Storage Basics – Collected Articles

[ Updated over the years as new technology is released and I write articles to discuss it. ]

Storage is critical to all media editing and I’ve written a lot about it. So much so, that it is hard to find where to start and which articles are important to read. To help, I’ve collected the important ones here and added short descriptions. Read the first four articles before you spend more money on storage.

NOTE: These articles are not product reviews. They explain storage technology so that you can make more informed purchases – or improve the performance of your system – without wasting money.

BACKGROUND

Start here. This article provides basic definitions on hard disks and RAIDS.

Understanding Video Data Rates

Here’s are two discussions on all the other factors that impact the speed/performance of your hard drive.

Thoughts on Hard Drive Speed

Why Hard Drive Speed Isn’t Everything

APPLE’S NEW FILE SYSTEM: APFS

This article explains the basics of APFS.

What Media Creators Need to Know About the New Apple File System

RAIDS

RAIDs are described using levels: RAID Level 0, RAID Level 1, and so on. This short article explains what those levels mean and which ones you should avoid when working with media.

An Explanation of RAID Levels

In these two articles, I go into more details on hard disk performance and the fact that, just because a device calls itself a RAID does not make it incredibly fast.

Understanding RAIDs and Performance

Partitioning A RAID For Better Performance

This article explains the specs to consider when buying a RAID to attach to a server, or directly to a computer.

Specs to Consider When Buying a RAID

ARCHIVING

Archiving – the process of storing media for decades – is a real problem at this point. There are no inexpensive options that are reliable. Here are a few articles to explain the problem and offer a solution.

How Long Does Video Tape Last?

How Long Do DVDs Last?

Organizing and Archiving FCP 7 Projects

In Search of A Backup Strategy

I am a big fan of using LTO tape for long-term storage; if you can afford it. In this article, reader Sal Guarnisco writes up his experiences in configuring LTO-5 tape for less than $3,000.

Reader Mail: Archive to LTO

HARD DISKS AND ARCHIVING

Long-Term Storage on unplugged hard drives can be dangerous, as this article explains.

Hard Disk Warning!

And here’s a utility that can help solve this problem.

A Free Utility to Refresh Hard Drives

An Alternative Solution for the Technically Minded

I hope this collection of articles helps you to understand storage better. As always, let me know if you have questions.

Larry


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3 Responses to Storage Basics – Collected Articles

  1. Marian says:

    congrats on new website! I just have two questions/ comments:
    1 – the links to all articles above go to homepage of your site, not to article. Am I missing something?
    2 – “free” webinar on compression I just got notice for already happened April 1 – oh well…

    • Larry says:

      Marian:

      Yeah, the “links going to the wrong page” is driving us nuts. We are fixing this as quickly as possible, but, we just discovered, that we need to correct each page manually. With over 1,200 articles on the site, that’s gonna take a while.

      We are also looking at ways to send webinar notifications out earlier.

      Larry

  2. Robin Harris says:

    Larry,

    Archiving has recently seen the arrival of a new player: M-disc, the 1,000 year Blu-ray.

    I torture-tested their DVD version – leaving it out in the Arizona sun for a few weeks – and it worked perfectly. Here’s the link: http://www.zdnet.com/article/torture-testing-the-1000-year-dvd/

    I’m in the process of testing the Blu-ray version, but as the technology is basically the same I’m expecting similar results. If you haven’t looked at the M-disc, I highly recommend it. It is a significant breakthrough in archive media.

    And no, I’m not on their payroll!

    Robin Harris
    President & Chief Analyst
    TechnoQWAN LLC

    Publisher of
    StorageMojo.com – Top 10 IT analyst blog
    ZDNet: blogs.zdnet.com/storage/ – Top 15 IT analyst blog
    Twitter: StorageMojo

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