I'm looking for a dependable, well-established backup medium. I've read about SDLT and LTO, but have no experience. Has anyone tried archiving MXF files to either... or to another medium. I need to make a decision soon, and anxious to place our files on something more stable than a pair of hard drives.

I'm looking for a dependable, well-established backup medium. I've read about SDLT and LTO, but have no experience. Has anyone tried archiving MXF files to either... or to another medium. I need to make a decision soon, and anxious to place our files on something more stable than a pair of hard drives.

Hey Gerret -

You may also want to check / post over in the www.dvxuser.com forum...as that is more specifically focused on the Panny (DVX/HVX) cams.

But in regards to your archiving question / search, right now it's basically what works for each individual person. No solution is the best, but there are solutions out there.

HDD's -
Pros - Inexpensive for lot's of storage
Cons - Could fail and very expensive to get the data off of a failed drive. Magnetic storage medium so be careful not to "zap" the drive (i.e., static shock from a person touching it) as this may cause the data on the drive to become unreadable or just plain gone.

DVD's -
Pros - Inexpensive, non-magnetic storage
Cons - Small storage 8.5gb for dual layer is the current maximum for desktop burners...I believe.

DLT / LTO -
Pros - Tape based solutions, high transfer / write / read speeds.
Cons - Expensive.

HVD - (Holographic Versatile Disk)
Pros - Incredible amount of storage space on a (I believe) a DVD size disk. Non-magnetic storage.
Cons - Not out yet. Targeted for release at the end of 2006 beginning of 2007. No pricing yet.

MiniDV - There is a solution that allows you to store data on a miniDV tape from a this company http://www.firestreamer.com/.

Good luck in your search and with whatever solution you choose.

Gerrett,

I back up my 8GB P2 card data to an external HD (as long as I need it online) as well as DVD-R (by splitting up the VIDEO folder). While dual-layer DVDs would seem more practical, DVD-Rs write faster, have been in use longer, and the media is much more economical at .50 per DVD-R vs. $2.00 per DVD-DL.