DVD gut check: where does the storage industry stand? - Storage Networking - Industry Overview

Computer Technology Review, Oct, 2002 by Chuck Larabie

The introduction of FireWire (IEEE 1394) drives also pushed DVD further into the consumer arena, providing features such as "hot-plug" capability and data transfer rates of up to 408Mbps. The addition of Fire Wire also enabled consumers to share their DVD drives easily between their home, work, and mobile computers for even greater economy.

The Choice for High-End Storage

For networked environments and high-capacity applications, the DVD choice is clear; DVD-RAM and DVD Multi-drives are the order of the day. In fact, out of all of the jukebox manufacturers, not a single one offers a R/RW solution, and none have announced their intentions to offer new library configurations with DVD /- RW support.

One reason is, although incompatible with most DVD-ROM drives and DVD-Video players, for data use, DVD-RAM still leads DVD-RW and DVD RW as the safest, most reliable rewritable storage solution. With 100,000 rewrites for DVD-RAM vs. 1,000 re-writes for DVD-RW and DVD RW, DVD-RAM also provides random writes and defect management as standard features. With RW, these features are only an option per drive. As an added convenience, finalization by the user is not required with DVD-RAM.

For desktop video applications and shared data requirements, nothing beats DVD-R and DVD-RW. Although a non-rewritable format, DVD-R is capable of storing up to two hours of theater-quality video or 400,000 documents on a single-sided 4.7GB disc that can be played back on virtually every DVD-ROM drive and DVD player in use today (an estimated 85% of all players). DVD-RW is the rewritable version of DVD-R and is also compatible with many of the newer DVD-ROM drives and DVD-Video players.

Enterprise Applications

DVD-based solutions can be found in every major industrial market integrated into robotic library systems to provide ultra-reliable storage that ensures quick and easy file access. DVD-based systems have experienced an increased popularity in many markets due in part to its optical properties. Access to data in the library is superior to equivalent tape based systems and the recording properties of DVD provide long-term historical preservation of data which is attractive to many companies. Broadcast, medical, financial, pre-press, and other commercial markets all use DVD-based systems to insure their data's long-term integrity. In proper storage environments, DVD media can maintain data file integrity up to 100 years. Furthermore, media interchange in achieved easily by using UDF (universal data format) allowing media to be exported outside of the library system and read in standard DVD-ROM readers.

Today's libraries offering multiple-terabyte hardware solutions for a broad range of applications, including exceptionally cost-effective, unattended digital broadcast playback, the capacity and the performance required for Internet, Intranet, and Extranet storage, high-performance video editing, and more.

Another reason for DVD-RAM's and DVD-Multi's broad acceptance in this arena include the drives' performance, capacity and compliance with industry standards. Ultimately, these factors make it easy for application developers and system integrators to design and recommend solutions that take advantage of the features and benefits of both DVD-RAM and DVD-R. And with media costs dropping below 40 cents/GB, high-capacity storage and retrieval is not only fast and reliable, it is also very economical. Organizations implement online DVD-RAM/R jukeboxes to provide workgroup, departmental and enterprise-wide access to documents, data and images to enhance both individual and corporate productivity and decision-making.