[rescue] Backups

[Jeffrey Nonken]

On Sat, 18 Jun 2005 18:25:33 -0400, Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:
>
> As far as drives go:
>
> There are only about three or four DVD writers that write with
> consistent quality.  I can't remember the URL right now, but there
> are a group of guys that are just nuts enough to put drives through
> the full Plextor write/read test suite, reporting the results.

I'd be very interested in finding this information. I'll try a search,
but if you have an distinguishing keywords, that might help. Searching
for your phrase just nets me a buttload of reviews, primarily for
Plextor drives.
>
> The most obvious problem being the fact you must have an image the
> size of the media.  If you don't, then you cannot use a burner for
> backup at all.

Incremental writing
Similar to packet writing used for CD-R media in which files can be
recorded one at a time. The minimum file size is 32 Kb as this is the
minimum error correction code block size for DVD. A disc being written
incrementally can only be played back on the DVD-R drive until a final
lead-in, data and lead-out is written. Only finalized discs, those to
which data cannot be added, can be played back on a player.

http://simplythebest.net/info/pc/dvd.html

Incremental writing is also supported by the DVD-R format. This is
very similar in concept to the packet writing technology that is used
with CD-R. Incremental writing allows a user to add files directly to
a DVD-R disc one recording at a time instead of requiring that all
files be accumulated on a hard disk prior to writing as with the
disc-at-once method. The minimum recording size must be at least 32
kilobytes, (even if the file to be recorded is smaller) as this is the
minimum error correction code (ECC) block size for DVD.

A disc that is being written to incrementally cannot be considered a
complete volume until the final information has been stored or the
disc capacity has been reached. The lead-in and lead-out boundary
areas therefore cannot be written until either of these two events
occur. Such an "unfinalized" disc (one without lead-in, lead-out and
complete file system data) can only be read by a DVD-R drive until
this process can be completed. After finalization, a destination
playback device can then read a disc, but data can no longer be added
to it.

http://www.burnworld.com/dvd/primer/dvd-r.htm

>
> Wed, 15 Jun 2005 @ 10:11 -0500, Mike Hebel said:
>> Just my $.02 worth - your data should hold the same importance or
>> more than corporate data to you.
>>
>
> Absolutely.
>
> I bristle any time someone refers to corporate data as highly
> important while dismissing my own.

I already explained what I meant by that comment.