Archival Grade
Now, more than ever, technology plays an increasingly important role in our lives. Every day, we create more and more digital files – from selfies to home movies to important documents. And if your smartphone or computer is compromised, you can lose all these memories in a heartbeat. Backing up and archiving your data has become critical to ensure your data lives on.
Back-up vs. Archive
The difference between backing-up your data and archiving your data is subtle, but important. Backing-up data is usually done on a regular basis, to account for any changes that may have been made. Archiving is a more permanent solution – ideally, you archive data once and it remains safe for years to come.
Different types of data storage products can assist with these processes in different ways. USB drives are great for small data backup or file transfers. However, they use flash chips, which can only retain data for up to ten years. Hard drives can be great for system backups, but the large number of mechanical parts mean they are susceptible to failure. Backing-up data to the cloud means you can access the data anywhere in the world. But the cloud is susceptible to security breaches and if you don’t have internet access, you can’t access your data.
Optical media is the ideal media for archiving, being durable enough to last for years without bulky, mechanical parts. And Verbatim Archival Grade media is one of the most durable of all, designed to last for up to a hundred years when properly stored.
Why use Archival Grade?
Longevity
Each Verbatim Archival Grade disc is manufactured using proprietary Dual Reflective Layers (DRL) to maximize compatibility and longevity. This dual reflective layer technology consists of a silver layer for broad compatibility and a gold layer for long archival life. The gold layer prevents oxygen from corroding the silver reflective layer, which is a primary factor limiting the lifetime of standard CD and DVD media. Oxidization is one of the primary causes of corrosion in optical discs, penetrating through the bonding glue and exposing the metallic reflective layer. Gold is more resistant to atmospheric substances, such as oxygen, and a gold layer on optical discs can help prevent deterioration.
Compatibility
The highly reflective silver layer allows the Archival Grade disc to look like a standard silver disc to optical drives and recorders, providing a low initial error rate and increasing compatibility.
Non-Erasable and Non-Magnetic
Like standard CD-R and DVD-R media, Verbatim Archival Grade media is write-once, meaning that once data is recorded, it cannot be accidentally erased.
Unlike hard drives or tape-based media, optical discs are not vulnerable to damage from magnetic fields. Optical media is the most durable data storage product and is idea for keeping data preserved.
Scientific Testing
Verbatim’s Gold Archival Grade media has been scientifically tested to outlast standard optical media. When tested under a range of accelerating aging and environmental conditions, including extreme heat, humidity, and ultraviolet light, it produced fewer errors than standard optical discs. And when compared to “gold layer only” discs, Verbatim’s Dual Reflective Layer media delivered significantly longer lifetime performances.
