Sequential DVD burner

[dqtus]

I'm working for a company that is looking to back up lots of data from servers. We're looking into using DVD back ups to save money and help reliability. But to make this possible we need a machine that can burn data off a hard drive sequentially. Like say the first DVD has like 4gb of code, then the next DVD must have exactly the next 4gb of code. They might write an end of file thing or something to mark the end of the DVD in the burner but you guys get the picture. So is there any machine that will do that? And the machine must be automatic, so it pops in and takes out the DVD.

[CrayonEater]

Unfortunately, I don't know of any tool that eliminates the need for swapping discs or that will burn to multiple drives sequentially like you want. The closest you'll come is 1.) I believe Roxio supports multi-disc layouts; you just add everything to the compilation and swap out discs after each one burns. 2.) PWINRAR and other compression programs also allow you make multi-part archives, if you have the space to create a giant archive. But you need to manually burn each disc's worth of archive pieces.

The problem also with 2 is that you need the entire archive set to extract even a single file as well as lots of disk space to create the archive, as well as PAR2 files to preserve the archive integrity.

[terjeber]

I'm working for a company that is looking to back up lots of data from servers. We're looking into using DVD back ups to save money and help reliability.
...
And the machine must be automatic, so it pops in and takes out the DVD.

There are a few conflicting requests in here, but I'll take them in turn. You have lots of data, so putting it on relatively small DVDs is going to be a hazzle. Thankfully for you, most backup software should be able to do this for you.

You say you want reliable backups though, and here, sadly, DVDs don't really fit the bill. DVDs are not the least reliable backup medium, but it isn't high up on the list either.

Finally you are talking about saving money and having a DVD burner that automatically swaps disks for you, which I believe is quite impossible. I saw once someone who built a "robotic" CD changer relatively cheaply, but I bet you would not want to have your vital data being dependent on something put together with string and paper clips.

The answer to your question is quite simple. Don't think about using DVDs for backup. The solution is not suitable to your requirements. Get a good tape system or a stack of relatively inexpensive harddisks and take backups onto that. I'd recommend tape, but you chose. Tape is near the top of the reliability list. There are tons of good stuff out there.

The question is just how much you need to backup at once. How much data is there? What are you willing to pay for a solution?

There are many options, from relatively inexpensive ones at around $500, or even less, to more capable solutions with automatic tape-change etc costing $15,000 and more.

The questions you have to ask are the following

How much data will I have to back up in one go. Your tape drive should be able to handle twice of what you think you will need now, uncompressed. With twice what you think is maximum needed capacity you will have room to grow.

What is your budget? No solution is free, no reliable solution is "cheap". For your budget, add in the cost of maintaining it over time. If you need to change disks, how much time does that take, how much pr hour of the person doing the work. This stuff adds up. The cheapest solution to buy is rarely the cheapest solution to own.

How much is your data worth. If it isn't worth much and you can lose it without losing too much sleep, go for a cheap 70 or 90G Iomega tape solution, that is, if 70 or 90G is enough for your backup needs (see above). Most data in a company isn't that cheap though. If it isn't, go for a better solution, AIT, DLT or something similar. This will cost more than a couple of cheap PCs, but it will keep your data safe enough for most situations.

Finally, if you don't mind the risk of backing up on a media as unreliable as a harddrive (long term, HD is very unreliable) go out and get a fee 300G drives with external enclosures and backup onto those.

[dqtus]

Thanks for the input. We actually use tape right now and are trying to switch away from that. Tapes are expensive, hard to ship, and can only be read by certain machines. Did some calls and found out that Pioneer had a DVD library. It's called DRM-7000 and DRM-3000. NEC is also interested in working with us in developing one or they might have one available but not on their consumer site. The price for this machine doesn't really matter. 20k is nothing for a good dvd back up solution. We have about 90TB of stuff to back up on a regular basis.

[Nelson37]

So you are actually considering individual backup sets, each consisting of 18,000 DVD disks?

What planet are you people on?

Terjeber gave you the best answer. Tape is the most cost-effective and reliable solution for backing up large amounts of data.

Sounds like the kind of thing a government agency would do, look for a more expensive, less practical way to do it.

Either you have left something out of your scenario driving this decision or somebody has a couple of screws loose.

[AngusMacGyver]

We have about 90TB of stuff to back up on a regular basis.

Wow! 90TB?
Are you sure you can't make separate backups? Maybe some data are constant and needn't a daily backup.

[jameshgross]

Having faced this problem - I can assure you that 90TB -> DVD is not a practical solution.
At this time only tape is practical.
What I do is - All HD are triple redundant in a RAID type structure. Each night an incremental backup is done. Each weekend a full backup is done. All full backups are stored off site. There are really two copies one to keep and one to send away.
To backup 90TB to DVD would take - well a very long time.
Sorry, if this is not the answer you are looking for.

[terjeber]

The price for this machine doesn't really matter. 20k is nothing for a good dvd back up solution. We have about 90TB of stuff to back up on a regular basis.

OK, that clarifies things a little, but "cheap" when it comes to computers and $20K are usually not the same thing . Backing up 90TB onto DVDs though? Sounds like an impossibility to me, but... The DVD is somewhere around 4.3G (not 4.7), a full backup would take somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 000 DVDs. How long does it take to fill 20 000 DVDs with that library system?