The use of write-once, read-many optical disks for temporary and archival storage
Brenda Groskinsky · Antarctica A Keystone in a Changing World · 1992
A study was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey to evaluate a prototype write-once, read-many disk drive for the purpose of temporary storage and archiving of the U.S. Geological Survey's records and documents.Storage of documents and data is a requirement for all activities in the U.S. Geological Survey.Two types of storage are (1) routine backup of digital data and (2) archival storage.A 2-gigabyte, write-once, read-many drive was connected to a 32-bit workstation.An optical image scanner was connected to the same workstation so that images on paper could be converted to digital form for storage on write-once read-many optical disks.Write-once, read-many, optical disks may offer an improvement over magnetic tape storage for backup procedures because of their great storage capacity.The amount of data routinely stored for temporary backup of the workstation during 1 month was copied to a write-once, read-many, optical disk.Time requirements of the magnetic and write-once, read-many, optical-disk systems used for temporary backup were compared; functionality and any differences in software were considered.Write-once, readmany, disk-backup procedures may be appropriate for those sites that use magnetic-tape procedures for backup and lack the personnel required to change the tapes.Write-once, read-many, optical-disk technology may offer an improvement over printed paper or microfiche for archival storage, because the disks require minimal storage space and do not require humidity-or temperature-controlled environments.More than 300 well logs selected from the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area were scanned, indexed by range and township numbers, county, and ownership into a directory system maintained by the write-once, read-many, drive software, and stored on write-once, read-many disks for retrieval by monitor or laser printer.Image data were easily stored and retrieved to magnetic disk from the write-once, read-many, optical disk