Storage of material from CD's and DVD's: cloud?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the challenges and options for transferring a large collection of CDs and DVDs to more accessible storage mediums, including USB drives and cloud services. Participants explore various methods for archiving music and films, the feasibility of using cloud storage, and the potential issues related to compression and copyright.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant mentions the difficulty of identifying older music CDs and suggests that a reliable person may be necessary for the task.
  • Another participant proposes buying a new laptop with a CD drive to rip the discs directly, while others express concerns about the time and effort required for this process.
  • There are discussions about the storage capacity of CDs and DVDs, estimating the total storage needed for over a thousand discs to be between 0.7 and 4.7 TB.
  • Some participants recommend external hard drives as a backup solution, while others express skepticism about the reliability of cloud storage.
  • Concerns are raised about the time required to upload large amounts of data to the cloud, with one participant calculating that uploading 5 TB could take months.
  • Participants discuss the possibility of compressing files during the ripping process, with some suggesting specific software for this purpose.
  • There is a debate about the appropriateness of using lossy versus lossless compression formats for music, with some advocating for higher quality preservation.
  • A historical example is shared about using older jukebox technology for music access in a restricted environment, which diverges from the main topic but highlights alternative storage solutions.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views on the best methods for archiving CDs and DVDs, with no consensus on the optimal approach. There are differing opinions on the reliability of cloud storage versus physical backups, as well as the effectiveness of various compression methods.

Contextual Notes

Participants note limitations related to the identification of older music CDs, the time required for data transfer, and the potential legal implications of cloud storage. The discussion reflects a variety of assumptions about technology and personal preferences for data management.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be useful for individuals looking to archive large collections of physical media, those considering cloud storage options, and anyone interested in the technical aspects of data compression and file management.

  • #31
Tom.G said:
over 200,000,000 finds with:
https://www.google.com/search?q=digital+media+transfer+service+-video

(Hmm, maybe finding them isn't a problem after all)

Cheers,
Tom
One from the google has a good narrative description of the types of requests they get:
http://www.leavealegacytoday.com/digital-media

I used a similar service to convert my grandpa's old 8mm home movies to DVD. That's one where I didn't have the needed equipment, but even if I did, it's still time consuming/labor intensive. It wasn't cheap, but I suspect CD-MP3 services would be because as you say, there's automation for that.
 
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  • #32
Sure. Who can afford a jukebox?

If your answer is "not an individual, but a service", you now have the problem of shipping tens of thousands of dollars worth of disks, handling tens of thousands of dollars of disks, opening up 1000 jewel boxes, the insurance for what to happen if something breaks or is lost, etc. I'm not saying this is technically impossible - I am saying going outside is cost prohibitive. People expect the cost per disk to be measured in cents when in fact it is measured in dollars.
 
  • #33
Vanadium 50 said:
Sure. Who can afford a jukebox?

If your answer is "not an individual, but a service", you now have the problem of shipping tens of thousands of dollars worth of disks, handling tens of thousands of dollars of disks, opening up 1000 jewel boxes, the insurance for what to happen if something breaks or is lost, etc. I'm not saying this is technically impossible - I am saying going outside is cost prohibitive. People expect the cost per disk to be measured in cents when in fact it is measured in dollars.
There are plenty of services that offer this at less than GBP/USD 1 per CD including insurance in transit etc.
 
  • #34
FactChecker said:
I don't recommend storing large amounts of data on DVDs. Large collections would require a large number of disks and any updates, backups, copies, etc. are a hastle.
I gave up using DVD-R's for archiving anything, at least five years ago. In addition to the reasons you noted, there's also cost. I used to buy good-quality blank DVD-R's in bulk online for about $30 per 100. At 4.2 GB per disk, that's about $0.07 per GB. At Walmart, I can buy 4TB Western Digital or Seagate external drives for $120, which works out to $0.03 per GB. Even when the $120 price point was occupied by 2TB drives ($0.06 per GB), they were a bit cheaper than DVD-R's, and took up a lot less space.

I keep two duplicate sets of archive drives, so as to have a backup in case a drive fails.
 
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  • #35
I didn't read the whole thread, but here's my $0.02 on it:

1.) Don't use cloud storage (especially for video). You could potentially run into legal issues even if you aren't sharing.
2.) A USB hard drive would most likely suffice. If the person isn't getting rid of their source materials (ie, just keeping their DVD's and music CD's in storage tucked away) then this method would be the most reliable IMO, and fastest. a 2 TB drive isn't overly expensive these days/

Like what @jtbell said - use a secondary drive for redundancy. Nothing is "forever", so it's always good to have a secondary backup.

Also, have none of you used dual sided DVD's? 8.4GB is better than 4.7GB :-p
 
  • #36
elusiveshame said:
Also, have none of you used dual sided DVD's? 8.4GB is better than 4.7GB :-p
And Blu-Ray disks are 25/50Gbyte...
 
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  • #37
Svein said:
And Blu-Ray disks are 25/50Gbyte...
Yep! It's amazing that in almost 2019, that thought didn't even occur to me for a storage option. Probably because optical media isn't as reliable (or efficient) as hard drives these days.
 

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