![]() The drive unit handles a single optical disc cartridge that offers an alternative to LTO or traditional forms of data tape for the longer-term archiving of valuable assets. The D55U Optical Disc Archive standalone drive unit is the part of the Optical Disc family of data storage products designed to provide an extended life cycle for storing and archiving all forms of audio-visual assets and data files for the very long term.ĭeep archive for very long-term archiving requirementsįully backward-read compatible, the Sony Optical Disc Archive drive technology is designed to provide read capability for all generations of optical disc cartridge media, giving you access to your content for 50+ years, whilst eliminating the need for a forced media migration due to media and drive obsolescence. Optical Disc Archive Drive Unit from Sony Sony ODS-D55U Optical Disc Archive Drive Unit APSC & Smaller Sensor Mirrorless Cameras.From time to time you may need to “upgrade” your archival storage to a different media format to ensure it will remain accessible. Put simply, long-term storage of digital data requires a degree of maintenance over time, to ensure the media remains reliable and to ensure the media format is still supported. Even with external hard drives, of course, you need to make sure you maintain compatibility, such as to ensure the hard drive supports the available data connections over time. I therefore prefer to use hard drive storage for primary, backup, and archival storage. Standalone drives are available, but as has been the case with many other media formats in the past, I’m concerned that Blu-ray drives may become obsolete or at least somewhat difficult to find. For example, most new computers do not come with a CD or DVD drive, let alone a Blu-ray drive. The bigger concern that makes me uncomfortable about using optical media for archival storage is the potential future lack of availability of drives for the specific media format you opt for. But there is still a degree of concern about physical damage to the discs even with relatively normal handling. In some cases, such as with the Sony drive noted above, the discs are enclosed in a housing to help protect the data disc. While optical media can generally provide great reliability for data storage, the discs do generally tend to be somewhat vulnerable to physical damage. ![]() For example, Sony offers an Optical Disc Archive Desktop Drive ( ) that can be used in conjunction with Write-Once Optical Disc Cartridges with a capacity of 3.3TB ( ). There are higher capacity optical storage options available, including relatively high-capacity options specifically focused on data archive. Still, from the perspective of a photographer this is not a significant storage capacity compared to other media options such as hard drives. Standard Blu-ray recordable discs are typically available in 25GB, 50GB, and 100GB capacities, though some higher capacity discs are available. Blu-ray is effectively an updated version of the familiar DVD format, providing higher data density for higher capacity on a single disc. More Detail: Optical media often provides reliable long-term storage in terms of data integrity, and that is generally especially true of Blu-ray optical media. Tim’s Quick Answer: While optical media does have some advantages for archival data storage, there are also some concerns that lead me to personally prefer the use of external hard drives for primary, backup, and archival storage. Today’s Question: Have you looked at and considered the use of Blu-ray drives and discs which purportedly can hold an enormous quantity of data and will never degrade in our lifetimes?
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