[�]

I use DVD-R and DVD-RW media to back up my weekly progresses.
When I want to retrieve data from one of these media, it sometimes takes 3 hours just to count all the items on disk. after that it starts copying which is going at quite a good speed.

Is there any way I can disable/speed the counting, as it takes up 5/6th of the time?

[ 04-19-2002: Message edited by: � ]

[�]

This topic is still stressing me..

[Bigc]

Was thinking about changing over to backup with DVD, guess I'll stay with CD RW. Are you using retrospect backup or a file sync program?

[�]

i recommend : do not switch to DVD, it's dead slow !!!!!!. take tapes like the iomega peerless.

[Graymalkin]

I reccomend learning a lesson in archiving. CDs and DVDs are much like tapes when it comes to how they want data read off of them, they want to start at the beginning and read until they get to the end. Just because a CD or DVD can randomly access files on a disc doesn't mean that is the most efficient way of doing it. Backups on tapes are the same way, hence .tar files (tape archive files). When you're going to make a backup use compressed/packed files rather than just thousands of individual files. As you've seen this is an inefficient way to store stuff on a DVD. Use some form of scripting or backup program to compress/pack the files you want to back up and then write a handful of compressed files to the disc. You also need to back up your work properly, you don't copy your entire /home or /documents folder to a disc and just burn every file all the time, only back up stuff that changes between backups. If you want realtime redundancy buy a hard drive to mirror you work on, DVDs and CDs are slow mediums and trying to use them as you would a hard drive is slow and taxing on your system.

[scottiB]

Graymalkin's dead on.

Try a demo of Retrospect Express here.

[�]

I reccomend learning a lesson in archiving. CDs and DVDs are much like tapes when it comes to how they want data read off of them, they want to start at the beginning and read until they get to the end. Just because a CD or DVD can randomly access files on a disc doesn't mean that is the most efficient way of doing it. Backups on tapes are the same way, hence .tar files (tape archive files). When you're going to make a backup use compressed/packed files rather than just thousands of individual files. As you've seen this is an inefficient way to store stuff on a DVD. Use some form of scripting or backup program to compress/pack the files you want to back up and then write a handful of compressed files to the disc. You also need to back up your work properly, you don't copy your entire /home or /documents folder to a disc and just burn every file all the time, only back up stuff that changes between backups. If you want realtime redundancy buy a hard drive to mirror you work on, DVDs and CDs are slow mediums and trying to use them as you would a hard drive is slow and taxing on your system.

Thanks, I was just about to explore RETROSPECT. This is an answer I can do something with, really.

But how do you recommend making a data-dvd that I can exchange with people? They complain about the slowness of the DVD-R.
Might the budget label dvd-r's at this moment , which are 1 speed in recording, be of too poor quality to do this yet?

I use princo-dvd-r with the purple colored side.