I have recently begun backing up my data such as photos (both digital and film), videos, and other files so that in case something happens, I will not lose my irreplaceable data. There is always much discussion on the best ways to archive data, and I have my way. Many may agree and disagree with my method, but this one works for me.

In this post I will explain my method, as well as the reasons I chose to use the tools and storage devices.

Organizing and Labelling the Data

Before I begin to archive the data, I first organize the data, as well as set some labeling standards. The archival process is much easier once you have organized all your files, photos, and whatever else you will be archiving.

If you plan to scan photos, slides, negatives, or other documents, you should separate them into groups, either by date or people. This will help you to keep certain items together within your archives.

Once you have organized your data, you should create a labeling scheme to make it easier for you to find the data that you need. I have decided to backup my data on DVDs (I’ll explain why below), so each DVD is stored in a jewel case with a label assigned to the case. The label contains the following:

1. Title – I provide a descriptive title to indicate the contents of the DVD.
2. Years – I indicate the years covered by the data on the DVD. This helps to order the DVDs in chronological order, even if they weren’t burned in that order.
3. Created Date – The date that I created the DVD. This will come in handy in the future to determine how old the DVD is, and whether I should create a new copy of the DVD.
4. Catalog Name – This is a unique name that I give each DVD so I can organize them. I came up with a naming convention that indicates the type of data on the DVD.
5. Family – This field contains the last name of the family represented by the data on the DVD. This helps to find data for a specific family name.

I also decided to use coloured jewel cases that will help indicated the data on each DVD. For example, for photos I use a black jewel case, and videos will be stored in blue cases. You can easily purchase a box of coloured jewel cases for cheap.

Once I have organized my data, and came up with a labeling scheme, the next step is to start determining how to store the data.

Archiving Media

This is probably the most debated point with regards to archiving data. Many people have their opinions about which media is best. Each media type has its pros and cons, so choose one that works for you.

I have chosen to archive my data on single-layer DVD discs. I chose this method because they are relatively affordable, can hold a lot of data and can be easily stored. When I do make an archive disc, I always make two copies, so that if one becomes corrupted in the future, then I can retrieve my data from the copy.

I have, however, not chosen just any DVD discs to use for archiving. I have chosen to use DVD+R discs from Taiyo Yuden. The DVD+R format has several benefits over the DVD-R specification, with one of the benefits being better error management. Taiyo Yuden discs are known as very reliable discs, so I chose them for my archives.

Just in case you are wondering where you can purchase Taiyo Yuden discs, I discovered that very few stores, if any, carry them. I ordered mine online, as most people probably do. I only know of two online stores where you can order them for those living in Canada or the United States:

• Canada – Blankmedia.ca.
• United States – Supermediastore.com.

If you know where else you can purchase these DVDs, I would like to know. Be careful, however, as many places offer DVDs that say they are Taiyo Yuden, when in fact they are fakes.

I burn the DVD using Nero, using the catalog name as the DVD name, and perform a verification after each burn to ensure that the data was written without any issues. Once the burn has completed, I print the label, and then insert the label into the jewel case with the DVD. I write the catalog name on the DVD using a water-based CD marker.

When I’m done with my burning, I move one of the copies offsite to prevent all my archives from being destroy if something were to happen to my home.

Many people have discussed the life of a burned DVD, and whether their data will be available in 50 years. I think that as long as the data is readable after 5 years I should be good. I’ll probably move my data to the next generation of storage media, so won’t care if these DVDs can be read in 50 years.

Summary

In this post I have provided an overview of my method for archiving my data. I use a simple labeling system as well as DVD+R discs to organize and store my data. For more security, and piece of mind, I also always burn at least two copies of the data, just in case one is destroyed. Finally I move one of the copies offsite to losing all archives if something were to happen.

You can choose to follow my method, or come up with your own. You should always create a system that works best for you.

Over the past year that has been more and more talk about the new high- definition DVD discs that are available. With each new movie released to DVD, I have noticed that both the regular DVD and high-definition form is available. There is one problem with the new high definition format: there are two competing standards.

The two competing standards have set off talk about the Beta versus VHS many years ago. Many people are staying away from purchasing a high-definition DVD player until a winner is determined to avoid buying an obsolete format.

In this post I will provide an overview of the high-definition formats to shed some light on the difference between the two.

High-Definition

All televisions sold today are usually widescreen LCD or Plasma high definition. High-definition refers to any video system with higher resolution than standard-definition video. Most high-definition televisions display video commonly in 1280×720 (720p) or 1920×1080 (1080i or 1080p) resolution.

The problem with higher resolution is that it requires a lot more storage capacity to store the video. To account for the increase in storage capacity, several companies developed to competing standards that are meant as a successor to the DVD format. The formats are known as HD DVD and Blu-ray.

HD DVD

The HD DVD is designed to be the successor of the DVD and as such, uses the same underlying technology. The difference between the two is in the storage capacity. While a dual-layer DVD can store 8.5GB, a dual-layer HD DVD can store 30GB.

Toshiba and NEC joinly developed the HD DVD standard and soon became supported by the DVD Forum on November, 19 2003 as the successor to the DVD.

The first HD DVD player was released in Japan on March 31, 2006 and cost $934 US. Over the next 9 months, Toshiba reported that it had sold approximately 120,000 HD DVD players in the United States. At the same time Microsoft, which has adopted the HD DVD format as an optional upgrade kit for the Xbox 360, announced that it had sold 150,000 units of it’s upgrade kit.

Since Microsoft has supported the HD DVD format, it’s newest operating system, Windows Vista, supports that format.

Although it appears that the HD DVD format could be the choice for the world of high-definition, there is another competing format to consider, especially since it also had the backing of large corporations.

Blu-ray

The competing standard to the HD DVD format is called Blu-ray. It was developed by Sony back in the mid to late ‘90s and uses a blue laser to read the disc. Since the development of Blu-ray there has been a lot of talk among the big players in the industry, such as Sony, HP, Microsoft, to try an come up with a single standard for high definition. Talks eventually broke down, and in the end the various companies supported one of the two standards.

The first Blue-ray players entered the market in June 2006, although they were beat to the market by the HD DVD players by a few months. The first Blu-ray disc titles were released that same month with the first dual layer discs being release that same year in November.

The storage capacity of a Blu-ray disc is higher than a HD DVD disc. A dual-layer disc can hold 50GB of data as opposed to HD DVD’s 30GB. The Playstation 3, Sony’s gaming console, currently includes a Blu-ray drive so it can double as a player as well.

The Winner

Although it is too early to tell which format will merge victorious in the format war, it seems that the Blu-ray discs are outselling the HD DVD nearly 2 to 1. I am not in any hurry to recommend one format or the other as I will wait and see what happens.

I believe that as long as the players for both formats are backward-compatible with existing DVDs, then they both could have a chance to win this battle. The average consumer won’t care about the technology, or the storage capacity of a disc. They only care about playing their existing DVDs, as consumers have just finished buying those to replace their VHS tapes.

Maybe in the future the format war will be resolved the same way as the DVD-R and DVD+R format war: no winner, but one player/burner able to handle both formats.

In this battle, only time will tell who will win.

I have recently began archiving my digital pictures and videos, and would eventually begin archiving film, slides and other photographs. The collection and space requirements will be quite large as there is much to back up. I have decided to archive it all to multiple DVD discs. This got me to thinking about which discs to use for my archiving. Obviously, I want good quality discs (please read How Long Will a CD-R last? for more details) but I then thought about the two competing DVD standards: DVD-R and DVD+R.

I decided to research the two formats and determine which one I should choose for archiving. I explain my findings in this post.

DVD-R

The DVD-R format was developed in 1997 by Pioneer and is now supported by most DVD players and ahs the approval from the DVD Forum. The DVD Forum is an international organization composed of hardware, software, media and content companies that use and develop the DVD format. The correct pronunciation of this format is “DVD” dash “R”.

This format is compatible with most players and DVD-ROMs on the market so is a popular choice for creating videos or burning pictures. If you want to ensure compatibility, then go with this format.

DVD+R

In 2002, the DVD+RW Alliance, which consists of a group of electronic hardware, optical storage and software manufacturers, created a competing format called DVD+R. It also stores 4.7 GB of data, but unlike DVD-R, it has not been approved by the DVD Forum.

The biggest difference between this format and DVD-R format is hidden from the user. The DVD+R format uses the ADIP (Address in Pregroove) system of tracking and controlling the speed of the DVD. This is less susceptible to error than the LPP (Land Pre Pit) system used by DVD-R, which means the ADIP system is more accurate at higher speeds. The DVD+R format also has a more robust error management system, which allows more accurate burning independent of the quality of the media.

Since the DVD-R format came to the market five years before DVD+R, many of the older DVD players (pre-2004) aren’t compatible with the DVD+R format. If you can’t play a recordable DVD in a DVD player, this may be the reason.

Summary

After reviewing the two standards I have determined that for my day-to-day backups, pictures I burn for someone else, or home videos I will use the DVD-R discs. The reason for this is because there are more DVD players and DVD-ROMS compatible with this format.

Since the DVD+R has better a better error management system, can burn better at higher speeds I will use those for my archive backups. Since I will be the one using those discs, then I can ensure that the DVD-ROM will be compatible with DVD+R format.

If you would like to use either format, many DVD burners can write and read both formats. This makes it easier for you to use both formats without any problems.

I have talked about computer components before in my post titled How to Buy a New Computer but it provided a quick overview on what to look for in a computer. I decided to go into more detail into some of the components that you will find in a typical computer.

The Processor

The first component I will look at in a computer is the actual brains of system. You may have heard of Intel and AMD, which are the two companies that produce processors for a computer.

A processor is simply a complex computer chip that contains millions of transistors and is responsible for carrying out instructions. The number of instructions that a processor can carry out is dependent on its speed.

Processors are usually rated in hertz (Hz). The speed of a processor today is usually rated in gigahertz (GHz) or 1 billion hertz. The larger the number, the faster the processor. Some of the new processors include more than one core that allows more instructions to be processed at one time with a slower speed. A two core processor, however, doesn’t process instructions at twice the speed as a single core.

As mentioned, both Intel and AMD produce processors for computers. Intel’s processors are usually called Pentium, while AMD uses the Athlon name. Processors from either company will be able to easily run your applications without issues.

Memory (RAM)

When a program is executed it is loaded from the hard drive into memory or RAM. When someone talks about the memory of a computer they are referring to the RAM (Random Access Memory).

The amount of RAM a computer has can impact the performance of the system. If you load too many programs at one time, you may run of RAM, which means Windows will then start to use the pagefile located on your hard drive. The hard drive in a computer is much slower than RAM so the more you require the pagefile, the slower your system becomes. If you do have this issue, either try not to load so many programs, or have more memory installed.

Memory is measured in bytes (B). The memory included in computers are usually stated in megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB). Megabytes is equal to 1 million bytes while gigabytes is 1 billion bytes. The more memory you have in your computer the better.

So why do we use hard drives instead of memory if memory is so much faster? The big reason is that RAM is volatile. This means that once the power is off on your computer, all data in memory is cleared. With a hard drive you can turn off your computer and your data will still be there the next time you use your computer.

Hard Drives

I remember my first computer had 640K (kilobyte or 1 thousands bytes) of RAM and a 20MB hard drive. Today hard drives have now into the terabytes (TB or 1 trillion bytes). Hard drives grow larger with each passing year.

Hard drives, as with RAM, are measure in bytes. Most hard drives sizes are stated in gigabytes, but some of the newer hard drives are now 1 terrabyte or larger. The hard drive contains all your programs and data files. When you launch a program it is read from the hard drive and then loaded into memory.

Hard drives consist of a spinning platter of flat disks. The speed of the hard drive is measure in revolutions per minute (RPM) and are usually indicated on the hard drive itself. Popular speeds are 5400RPM, 72000RPM and 10000RPM. There are several factors, however, that go into calculating the actual speed of the hard drive, which I won’t discuss here.

There are also external hard drives that you can plug into your computer, and use just like regular internal hard drive. These external hard drives a generally more expensive, but can be great for backing up data.

Network Adapters

Whether you have a wireless or wired network adapter, they all fall into this category. A network adapter allows you to connect to a network. This network can be with another PC in the same room, or to your broadband (high speed) Internet connection.

Network speeds are usually indicated by megabits per second (Mbps or 1 million bits per second). For modern networks you can have 10Mbps, 100Mbps or even 1000Mbps. You will need to divide the number by 8 to get the number of bytes per second since 8 bits is equal to 1 byte.

If you have a broadband Internet connection then you will definitely need a network adapter in your computer. Most computers today include a network adapter, so you shouldn’t have any issues.

If you have a router and broadband Internet, then you should connect your modem into the router and then the network adapter from your computer to your router. The network adapter will then be assigned an IP address from you router .

Summary

In this post I have discussed some of the components you will find in a typical computer. When purchasing a computer it is important to understand what each component does so you can make a better choice of what you will need in your system.