Archive / Backup direct to DVD

[pallys]

Hi,

I have some data that I need to archive off direct to DVD.

I'm looking for a way/software to do this. It must split my data in order to span across DVD's. The archive cannot depend on a program specific file extension. e.g Nero BackupITup or Acronis True Image etc. The reason being that decades down the line this software probably won't be around anymore for me to restore.

So the suitable format I'm thinking of is TAR, or probably zip. No compression is wanted since data is already in a compressed format. Data will be spanned across multiple DVD's, and if 1 DVD fails then it must not affect the data on other DVD's.

The sticking point is I need to burn the data direct to DVD. All the software I've seen so far is either proprietary format or needs more disk space to write the split files to disk first, which I then have to burn to DVD. I don't have disk space to do this.

Anything out there, or you guys have used before?

Kind Regards.

 

[SiriusB]

Hi,

I have some data that I need to archive off direct to DVD.

I don't know of anything that does this off the top of my head. I don't use DVDs to back stuff up.

I'm looking for a way/software to do this. It must split my data in order to span across DVD's. The archive cannot depend on a program specific file extension. e.g Nero BackupITup or Acronis True Image etc. The reason being that decades down the line this software probably won't be around anymore for me to restore.

Backup the software with it? And if you are really worried, backup your OS too so you can run it, in case Windows 2058 doesn't run Nero. There is a good chance your DVDs would have deteriorated, been damaged or replaced in a much shorter amount of time than some decades.

So the suitable format I'm thinking of is TAR, or probably zip. No compression is wanted since data is already in a compressed format. Data will be spanned across multiple DVD's, and if 1 DVD fails then it must not affect the data on other DVD's.

What is wrong with raw data on the DVDs? No need to wrap up the files to be backed up into another file. Especially if everything is being split up anyway.

The sticking point is I need to burn the data direct to DVD. All the software I've seen so far is either proprietary format or needs more disk space to write the split files to disk first, which I then have to burn to DVD. I don't have disk space to do this.

Almost anything that writes to a disc will create an image on your HDD before burning it to a DVD. I can't think of any software that will write continuously to a disc.

If your backups are so important you want them to last decades, you can afford the disk space in order to make those backups possible.

 

[theheyes]

Proprietary software isn't too much of a problem so long as it's very common. Also, a lot of the backup software I've seen produce packages that you can dig into with Windows Explorer and retreive files anyway - it's just wrapped in something that makes the restore process easier.

I think the disc spanning will add complexity to the backup. I thought briefly about suggesting bluray discs, but I'm not sure if thats the answer. If you're really serious about backing something up for decades then tape is an option, but you'd need some hardware. I wouldn't trust discs for that amount of time.

Personally for the price, ease of use and reliability I'd go for an external hard disk - or two. As long as they are stored correctly they should be fine. I'd also be confident NTFS and USB will still be supported for many years to come.

You might also consider a hosting service and let them worry about the backup, maybe in addition to the hard disk suggestion so you're not putting all your eggs in one basket in case things bugger up. A company as big as Microsoft or Google are not going to fold overnight without warning so you could always grab your data back in that event.