My DVD Disc can Hold More then Your Blu-ray Disc

May 24, 2009 | Data Storage

With all the talk going around with new breakthroughs in optical technology including the news* from down under (Swinburne University of Technology in Australia) about 5D storage which is reported to hold 10 Terabytes, which is about 2,381 single layer DVD recordable or 280 dual sided DVD+R discs.  It turns out it’s those little nano-particles everyone has been talking about recently.

This should be a huge breakthrough that will get all the pesky tape back-up and hard drives out of the picture permanently?

Thus my point: Data storage size and cost per GB (or Terabyte) does not matter any more.  We certainly know that the application for storage is significant (optical for archive, tape for capacity) but time and time again in both business storage and consumer based buying habits the ‘value’ is far beyond the ‘storage capacity’.  This is is the the dilemma facing Blu-ray right now.  The perception of value placed on different formats was really blown away with the Apple iPod.  Distribution (and convenience) over storage function.  Really the game changer is the architecture of distribution and retention vs. per storage capability.

This makes sense as most of us do not walk around with data storage appliances strapped to our backs for maximum storage: we choose the most convenient package for our needs.  The brilliance of the iPod is it took relatively small storage, a compression audio format that reduces the size 20x or more (MP3) , a network for distribution (iStore) and a Digital management console  iTunes and created a sensation based around more, not better.

Now we hard core iPod fans would be offended by “not better”  right?   It effectively solves the users problem with discs or other types of storage like analog audio tape (we used to call them cassette tapes   )  in portability and transport.  Although I listened to one person on the radio discussing the days of the “boom box” and the social buzz around one at the time. Now no one gathers around the box listening to the jams: it’s all on-line.

With USB flash storing up to 64GB (or more) it certainly seems a winner in the portable world but what is USB flash?    It’s a connector (USB) which interfaces with a computer or other storage device.  USB is not the technology that makes non-volatile or ” flash” memory the game-changer (and the ability to erase in small sectors).  It’s all about the connection, the interface cable.

Consider the fact that Micro SD is a strong contender for replacing the optical disc.  Consider how it interfaces with computers.  It’s focus is at cell phones, “smart phones” which don’t easily and conveniently interface with USB without an adapter.

I wonder what can be done with nano-particles and flash non-volatile memory.  That is use electricity to change the structure of the particles instead of laser light.  How will that interface?  will the ‘drive’ become obsolete?

Solid state memory does not spin and the media and “drive” are combined.

All it has to do is plug in to the device. Or a real Apple ‘Nano’  =  nano-particles as in a couple of Terabytes of song and video storage.

*If you want to read the original news source for the new 5 dimensional storage   Reuters

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DVDRW makes re-using DVDs a Snap

May 14, 2009 | Recordable DVDs

DVD+RW for Recording and Erasing

DVDRW is the format of choice when you want to record and erase your DVDs.  Two formats exist, DVD-RW which is not widely used or supported and DVD+RW which is the format of choice for rewritable DVD discs.  DVD+RW blank discs only come in single layer which holds about 4.3Gb formatted.  There are mini DVD+RW too which allow special camcorders to record and edit the content. The standard 120mm DVD+RW is the most widely used and makes an excellent compliment to a DVR (Digital Video Recorder) so you can use both the built in hard drive or the rewritable DVDRW.   Even a standalone DVD recorder can provide rewritable capabilities with the ability to remove the disc and place another DVDRW and later erase a show you no longer wish to watch.  DVD+RW can be rewritten 100′s of times  so you are not wasting write-once DVDs for just something you want to watch once and then erase.

Verbatim DVD+RW provides a great option for high quality (in this case long rewritable life) DVDRW.

DVD+RW is not an archival format and really serves as a temporary storage method spanning several years.  Compatibility between players and recorders can become an issue so it’s best to store your long term data on write once DVD+R or DVD-R.

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Holographic Recordable Optical Media

April 29, 2009 | Data Storage

The New York Times  had an article about GE and it’s great breakthrough with holographic optical media.  This new format sports 300GB storage. The BBC also had an article about the GE Breakthrough

Now GE is not the only one in this field nor is anything new about this.

InPhase technologies Tapestry holographic system is actually deployed in Beta for at least a year and provides 300GB storage with 50 year archive  lifetime. 800GB just around the corner.  Where are the articles?    Who cares about GE anyway?

This has been the holy grail of optical storage for a long time with the promise of infinite storage / permanent archive. Unfortunately other technologies such as magnetic hard drives, solid state hard drives, flash and tape have all been expanding rapidly in native storage.  Now you don’t even need a physical device to backup data: it can be backed up to a cloud computing system.  So where in this mix does optical still have advantages over near-line and off-line storage?

Optical discs provide several advantages over the other near-line and off-line storage. Backup and archiving is not a single layer of storage technology but an onion with many layers of protection. I mean that you have to develop your strategy around your hard drive array (your on-line storage).  Running a RAID array for fault tolerance is an excellent first layer of defense.   The next layer would be a snapshot device like a optical disc archive.  The final layer being a tape backup which backs up the entire system.  Snapshot backups allow for quick restoration points in a network. As most of us know it is far easier restoring from a hierarchical data set then tape which requires a complete restore which is extremely time consuming and disruptive.

This is really where optical storage shines and the promise of greater capacity storage through recordable Blu-ray and holographic disc storage is necessary given the limitations of DVD for data storage.  Look to InPhase Technologies and not GE

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Taiyo Yuden Media is changing it’s name to – JVC Advanced Media U.S.A.

April 8, 2009 | Random Blackouts

NEWS – (Taiyo Yuden)
-Taiyo Yuden Media is changing it’s name to – JVC Advanced Media U.S.A. – effective immediately (as of 4/1/09).
At this time, no schedule is set for the transition to JVC named products.
All new sku’s will be under the acquired JVC brand name, current sku’s will transition in about 3-6 months.
This should bring no change to our normal day to day business selling Taiyo Yuden, just the name change to JVC.   All media will continue to be manufactured in Japan to the same high quality standards by Taiyo Yuden (now JVC Advanced Media U.S.A ).

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Rimage Producer III DVD Duplicator Publisher Systems

March 30, 2009 | Duplication Systems

I had an interesting time the other week at Rimage sales training learning about the new introductions and system changes in the Rimage Producer III disc duplicator publisher line.  The biggest change is the addition of Blu-ray recorders to the entire line.  The Blu-ray recorders can be mixed with DVD recorders or you can have a system completely dedicated to Blu-ray.  The drives support DVD as well as CD-R so you are not losing any functionality with the upgrade. Now you can have recordable Blu-ray in one hopper, DVD-R in the second hopper and CD-R in the third input bin.

Another big change (it’s been developing) is the modular design built into the Producer III series.  Drive replacement takes about 10 seconds as you can now slide out the drives without using any tools.  Even the control center can be removed and replaced.  This concept is very useful for Rimage’s advanced swap so you can have the parts available within a very short period of time.  This is all based around Rimage’s commitment to industrial on-demand disc publishing.

Another great product feature is the web interface for the Mac client.  It really makes things far easier for the networked Mac user.  It actually has some features that will be exciting to see in the PC version.  As the developer was showing this on his Mac laptop it was amusing to see him go back and forth between virtual machines, in this case a PC client.

A big change in product line-up is the discontinuation of the Rimage Amigo.  The Amigo has been around a long time, discontinued and then brought back from retirement. At one time it was the entry level unit (it has one drive) but with the whole professional line of office publishers it’s old position is somewhat obsolete.  Rimage has replaced it with the 6100 series within the Producer III line.  It uses the same robotics as the Rimage 7100n and 8100n and optional Prism Plus thermal printer or the Everest III and it’s high resolution brother the Everest 600

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