Best data storage solution for scanned films?

[chaoliang]

The hard drives are still rather expensive, 160G for about 85 Euros.

[VJ]

Hmm, I guess the Lacie Bigger disk solution is also too expensive...
Up to 1.6 TB of harddiskstorage, with Firewire of USB/firewire:

http://www.lacie.com/products/range.htm?id=10033

Just a weird thought : do you need to keep those scanned images? In other words: is it possible to scan again when the original is needed? Or is there too much chance these originals will also degrade?


Jörg

[Fluff]

What film scanner do you have? btw.

[chaoliang]

@Jörg: I must scan them to use them. They are unframed films. Rescanning them takes very much time.

@Fluff: Nikon Coolscan 5000ED.

[Maggi]

I wouldn't call that expensive, especially considering how much time you'd have to spend when burning CDs and DVDs (burn, verify, change disks etc.)

doing some quick math here:

80MB per frame results in

about 2000 pictures per 160GB HD
costs total around 100,- €
so on average 5 cents per picture

or about 50 pictures per DVD
so for 2000 pictures, you'd need 40 DVD medias and a burner
reliable DVD medias (scratchproof) are still a bit pricey, so let's presume you'd pay 1,- € per disk, plus ~80,- € for a decent burner, totalling at 120,- €
so on average 6 cents per picture

so what's more expensive now ?



don't forget the time factor having to play DVD jockey versus swapping a HD every 2000 frames

[chaoliang]

Sure, you're right Maggi. And HDs are much faster. But I still feel a bit uneasy with changers frames: I worry about something could happen, like dropping the discs on the ground unintentionaly. One of my brother's hard discs was defect, probably only because the electricity in Peking was not stable enough. All data was lost.

[chaoliang]

Another question: Are external hard discs better protected against accidents than internal ones?

[Fluff]

Don't think so afaik, they are the same. Except for some notebook drives, which can withstang higher G's and more extreme temperatures.

[Taz]

Originally posted by chaoliang
Are external hard discs better protected against accidents than internal ones?

Well they have a casing around them but they still don't like being dropped

Any ideas of a budget for this solution?

[chaoliang]

If the data safety is guranteed, as cheap as possible. Well, I think up to 400 Euros would be OK, if it must be.

[Maggi]

dunno how Al pulled those 4TB, but my calc tells me you'd need about 350-500GB storage, which could be covered by two of these:

http://www3.alternate.de/html/shop/productDetails.html?artno=A9FW04&

[Taz]

Or get a DLT80 tape drive from eBay plus 10-12 tapes

[chaoliang]

I also saw this product and found it interesting. Hard discs, either external or with changer frames seem to be the cheapest and fastest solution.

[Fluff]

This is worth a look

http://www.span.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=29_1303&products_id=2577

[Drizzt]

The best solution is the most "solid".
An HD or a tape can always be accidentally erased, or be faulty and you will not discover it until you will need your data.

Put all the image on DVDs, then insert them into some good DVD holders, the ones who have both sides filled with "soft material" and each folder made in "no-scratching" material.

Then use few few money for a tool that can do "void" into a plastic bag. Insert each one of the dvd holder into a plastic bag, then use the void machine on the bag.
Put everything into a drawer, and simply remember to re-burn the DVD in 2015.