CD Vs. Tape Storage
In spite of the fact that we live in an era of Blu-Ray discs that can hold tens of gigabytes, the reality is that tape storage is still the preferred method for making backups. However, tape storage is not perfect for a variety of reasons and at times, using CDs may be a better bet.
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Large amounts of data -- tapes are better
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CDs can hold just 650MB of material. Tapes by comparison can be made to store as much as some of the larger hard drives and can actually go as high as 300GB. To put this in practical terms, if you had a 300GB hard drive to back up, you would need just one tape. If you were to use CDs, you would need 473 discs. Even with Blu-Ray discs, you would need six of them to back up that one 300GB hard drive.
Reliability
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Tapes, for all their appearance as low-tech storage devices, tend to be fairly stable and provide good long-term storage. CDs by comparison can get scratched and cracked easily and ultimately may not be the most reliable form of long-term storage.
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Portability
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When it comes to portability, CD storage has the advantage. CD and DVD drives are ubiquitous in computers all over the world. It is rare indeed to find a computer that doesn't have them. By comparison, tape storage is always a proprietary system involving the purchase of specialized equipment.
Cost
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In the area of cost, the question of tape vs. CD storage is dependent entirely on what you want to do. If you need to back up a large hard drive, tape will clearly be the cheaper choice over the long run, even though you need to buy a special reader/writer for the tape and special tapes. This is because tapes provide such massive storage so that on a per-gigabyte basis, they will be cheaper. CDs, by comparison, are very cheap but will likely need to be replaced more often (even rewritable CDs have a limited number of rewrites) and since you need so many to store large amounts of data, the cheap cost adds up fast.
Access
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If you are storing material that needs to be constantly available, there is no question that CDs are the better choice. CDs provide random access memory, where you can easily find what you are looking for and read it. Tapes by comparison must be copied to a hard drive or a CD before you can use the material on them.
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