Storage Media Format Preferences and Benefits:

Here is an alphabetical list of different storage media formats that you may encounter or use.  We all have perticular reasons we want to use a type of format, or not use another type.  Many reasons are just personal opinions based on what people have seen or experienced while browsing the internet.  Some times these reasons are justified, and sometimes they are because of not knowing any better.

When you are looking into different storage media types, keep in mind what types of files you are working with.  Tape media usually offer compression - however this usually does not do anything with already compressed image files.  DVD media offers great audio\video compression, but once again, compressed image files will not be compressed any more.

Most of these devices can come in a variety of hardware configurations.  These include Towers, Jukeboxes\Libraries\Auto-Loaders, and Stand-Alone devices.  Hard-Drives normally do not come in any of the above hardware configurations.

Hard-Drives are normally the only types of media that can be used in RAID configurations.  You can often use TAPES - with an Auto-Loader - and accomplish close to a RAID configuration.

Choose a format:

CD-ROM
CD-RW
DVD
DVD-RAM
Hard Drive
Magneto-Optical
Tape-DAT
Tape-LTO

Hardware Configurations

Related Documents

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CD-ROM

Compact Disc - Read Only Media

$ 10.00 thru $40.00 for readers.

$ 50.00 thru $200.00 for writers.

$ 0.30 thru $ 1.30 per disc

$ 20.00 to $100.00 for writing software.

• Small and Cheap
• Immune to Electo-Magnetic shock.
• Almost all computer systems come with Readers standard.
• Most new computer systems come with Writers standard.
• Specifications remain constant.
• Life span is approx 7 years.
• Life span may be 20 years if stored properly.
• Mostly Plug-N-Play
• Don't need any 3rd party applications to access.
• Uses standard CDFS formats.

• Only holds between 640 MBytes and 700 MBytes
• Not erasable
• Not re-writable
• Fragile to physical abuse.
• Normally requires 3rd party application to write.

CD-RW

Compact Disc - Readable\Writable

$ 10.00 thru $40.00 for readers.

$50.00 thru $200.00 for writers.

$ 5.00 thru $ 15.00 per disc.

$ 20.00 to $100.00 for writing software.

• Small and Cheap
• Immune to Electo-Magnetic shock.
• Pretty immune to water damage. 
• Almost all computer systems come with Readers standard.
• Most new computer systems come with Writers standard.
• Life span is approx 7 years.
• Life span may be 20 years if stored properly.
• Can erase\re-write to disc.
• Don't usually need 3rd party applications to access (sometimes it is required, but is usually found on the disc.)
• Uses standard CDFS formats.

• Only holds between 640 MBytes and 700 MBytes
• Can only erase\re-write a few times (approx 20-30)
• Fragile to physical abuse.
• Normally requires 3rd party application to write.

DVD

Digital Video Disc

$ 40.00 thru $100.00 for readers.

$300.00 thru $1,000.00 for writers.

$ 10.00 thru $ 30.00 per disc

$ 20.00 to $100.00 for writing software.

$ 20.00 to $50.00 for audio\video access software.

• Stores between 4.9 Gigabytes and 9.8 Gigabytes per disc.
• Small
• Immune to Electo-Magnetic shock.
• Pretty immune to water damage. 
• Most new computer systems can come with Readers standard.
• Life span is approx 7 years.
• Life span may be 20 years if stored properly.
• Great Audio and Video compressions
• Fast Access\Retrieval speeds.
• Doesn't normally need 3rd party applications for access to files. 

• Cannot erase\re-write disc.
• Fragile to physical abuse.
• Specifications may change often, expessially between vendors.
• Usually requires 3rd party applicaiton to access audio\video tracks.

DVD-RAM

Digital Video Disc - Random Access Media

$500.00 thru $2,500.00 for reader\writers.

$ 15.00 thru $ 50.00 per disc

$ 20.00+ for reading\writing software.

• Small
• Stores between 4.9 Gigabytes and 9.8 Gigabytes per disc.
• Immune to Electo-Magnetic shock.
• Pretty immune to water damage. 
• Most new computer systems come with Readers standard.
• Life span is approx 7 years.
• Life span may be 20 years if stored properly.
• Can erase\re-write to disc.

• Fragile to physical abuse.
• Standards change often, expessially between vendors.
• Drive not commonly internally mounted.
• Usually requires 3rd party application. 

Hard Drive

Approx $2.50 per gigabyte

• Fastest Access\Retrieval Speeds.
• Can be combined in RAID arrays.
• Fairly resistant to physical abuse.
• Mostly Plug-N-Play
• Allows advanced security policies and rights.
• Normally uses standard FAT formats.

• Usually costs more then other formats.
• Often have to take down system in order to remove\replace.
• Hard to take off-site
• Fragile to Electo-Magnetic Shock
• Fragile to water damage.
• Life span is usually only a couple of years.

Magneto-Optical

$500.00 thru $2,500.00 for reader\writers.

$ 15.00 thru $ 50.00 per disc

• Stores between 4.9 Gigabytes and 9.8 Gigabytes per disc.
• Immune to Electo-Magnetic shock.
• Pretty immune to water damage. 
• Life span is approx 7 years.
• Life span may be 20 years if stored properly.
• Can erase\re-write to disc.

• Fragile to physical abuse.
• Standards change often, expessially between vendors.
• Drive not commonly found in an internally mounted fashion.
• Mostly requires 3rd party application.
• Commonly has unique FAT formats.

Tape - DAT

Digital Linear Tape

$150.00 thru $2,500.00 for reader\writers.

$ 30.00 thru $ 80.00 per tape.

• Usually can compress files to 1/2 normal size.
• Pretty resistant to water and physical damage.
• Fairly resistant to Electo-Magnetic damage.
• Normally has over-write protection on tape.

• Very slow access\retrieval speeds
• Standards\Formats change often.
• Make sure if you buy an auto-loader, buy a few extra tapes.
• Tapes are expensive.