CD and DVD filing / storage (without cases)

[X-ray]

I need to store and file according to date order, a large quantity of CDs and DVDs.

I'll be buying future blanks on the spindle, so the storage of these disks must assume I don't have plastic cases for them. But I need some kind of tab that tells me what the date of any particular disk is.

Any ideas?

[bloodline]

My trick, rent some webhosting with unlimited storage... Then use that as my backup server... it's usually quite cheap if you purchase a few years at a time.. they will have redundancy and backups... as a bonus I get some webspace and I can access my data from any location :-)

-Edit- My point is, forget about physical media  :-D

[A4000_Mad]

I just leave all my CD's and DVD's on the spindles and label them with marker pens. Any I remove from the spindles end up just getting scratched or lost :-)

[X-ray]

Unfortunately I have to keep the data on disk because the backup process only works from disk. These are not movies, but medical imaging data.

[Oliver]

Hi X-Ray,

What if you just number the spindles, and number the discs as spindle#.disc#, then use a CD/DVD cataloguing program to record the directory/file list of each disc. Keep the spindles in numerical order in a dedicated, locked cabinet.

Alternatively, there are CD/DVD jukebox style storage drums/carousels, some of which allow for automated disc cataloguing and selection (I think).

Alternatively, I have heard that putting such records on any old CD, and selling them in second hand laptops on ebay, or leaving them in your local Quantas lounge, are reasonable options.

What is your budget? I assume this is for your work, not just your private collection of patients medical records.

[X-ray]

Hi Oliver

You are right, this is for work. These are backups from an MRI machine, and they won't be happy to operate from a spindle.
I found something that I can use: a DJ-type lockable aluminium case with CD pouches that can be individually labelled. It can hold about 660 discs. We could buy about 4 of those and store them in a cabinet.
The discs don't leave the hospital ever, they are for local backup only.

[bloodline]

I was at the Leopold Müller FIL last saturday, to get my Girl Friend's brain scanned.. I used to be at UCL so I asked them if we could get her brain imaged! The scanners are sooooooooo much higher resolution than when I had my brain scanned 8 years aog!!!! :-o

[X-ray]

Dude, is that YOUR brain they are talking about in the staff-room?
Apparently it is like a boing ball in a sock  :-P

One thing I found out about MRI scanners: if you're in the bore with a camera, be prepared to have the zoom and other controls operated without any intervention from you. And if you stay in too long, the camera will display blue noise just before it shuts down

[Trev]

DJ coffins are probably a good place to start, but they're not going to protect the media from fire or water damage. Of course, you're using a proven unreliable media, so maybe that doesn't matter. ;-) Really, you should be using online storage (read: servers with magnetic disks) or a combination of online and nearline storage (tape on demand or something similar) with offsite tape archiving in a controlled environment.

If your MRI system isn't networked, then optical media is fine for temporary storage as you shuttle data from the MRI to a server.

* I don't work in the medical field, and I have no idea how the UK deals with patient privacy issues. In the US, locking up a bunch of discs in a file cabinet probably wouldn't be acceptable under current regulations.

[X-ray]

We've got current studies on a server, but the system that stores them came in several years after the first scan was archived.
Without going into boring details, these old discs can't be uploaded on the server for storage. There are contracts and procedures to adhere to.
Privacy regulations: data won't leave the hospital, so not an issue.
Anyway the case looks good, I think we have a solution here.