As I wrote previously on April 17th 2015, Panasonic is gearing up for a major improvement on how to archive large scale data using cartridges of high capacity optical discs. Typically digital content is stored on hard disk drives (HDD) and server farms, which require large temperature controlled rooms. Eventually that data becomes “Cold”, meaning that it’s not used frequently or rarely, but it cannot be deleted or discarded. In those cases, Panasonic, amongst others, are looking at ways to archive that data in the most efficient and safest method of storage available today. That method is through very large capacity cartridges of Blu-ray Optical Discs.

From the images in the title header, you can see the prototypes of what is intended to be a new offering that will allow companies and individuals to back-up virtually all electronic data on their HDD’s and servers onto optical discs. The reason being is that optical discs are the most reliable and safest method for archiving data today. Yet, as an added benefit optical disc cartridges are also more cost effective to maintain and more environmentally friendly.

When thinking about data storage, there are two primary categories; “Hot” data which is the content that one would use frequently, and “Cold” data which is content that is seldom if ever used. Typically, old files that are kept for archival purposes or as records, which do not need to be reviewed often are seen as Cold data. When you compare keeping both Hot and Cold data on a server or HDD, those methods take a lot more energy to maintain, in both cooling and electricity to continuously operate compared with the limited requirements needed to maintain and recall data on an optical disc. The hardware requires a lot less energy to function and Cold data can be stored for many years without requiring any energy or risking loss, especially compared with HDD’s.

So if large corporations like Panasonic are investing millions of dollars to perfect long term data storage on optical discs, this says to me that optical discs are extremely relevant. So don’t be so quick to toss out your CD’s, DVD’s and Blu-ray discs, I believe they will be a lot more useful over time.

For more details about optical discs or duplication hardware, contact a Vinpower Digital representative near you or visit our website at www.vinpowerdigital.com.

Panasonic recently unveiled a new data storage backup unit at OCP 2015. There are a number of major companies, including Sony’s Optical Disc Archive System, that focus on using optical discs rather than magnetic tape or an array of Hard Drives. In fact, within the CDRInfo news release from March 17th, 2015, touting the unveiling of the Panasonic it states;

“By drawing on its optical media, disc drive, and robotics technology, Panasonic has developed a scalable system suitable for long-term data storage comprised of modules that can be extended as the amount of data increases. Compared to hard discs, the Data Archiver also … will reduce running costs.”

This shows that not only are Optical Discs far more efficient for long term archival data storage, but also reduces the overall expense of operating the device, saving the company money as well as their critical data. In addition, it shows that optical discs are still very relevant and that those touting the death of optical media are sorely mistaken.

For more details about Vinpower’s array of archival media and duplication hardware, visit our website or contact a Vinpower representative near you.

Just as the tortoise proved that slow and steady wins the race, so true is the case when burning DVD’s. When selecting the most productive recording speed, 8x provides the best cost performance in terms of speed and recording quality compared to any other option. Sure you could burn the DVD at 16x speed, but for the 16x designation could be confusing. Burning at 16x is not twice as fast as 8x, in fact, you may only save roughly 60 seconds, but at that higher speed, you’re more likely to see visible burn marks on the bottom of the discs that look like donuts. Those burn marks could negatively affect the playback or could even cause the drives to fail the disc during the duplication process.

Make sure you don’t sacrifice quality for just a slight advantage in speed. In fact when you visit the major duplication houses around the world, which make their living duplicating discs, and you’ll see that they prefer to burn at 8x every time.

For more details about the optimal burning performance, contact Vinpower Digital or an authorized Vinpower representative.

The manufacturing process for optical discs, especially recordable DVD’s, is fairly standard. You start by designing and creating the stamper. Then create the substrate through injection molding and spin coating to create the recording layer of organic dye. Next perform the sputtering for the reflective layer and another spin coating for the protective layer. Finally, you bond the disc together with a dummy substrate of polycarbonate. Sounds simple enough, so what makes the Optodisc DVD’s better than other comparable recordable DVD’s?

The answer is simple, when Optodisc media are being produced, there is great attention paid to every aspect in the manufacturing process. Starting with the stamper, Optodisc makes sure that the stamper is designed expertly and that the substrate, reflective layer, and sputtering are all applied with the goal of making a better disc rather than cutting corners to save a little on the overall cost. Optodisc DVD’s are created in a method that ensures stable consistent quality and reliability for years.

If you want to save money and not give up quality, then Optodisc is the best option for you.

Contact Vinpower Digital or a Vinpower representative for more details about the full line of Optodisc media.

When Vinpower first developed our own line of standalone robotic autoloader duplicators, starting with the TITAN series, we weren’t sure how long the systems would last in the field. We knew we built the TITANS to be extremely robust, but only time would really tell. After nearly 10 years in production, we are still receiving compliments about systems working in the field that range anywhere from 5 to nearly 10 years old. When we started out, we were just hoping for the systems to work lights out through the 1 year warranty. But time has showed us that the TITAN systems were built to last way beyond expectations.

So if you’re looking to purchase a new standalone robotic duplicator to make continuous copies of your CD’s, DVD’s, or BD discs, then Vinpower’s line of autoloaders is perfect for you. Vinpower offers a range of options from small single drive 25 disc capacity Cube, to the slightly larger 2 to 6 drive 200 ~ 500 disc capacity Aero, to the always reliable 4 to 8 drive 1000 disc capacity TITAN Supreme.

To learn more about Vinpower’s line of standalone robotic autoloaders, speak with a Vinpower representative or visit our website today.

We’ve all heard the stories about celebrity’s photos and personal data getting stolen or even large companies like Sony having their personal emails published for the world to see. Hackers are getting more and more sophisticated and one weakness that hackers are exploiting is accessing personal devices that are connected through Wi-Fi. As the storage capacity of our smartphones and tablets increase, plus with the increased functionality and capabilities, more and more people are using these devices for all of their professional and personal activities. So these devices will often contain many very important files, such as photos, business emails with attachments, spreadsheets, etc. Our phones went from voice communication devices to mini-computers that are constantly connected to us.

The more those devices are connected and accessible through Wi-Fi, the more potential there is for a cyber attack that could remove or delete the contents stored on that device. Even less sophisticated, an individual could simply lose the device or have it stolen, which again would render the content as vulnerable or at least permanently lost. So what’s the alternative, no one will give up their smart devices and simply business cannot stop because of these threats?

The key is to back-up your data onto a secure medium that is not susceptible to hacking or data loss. The most secure and easiest method to do this is to back-up your files onto an archival grade optical disc, such as DVD or Blu-ray. Optical discs have large storage capacity that continues to increase and the content on them cannot be deleted, altered, or stolen remotely. By saving these critical files to archival grade optical discs, you can be assured to always have a back-up should the worst case scenario happen. Plus, the costs of these discs are so inexpensive, you can repeatedly make back-ups as needed or in regularly scheduled intervals and it won’t create a drain on cash flow.

For more details this or any other Vinpower products, please visit our website at www.vinpowerdigital.com or speak with an official Vinpower representative.

Flash devices, such as a USB pen drive or SD card, have become relatively inexpensive, making them easier to use as giveaways or simply disposable in a sense. So maybe the cost of a flash device is no longer a deterrent to giving it away, but before you do, consider the fact that all the data you previously stored on that device could possibly be retrievable. Often we think simply erasing the content or reformatting will wipe away the data we had stored on a flash device. In reality, that’s not true. The way flash memory works, it’s stored in nonlinear segments in the device’s memory and typical erasing will only remove the root file or the path to that file, but not the actual file. So content that you thought was deleted, could be retrieved. So that could mean confidential business files, personal images, financial information, etc.

The only way to truly ensure that all data is completely unable to be recovered is to either destroy the device, which is both a waste and environmentally hazardous, or to perform a secure erase feature in the manner that Vinpower uses on their USB & SD duplicators. The Vinpower USB and SD duplicators run a series of clear wipe content functions that makes the previous data unrecoverable. Other companies may claim to offer a full erase option, but only Vinpower’s secure erase can truly give you piece of mind that your previous content will be completely removed and will not come back to haunt you.

For more details on this or any other Vinpower products, please visit our website at www.vinpowerdigital.com or speak with an official Vinpower representative.

Vinpower introduced its new line of Optodisc recordable media a year ago and it has been an amazingly successful venture. The main reason is the media has simply and consistently performed. When customers use the Optodisc media in their duplicators and/or with their printers, the media burns and prints successfully and does so time and time again. When they use the burned Optodisc media in their players, it plays consistently. Basically, the media performs the way it’s supposed to and each batch works exactly the same as the previous batch and the batch before that. Vinpower has been adamant about maintaining both the media quality and the consistency across all manufactured lots. So if you’re happy with the performance, you’ll continue to be happy as the media will continue to work in the same manner every time you buy it.

Optodisc is not a brand itself, but a manufactured media that is the basis for a number of popular brands currently on the market. To find out if your media is Optodisc manufactured, look for the Optodisc MID or contact a Vinpower representative to learn which brands are made from Optodisc. If you haven’t had the opportunity to try Optodisc media for yourself, contact a Vinpower representative today to see how much Optodisc will save you.

As we’ve learned, computer hard drives (HDD’s) can be very volatile and with the about of viruses and other problems lurking around, your HDD could be susceptible to corruption and you lose access to all of your files. When you use a Vinpower Digital HDD duplicator, you can make a copy of the defective HDD onto another clean HDD and save all of the uncorrupted files, including website bookmarks, pictures, videos, presentations, etc. without reproducing the problem that incapacitated the original HDD. Often, the key files on the corrupted HDD are safe, you just can’t access them, but when you copy the content to a working HDD through a Vinpower HDD Duplicator, then you can access those files again and not have to pay a fortune for a HDD forensic engineer to recover your content. There may still be some files that are too badly corrupted or infected to salvage, but a vast majority would most likely still be safe and accessible. So, don’t pay a fortune to recover your important files, or give up on a damaged HDD and toss it without recovering many of your important files, use the Vinpower Digital HDD Duplicator to recover your files.

The HDD Duplicator works on standard 3.5” HDD, slim 2.5” HDD, and the 2.5” SSD. For more details about this or any other Vinpower products, please visit our website at www.vinpowerdigital.com or speak with an official Vinpower representative.

Often when companies or individuals discard outdated or damaged computers, external HDD’s, or other devices that contain a hard drive (i.e. photocopiers), they will perform a simple reformat function on the hard drive and think that the data has been removed because they can no longer view or retrieve it. In reality, the data was not erased and in the right hands, can easily be retrieved. That means private and confidential information can be recovered from these reformatted hard drives potentially leaving you at risk.

There are two ways to securely remove all data to prevent others from recovering this information; One is to physically destroy the hard drive by shredding or puncturing multiple holes into critical areas of the drive. However, this is a waste of a perfectly reusable hard drive, not to mention causes a negative impact on the environment. The second is to use the secure erase function on a Vinpower Digital HDD duplicator, which completely overwrites any trace of data located on the hard drive. Whether it’s a standard HDD or SSD, Vinpower Digital’s Hard Drive Duplicator will use a unique feature developed by Vinpower and completely wipe the drive clean, making the data contained on it no longer recoverable. Vinpower’s secure erase feature is so strong it conforms to the strict DoD 5220 standards.

Of course The HDD duplicator can also copy content from one master HDD or SSD onto multiple other HDD or SSD across multiple platforms. So whether you need to make exact reproductions of a master hard drive content or give yourself peace of mind in knowing that all content stored on a hard drive will be untraceable when performing a secure erase function, the Vinpower Digital HDD Duplicator is the right system for the job.

For more details this or any other Vinpower products, please visit our website at www.vinpowerdigital.com or speak with an official Vinpower representative.