

Rewind your memories and just take a moment to realize that the entire era has just ended this summer; the last-known company that was still producing video cassette recorders (also known as VCRs) has officially announced that it has finalized production of the last unit.

That’s right, on July 21 The New York Times pointed to a short announcement published earlier in the Japanese newspaper Nikkei which was essentially a press release by the Funai Corporation, stating that the company took a decision to cease the production of VCRs due to the “difficulty of acquiring parts”.

Funai Corporation said that there is a "difficulty in acquiring parts" for VCRs — Funai Corporation said that there is a “difficulty in acquiring parts” for VCRs

The New York Times also referenced a statement in which the company said, “We are the last manufacturer (of VCRs) in all of the world.” Further to this, it was stated that only 750,000 VCRs were sold in 2015 worldwide, significantly down from the millions sod every year decades earlier.

It is hard to imagine anyone from generations growing up with streaming technology which brings all the latest movies and television shows straight to TV’s, tablets and smartphones screens, to get a feeling of nostalgia from this news. However, virtually everyone from those in their late-20s and older will almost certainly remember the sight of VHS tapes scattered around the floor adjacent to their televisions, and boxes full of old VHS tapes dumped somewhere in the closet or the basement of their homes. These tapes were extremely popular in 80s and 90s, when VHS was one of the most popular kinds of home entertainment.

Piles of old VHS tapes - nostalgia of 90s and 80s — Piles of old VHS tapes – nostalgia of 90s and 80s

People used to record their favorite TV shows and popular movies from premium cable channels so that they could view them again later, which was sometimes a complicated procedure requiring the setting of a timer on the VCR in order to program unit to record at a certain time period. For the first time, people started having the magic feeling of freedom from the TV schedule: you didn’t have to be at home at a certain time to watch something anymore.

Programming the timer on a VCR to get the right TV shows recorded was sometimes tricky

In some parts of the world, like mid-80s USSR, very often smuggled VHS tapes carried the valuable information about “Western culture” and “the capitalist way of life” to the younger generations who were planning to rise in rebellion against the isolation imposed by the old Soviet Union.

Many of us have important memories stored in a form of home video footages on VHS tapes: a wedding video, the birth of a child, vacations, proms and other important events. These footages are really important for us – they are like time capsules that conserve the best moments that can be always pulled out and re-lived at any moment.

Important memories stored on VHS and other tapes.

VHS tapes have now been officially consigned to history – making it a good idea to transfer all the footage stored on them to some more reliable media storage, such as DVDs. Magnetic tape is more sensitive to environmental factors, and therefore the tape (and footage!) may deteriorate and result in data loss. DVDs are more long lasting, so you might consider to use them to make a backup of your precious memories.

FalconMedia Value Line - a product that is suitable for your important memories storage. — FalconMedia Value Line – a product that is suitable for your important memories storage.

Falcon Technologies International LLC has developed a product line specially designed for consumer market. Value Line is designed to meet the needs of cost-conscious consumer and represents a perfect balance between quality and price. The good product is complimented by entry-level price range and no failure guarantee, making Value Line a highly competitive product on the market.

Alternative Data Storage Solutions: are HDDs and Cloud-based Backups the Only Ones Out There?

Data storage and backups are becoming a more important, even essential, part of operations for virtually all businesses. Third-party, cloud-based storage solutions have become very popular in recent years with many industries that operate with large volumes of data, such as sound, video and graphics. But are these solutions so secure and trusted as they are marketed to be?

Cloud storage solutions such as Dropbox became very popular during last 7-8 years

Thomas Coughlin, a data storage consultant, says that two of the biggest issues for most media and entertainment companies with third-party archiving is cost and trust. When it comes to a handling of archives above a certain size, it becomes more cost-efficient to have supporting proprietary storage infrastructure in-house, rather than continue leasing it from a third party.

The issue of trust in relating to data archiving is being solved using various encryption methods, but according to Coughlin there are still many unanswered questions on long-term data security.

The other significant factor that influences companies towards proprietary data storage solutions is cost: according to the latest case study on Facebook, having data stored on optical media or magnetic tape is up to 80% cheaper than having it stored on HDD or SSD-based storages.

Freeze-Ray storage system helped Facebook to cut almost 80% of its data storage costs.

For enterprises that need to store large amounts of data that is rarely accessed, it is more important to effectively manage costs rather than getting faster performance of the storage solutions (e.g. banks, insurance companies, healthcare organisations, Governmental agencies, etc.). This is the main reason why more secure storage technologies based on optical media or magnetic tapes are more likely to be used by certain industries, Coughlin says.

Lower costs become a meaningful factor due to the difference in technology behind various types of storage systems. Optical discs and magnetic tapes do not require any electrical power when data is not accessed.

Falcon Technologies International LLC (FTI) has invested a significant portion of its resources into archival solutions development. Over a decade of continuous Research and Development, FTI achieved excellent expertise in the optical media production industry and proved its operational excellence through a number of quality certificates, such as ISO:9001 and CE.

The company firmly believes that Optical Media will re-define long-term data storage and archiving through the provision of reliable and high-quality tools, such as FTI’s latest optical disc product line Century Archival.

FTI's Century Archival - reliable solution for long term data storage. — FTI’s Century Archival – reliable solution for long term data storage.

Century Archival discs were specially designed for long-term data storage and exceeded experts’ expectations in a number of accelerated aging tests, showing a minimum lifespan of 300 years when subject to extreme environmental conditions. Gold and Platinum layers of Century Archival ensure that all the stored data will be secured against any external environmental threats (fact proved with series of ISO/OEM Archival Tests).

Dr. Sean Farnan, Head of FTI’s Research and Development Department said: “With the exponential growth of digital data, how we handle data is becoming increasingly important. From the instant gratification to placing a picture onto an online service such as Facebook, memories from a family wedding, business accounts, medical details through to the digital reproduction of ancient manuscripts the list is long and varied. As this journey into the digital landscape continues, the importance of storing digital data over a long period of time is now a real concern. It is also an opportunity for Optical Media to deliver a long lasting, cost effective archival solution.

By using the purest materials and employing rigorous quality control during the manufacturing process, it is possible to produce high capacity optical disks that will last over 100 years and beyond. The data storage works across all formats and is easily scalable depending on the end users’ application.

From learned institutions preserving human history, to online entertainment, healthcare and the business sector, the need for permanent data storage will be met by optical media. It will also allow you to share memories such as your wedding day with your grand children. Memories are always better when shared.”

Healthcare Information Technology Market is Expected to Grow

A recent industry report’s findings confirmed the projected growth of the global Radiology Information System (RIS) market and estimated it to reach a value of $980.2 million by 2024. A large segment of major scientific findings and technological advancements go hand-in-hand with the continuously growing demand for Healthcare InformationTechnology (HIT), which makes it one of the key driving forces of the market growth.

IT became an essential part of modern day healthcare industry.

The in-depth research report on Global RIS (Radiology Information System) Market with detailed charts and figures is available HERE.

Healthcare Information Technology is based on several major pillars, one of them being Electronic Medical Records (EMR). It is considered to be one of the most important HIT’s subsystems, that stores, processes and analyses medical data of patients. With the emergence of Radiology Information System (RIS) and Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) the entire Healthcare industry has been taken to the next level. Text-based patient records are now backed up by radiology images, that may be stored safely for decades without any risk of being damaged or lost.

Modern technologies take healthcare to the next level

Next generation Healthcare Informational Systems that are being implemented globally to ensure higher business security and patient confidentiality. RIS and PACS are recognised as most efficient systems of electronic imaging management and are gaining popularity in developing economies such as China and India, where the populations are so big that healthcare sector has no other choice but to implement them.

Falcon Technologies International LLC focuses its Research and Development efforts on niche segments of optical media such as HIT and has developed a special product line that meets the sector’s requirements.

FalconMEDIA MEDILINE - specially designed to meet the HIT needs. — FalconMEDIA MEDILINE – specially designed to meet the HIT needs.

FalconMEDIA MEDILINE is an ideal solution for providing the patients with imaging reports, radiology and treatment history. With its use, distribution of medical reports to the patients becomes more cost-efficient and easy task.

All FalconMEDIA MEDILINE products are fully compatible with Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) and Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standards.

What makes Optical Media better in Data Archiving?

Paper hard copies and handwritten memorandums are gradually being replaced by digital file storage solutions used by corporations to archive all important information. Data storage and regular back up became a significant task for all sorts of private and public business enterprises, many of whom would simply store the data on internal back up servers with redundant array of independent disks (RAID) or on Cloud-based solutions, however these kind of “hot” backup solutions are not suitable for long-term data storage.

"Hot" backup data storage is usually made on HDDs — “Hot” backup data storage is usually made on HDDs

“Hot” backup is a data copy that is accessed relatively often, usually stored on hard drives and flash-memory devices. These data storage devices contain many electronic components, and therefore have a very limited lifespan. Another point to consider is that data on these devices may be easily modified, which makes them not ideal solutions from a security point of view. Long term data archiving requires both security and durability criteria to be met.

“Cold” backup methods, such as optical media and cassette tapes, allow storage of big data volumes for a long periods of time. It is called “cold” because the data that is stored with this method is usually not accessed very often and it cannot be modified. Once a file is recorded on a Read Only disc it remains unchanged, which is perfect for historical data archiving.

Lifespan comparison of different backup storage media

In 2005 Japanese Government approved Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS Z 6017), that require corporations to preserve digital data for a minimum of 10 years. The regulations included official recommendations to use optical media as a main choice of storage solution. With the release of a new format optical disc, storage capacity of one unit grew up to 100GB, which is another driving force behind this media becoming a reliable and low-cost backup solution.

screen-shot-2016-11-21-at-11-09-45-am

Optical disc and drive technology has developed quickly in lifespan and storage capacity dimensions over the last decade. Pioneer introduced a brand new disc drive (BDR-PR1M series) that supports large capacity disc writing and additional error correction layers to minimize writing errors and improve disc quality. A wide range of industry players have already presented 50 /100GB storage capacity discs to the market some of which may last for up to 1000 years!

Facebook’s optical media cold storage systems will be launched on the mass-market

Long-term optical media archival solutions significantly cut costs according to Facebook.

Recently Facebook revealed to the media that it was transferring enormous volumes of its content archives to more cost-efficient storage: new archival solution architecture, based on optical media. Later on, after successful implementation of the technology, some of the biggest optical media industry players announced that the technology would be marketed for other businesses and new optical storage devices are being developed to carry even bigger volumes of data.

Old, but still widely used data storage device - magnetic tape. — Old, but still widely used data storage device – magnetic tape.

The technology was called “Freeze-Ray” due to the specifics of its use: data is preserved in a type of storage known as “cold storage” for long periods of time and rarely accessed.

Typically, users of social networks tend to view photos that are recently uploaded: a week or two old images are accessed very often, so Facebook stores them on spinning HDD’s. At some point in time, when the pictures are no longer accessed frequently, they are relocated on high-capacity optical discs, where they are stored for years without being accessed.

The optical media industry experienced steady decline during the last decade as streaming services such as Netflix took over, but now, with the interest from Facebook and other giants, it is back to life as one of the keys to cost-cutting. Facebook says that optical media storage saves them 50% of the budget for storage solutions and is 80% more energy efficient.

The first version of Facebook’s storage system was based on a 100GB disk. Later this year it is planned to shift to 300GB discs and some companies from the industry are already working on 500GB and 1TB versions. Single system may accommodate hundreds and even thousands of discs, providing petabytes of archival storage.

In addition to being useful to business enterprises, archival storage may also be considered by individual households. Digital media nowadays is so universal, that it captures many personal family memories and stories: home videos, pictures, family portraits – over the course of time this content requires more and more storage capacity. Optical media storage is a reliable way of storing these memories: it does not consume electricity and it is more resistant to external threats.

Would you consider storing your personal archives on optical media? Could it be the next page data archiving history?