>  Similar to the experience of Dr. Andrea Elberger, we have also had optical
>disk problems.  Unfortunately, we never came to a satisfactory solution.
>Our own experiences and previous discussion over this list make me think that
>the rewritable optical disk isn't such an attractive storage solution as it
>first appears.  (Some have suggested that writing to CDROMs is a better way
>to store images).
>  We purchased a Pinnacle Sierra rewritable 1.2 GB drive for use with our
>Sun SPARC stations.  It performed fine for a while, then suddenly an entire
>disk side (600 MB) became unreadable!  Apparently due to the nature of the
>UNIX file system, none of the files could be rescued.  A check with the Sun-
>managers list revealed that this happens to a lot of people, using optical
>drives of various manufacturers.  Some felt that dust could foul up the
>device.
>  Since that first disaster, we now store image files on 2 separate optical
>disks.  We also do a file system check regularly, but that doesn't help -
>The same thing has happened again - with no warning of a gradual deterioration.
>That's 2 failures in 6 months of moderate use, out of a total of 14 disk sides
>filled or partially filled with data.
>  The optical disk manufacturers tout the great reliability of this method -
>30 year shelf life, etc, but my confidence has been diminished by experience.
>We are still relying on the optical drive, but now at twice the effort and
>expense.
>
>
>        [log in to unmask]
>        David Berk
>        Radiation Oncology
>        Mass. General Hospital
>        Boston
>
>
 
 
Here at the Medical College I have used two different kinds of Optical Disk
Storage devices; a Hewlett Packard 1 GByte Rewritable drive, and a Panasonic
1.2 Gbyte Rewritable drive.  The Hewlett Packard drive is attached to a
Silicon Graphics Workstation and the Panasonic drive is attached to a
Gateway 2000 Computer used for MRC-600 Confocal Imaging.  I have had no
problems with either of these devices.  The only time there was a hint of a
problem with the Hewlett Packard drive was when someone tried to eject the
disk without dismounting the drive first.  I'm not sure how your Sun Station
works or your particular drive, but if you eject the Hewlett Packard optical
disk without dismounting, you can lose your data and corrupt the disk.  The
Panasonic drive doesn't require either mounting or dismounting each time you
enter or eject the disk but this is also due to the fact that it is mounted
on a PC based system.
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+ Brett Schroeder                            8701 Watertown Plank Road +
+ Dept. of Cellular Biology & Anatomy     Milwaukee, WI 53226-4801 USA +
+ Medical College of Wisconsin                          (414) 456-8504 +
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