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Backing up with blu-ray or something else?

hedron

hedron

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 24, 2008
Messages
495
I'm looking for a decent way to back up about 1TB of data. Blu-ray has quad layer 100GB discs. But I'm not sure what drive or where to buy these discs. Anyone have any suggestions? I've checked newegg, but they don't have them.
 
You might want to look into tape drive storage, you would be able to backup all your data onto a single tape.


If you do decide to go with Blu-ray Discs then you will need a quad layer writer.
Pioneer BDR-207EBK is the only one that pops to mind.

Quad layer can store 128GB but they are not made yet.
Tripple layer can store 100GB, you can buy these.

Here is a 100GB disc for $45: http://www.amazon.com/TDK-Blu-ray-D...76864633&sr=1-1&keywords=triple+layer+blu+ray

And here is a stack of 25 discs for $999: http://www.amazon.com/Line-Media-10...76864633&sr=1-4&keywords=triple+layer+blu+ray


But you may find tape backups are cheaper.
 
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I'm also interested in tape backups if they are affordable, I have no experience with tape. For the price of those blu-rays why not just buy additional hard drives and back up to those?
 
A LTO-5 tape drive will cost around $1200

A 1.5TB LTO-5 tape costs around $30

High cost for the drive, low cost for the storage.
 
Spazturtle said:
You might want to look into tape drive storage, you would be able to backup all your data onto a single tape.
Click to expand...

I used to have a Travan tape backup system - in 1995. PITA and unreliable. I recommend getting a 2TB external USB or Network HDD for back up. I have one external HDD that can use both Network or USB. I connect it to my router and never had an issue with it.
 
A 1TB USB 3.0 external drive is $64, 2TB for $100, 3TB for $110, 4TB for $166 - these prices taken from amazon for Seagate Expansion external drives, which don't come with junkware.
 
Meeho said:
Why not use an extra HDD?
Click to expand...

Well, it would be nice to have a different medium as a backup. But for 1000$ a spindle? No forking way!

I'd be interested in tapes, but 1000$ for a drive is out of my price range. So, I guess I'll just use HDDs.
 
As stated, Hard drive backup is a brilliant solution.
Its a lot cheaper than tape, a lot faster, more reliable and easier to access.
You get way more than double the space for the same price, so buy 2 hard drives and make 2 backups, or rotate them.
I use hard drives for backup.
 
I myself use a 2TB hard drive as a backup for my 500GB and 1TB hard drives.

For even more security get 2 drives, keep one where the computer is (IE at home) and keep one at work.
 
Nenu said:
As stated, Hard drive backup is a brilliant solution.
Its a lot cheaper than tape, a lot faster, more reliable and easier to access.
You get way more than double the space for the same price, so buy 2 hard drives and make 2 backups, or rotate them.
I use hard drives for backup.
Click to expand...

Depends on what tape you are talking about. As for speed you need raid arrays to beat the speed of LTO5 drives and / or reliability of tape. However due to the $1000+ cost of a LTO5 tape drive it does not make a lot of sense until your data size grows to the point that the cost of a drive is a non factor.
 
Simply put, an external hard drive of the 2TB variety would be more than sufficient. USB 3.0 or eSATA will do very well. Why blow money on some exotic tape setup?

Simply back up the data at will, and UNPLUG the drive. If it's super important, get two drives and back it up twice, and store them in different locations. In my experience, you do not want to keep an external hard drive plugged in for months on end: the USB controllers on those things seem to crap out too often. Also the lack of heat dissipation contributes to early demise. but PERFECTLY FINE for intermittent long term use.
 
drescherjm said:
Depends on what tape you are talking about. As for speed you need raid arrays to beat the speed of LTO5 drives and / or reliability of tape. However due to the $1000+ cost of a LTO5 tape drive it does not make a lot of sense until your data size grows to the point that the cost of a drive is a non factor.
Click to expand...

A home user isnt ever going to spend that amount of money on a tape backup, they would choose a cheaper solution.
Even if they did use LTO5, it takes a lot longer to access specific data from a tape backup than from a hard drive, assuming the data can be retrieved!

I question the reliability of tapes for a number of reasons.
They are prone to scratching and excess wear, they certainly cant be used as much as a hard drive.
Tapes stretch and break.
They are prone to degrading due to external magnetic influence.
The drives have a lot more mechanical parts that are not sealed so are more prone to failure.

This 2010 white paper spells out some issues of tape
http://www.bsminfo.com/doc/online-backup-vs-tape-a-cost-and-0002
Reliability
One major factor to consider when choosing a backup method is reliability. Is the method prone to failure? Will the data be accessible in the event files need to be restored? With portable media such as tapes, CD's floppy disks, and pen drives, you run several risks. Firstly, tapes and disks are infamously failure-prone and are susceptible to damage by the environment and improper handling. They can also be ruined by electromagnetic fields that are, strangely enough, emitted by electronic devices that create the data. Secondly, when there is a need to recover files, many times portable media fails. Storage Magazine reports that over 34% of companies do not test their backups and of those tested 77% found that tape backups failed to restore. According to Microsoft, 42% of attempted recoveries from tape backups in the past year have failed. In addition, Ben Matheson, group product manager for Microsoft Data Protection Manager, said, "More than 50 percent of customers we've surveyed said their current backup solutions do not fill their needs."
Click to expand...
 
r00k said:
Also the lack of heat dissipation contributes to early demise.
Click to expand...

Consumer external drives such as Seagate Expansion, Seagate Backup Plus, WD My Book, and others use cases that have very low clearance between the vent holes on the bottom of the case (what few there are) and whatever surface the drive is set upon. And no vent holes anywhere else!

You can sometimes decrease the operating temps on these external hard drive cases by 5-10C merely by gluing something on the feet to raise the drive up higher. Something like the clear silicone bumpers used to stop cabinet doors from banging (search on amazon for "silicone bumpers cabinet").

Under no circumstances should you have anything but a hard surface under the external hard drive. No papers, tablecloths, napkins, coasters, mouse pads, anything.
 
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I have one external HDD that has a fan inside it for cooling but I still don't leave it on all the time. It came out before 1TB HDD even existed to purchase so uses 2x500GB HDDs with a raid card to make it seen as 1TB HDD. It's huge compared to my newer external HDDs.
 
Buy a backup HDD using thunderbolt or usb3. and back up your stuff.

IF it is really REALLY important information, have you thought about networked offsite storage? Dropbox, box all will be able to meet your storage requirements. Google Drive has 1TB networked storage for $50 a month.
 
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