What DVD format is best for archiving purposes?

[Grasshopper]

After about 5 years of keeping my fingers crossed, I’ve finally decided to back up all the data on my hard disk onto DVDs.

I’ve deleted all the crap and divided up the remaining data into the following categories:

-   personal data that cannot be replaced. This includes letters I’ve written, photos, financial records, arcade CPO designs I’ve made etc. All my personal data comfortably fits onto a single DVD.

-   programs and data (mostly movies) that I’ve downloaded. This stuff can mostly be replaced albeit with difficulty.

I’ve already decided what to do with the personal data. I’m going to put it on DVD-RAM (a very underrated format IMHO) and have a proper rotating disk arrangement. Anything else would be overkill for such a small amount of data.

However DVD-RAM disks are pretty expensive. So for most of the other stuff (which takes up far more space) I plan to make a single copy on another DVD format and that will be it. If the odd disk becomes unreadable over time then it won’t be the end of the world. However, I’m not sure which of the DVD formats is most durable.

From what I’ve been reading DVD+ offers some theoretical advantages over DVD-. However, the differences appear to be marginal and I haven’t found any evidence that they make a difference in the real world. Has anyone got any views on this? My DVD drive can handle anything btw.

A more significant question appears to be whether to use R or RW media. Most people seem to be saying that R media is more durable and that sounds plausible to me. But is there any hard evidence to back it up?

Also, what brand is best? The more I read about different the manufacturing methods used, the more confusing it gets.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[SirPeale]

I would not rely on an optical media format for important stuff.  I have (had) some important things I backed up onto CD.  I used good grade CD-R, burned it at a slow speed, and placed the discs into a climate controlled environment.

After a couple years the discs were unreadable.

I would use some variety of magnetic media backup.  A few smaller hard drives would be an idea.  That way if one of the drives fails for whatever reason, you have redundant backups.

Or you could copy your DVDs every six months or so, just to make sure you always had a good copy.  DVD writable media is cheap.

[shardian]

The difference between +R and -R is pretty much pointless now. Taiyo Yuden makes the best discs. Sometimes they are rebadged as other brands and you can tell from the manufacturing country. I have never seen them myself as a rebadge. Anyways you can buy them at Supermediastore.com.

[ChadTower]

A hard drive may not be all that more reliable in the long run.  I don't think the format matters, but the quality of the media might, and make sure to make several copies.  All of my photos and such get written out 3 times.  Often I'll make backups again a year or two later when I think of it.

[EwJ]

For data that you will be reading only with you pc,  +r, -r really won't matter.
A lot of the +r, -r stuff you hear about is from when some older models of home dvd players didn't 'like' the +r..  But with the +r, you can sometimes set the 'book type' to dvd-rom instead of dvd+r for compatibility.
As shardian said, Taiyo Yuden is pretty much the best.  Have had good luck with Verbatim as well, but YMMV.  It also depends on the make/model of your burner - some have better compatibility with different brands of media than others.  Watch the burn speed as well, some software will set it to a maximum, that may be too quick for the media you are using. Some manufacturers supply software that will allow you to test the media to see what quality you will get with the burn and best speed to use , etc. 
It would be a good idea to look for tools for your burner - as well as any firmware updates that may help with compatibility with certain media.  Some manufacturers supply media compatibility lists for their burners on their websites.
As already stated, make more than 1 copy and ensure that you 'verify the written data' after the burn.

[Daniel270]

If you keep it stored away, why not use SD cards for your important records, then use DVD or whatever for the stuff that's not quite so important? 

[Donkey_Kong]

Another cutting edge, but expensive option could be HD or Blue Ray. Blue Ray discs will hold like 50 gigs each. You would have the expense of a BR burner...about $500, then the blank discs run about $30-$50 depending on the quantity you purchase. I don't currently have any of this equipment so I can't say how well it works, but I would like to someday.

[SirPeale]

A hard drive may not be all that more reliable in the long run.

That's why I'm suggesting several smaller drives with redundant backups.

[protokatie]

On top of using a DVD or similar system, you might want to think about Web Based backups as well. It would be good to know that if your house were to burn down, that you still have all those photos and everything like that that you hold dear. The only thing is, you typically have to drop about 50 a year for the service. Carbonite.com seemed the best and easiest to use web service... And offers unlimited backup storage space...

[Grasshopper]

Thanks for all the replies. There’s some very useful info here.

To be honest before reading this thread I’d never heard of Taiyo Yuden. But I’ve done a lot of googling and they do indeed appear to be the most highly regarded DVD manufacturer.

So I’m now leaning towards buying Taiyo Yuden DVD+Rs. But I’m still not sure whether to go for 8X or 16X disks.

[SavannahLion]

A hard drive may not be all that more reliable in the long run.

That's why I'm suggesting several smaller drives with redundant backups.

Different brands and/or batches while you're at it.

As for DVD's, is DVD Identifier still the usual tool of choice to identifying your discs?

[patrickl]

I have to concur with Peale. Optical media are pretty unreliable. I use hardisks in trays that swap out. Now and then I even replace my off site copy so i'm protected in case of fire or burglary.

I do make backups on DVD's now and then too (and CD's before), but sometimes they become unreadable pretty quickly.

[shmokes]

Have you considered an online storage option?  Get with reputable company and you know that your data will be off-site, with multiple levels of failsafes built-in.  I don't know what something like that costs, but considering the amount of space you get with a free Gmail account, I can't imagine online storage can be too terribly expensive.  It would also give you the side-benefit of having access to that information no matter where you were.

[patrickl]

Yes, on-line storage is a good idea too. Especially for stuff that doesn't change that often.

If you need to backup a lot every time then it might be a problem since uploading files can be quite slow and there might be a traffic limit on your internet connection.

[Dexter]

I built a PC for my dad at christmas wit a raid 1 setup. A good solution for redundancy if one drive fails, improves performance too.

[Xiaou2]

Realistically,   almost all optical discs go bad.   This ranges from decomposition chemically
to  other reasons.   They also can get scratched.   Hold an old audio cd up to the light, and
see how many pinholes you find - you will be amazed.   

 And then there is Outdated formats.   Such as when your 2x drive dies... and the new 54x
wont read your 2x disc correctly.    Or if you bought 2 of the same drives... the new OS wont
like the old drivers for them.


 But, I have found Hard drives make better backups.   Yes, HDs  can and do fail.  But what
are the odds of 2 drives failing at once?     Very slim.   Much slimmer than the chance your
optical media will fail somehow.

 Also,  HD's are a LOT Faster to back things up with.   No coasters.  No complex sorting and
dividing up file sizes.   Simply drag n drop,  or ghost the entire drive over.   

 The cost is usually a Lot cheaper as well.   A BlueRay disc may hold 25 gigs..  but it might
cost $15 a pop.    When you can get a 500 GB HD for $100.    That would mean you would need
$300 worth of BlueRay discs to match the 500gb HD.   And have all the hassle of dividing all your
data up in 25 gig sections.   And waiting for it all to burn.    And if you update things frequently,
youd blow thru discs like mad... where as a HD is much more reliable when erased.   (Re-writable cds only re-write so many times per area, and then become corrupted)

 
 You dont have to keep the drives hooked into the system either.  You could backup,  then
place them in a nice safe vibration proof box which you could even lock for security.


 The greatest reason why drive fail is due to heat.   Always place a good fan in front of
your drive (or backup drive)  as its in operation.   It should be a direct cool breeze at
all times.   Drives internal heads are micro small... and heat can expand metal... which
causes the heads to become mis-aligned... thus scratching the disc surface, and destroying
themselves in the process.   

 And HDs can get super hot inside, even when only ran for 5 min.   I had froze a drive in
the freezer for like 15 hrs cause it had the click of death.   I popped it on the system and tried to
get info off it... but the damn thing was nearly room temp in only 2 min flat       Sadly,
most of the stuff was lost.     And after losing over 4 drives.. I learned the hard way about
cooling needs.   As well as about having backups.

 I personally prefer Not to raid a drive.  Instead, I copy the data myself at intervals.  Once a
month major backup.   And drag and drop important stuff immediately.    The problem with
raid is... if you get a virus... it will be duplicated to your drive immediately.     However,
if you have a  1month old OS backup,  you can simply pop that drive onto the system as
the new boot drive,  and your back up in a flash.

 Its best to unhook the power to the drives when not in use obviously.  For money sake,
and for anti-virus safety.


 I find it best to Keep an OS drive backup,  and a separate Data drive(s)  backup. 
If your motherboard does not have enough IDE/Sata  ports... then you can grab
a PCI card for like $60   to add more to the system.



 

[SavannahLion]

You raise a lot of valid points to be sure, but I'd like to bring up a few of myself. I'm going to skip over the optical media portion and go straight to the hard drive.

But, I have found Hard drives make better backups.   Yes, HDs  can and do fail.  But what
are the odds of 2 drives failing at once?     Very slim.   Much slimmer than the chance your
optical media will fail somehow.

It's a law of Murphy... or maybe it's Finagles... whatever. Given two drives of equal heritage (ie same manufacturing batch) and discarding extreme failures, the mean time between failures for the two drives will be very close to each other. Anyone who owns a car and replaced the headlamps on them will know exactly what I'm talking about. When one fails, the other is sure to fail and soon.

The greatest reason why drive fail is due to heat.   Always place a good fan in front of
your drive (or backup drive)  as its in operation.   It should be a direct cool breeze at
all times.   Drives internal heads are micro small... and heat can expand metal... which
causes the heads to become mis-aligned... thus scratching the disc surface, and destroying
themselves in the process.

Incorrect. Modern drives have internal mechanism to compensate for heat expansion. I've run hard drives to the point where they're almost smoking and they've functioned as intended. Yes, you should always cool a hard drive as much as possible, they generate insane amounts of heat. But a HDD failure due to heat is no more or less likely than a HDD failing to excessive vibration. I'm not saying HDD's can't fail due to heat, I'm saying heat failure isn't the greatest reason for failure.

BTW, some hard drives are designed to intentionally land the disc head on the platter itself. Hence why you can never properly access sector 0 of a disc platter. If the head is designed to need a landing zone, sector 0 is where it goes. I recall research from about ten year ago utilizing polyester (the same polyester in those cheesy 70's pants) as lubricant for landing heads.

Not all drives land the head though. Some "park" the head in a kind of rack that suspends the head above the drive.

And HDs can get super hot inside, even when only ran for 5 min.   I had froze a drive in
the freezer for like 15 hrs cause it had the click of death.   I popped it on the system and tried to
get info off it... but the damn thing was nearly room temp in only 2 min flat       Sadly,
most of the stuff was lost.     And after losing over 4 drives.. I learned the hard way about
cooling needs.   As well as about having backups.

Funny, I read a post that describes that exact same experience not too long ago. That wasn't yours was it? Freezing the drive only works for some drive failures, not all of them. I think the reasons vary for why it works, but in the end that doesn't matter. On a dead drive, freezing the drive is something to try, but it's not a guaranteed solution. What I've done is pack the drive with silica packets in a sealed bag and run the drive in the ice. This at least minimizes heat issues and is a good way to thaw out that nights dinner.


I've grouped the following quotes together:

And then there is Outdated formats.   Such as when your 2x drive dies... and the new 54x
wont read your 2x disc correctly.    Or if you bought 2 of the same drives... the new OS wont
like the old drivers for them.

If your motherboard does not have enough IDE/Sata  ports... then you can grab
a PCI card for like $60   to add more to the system.

On a last note, you've denounced long term viability of optical media, specifically legacy reader support. Yet you later offer advice for hard drives that in no way guarantees legacy support down the road. In the last 25 years there have been a stunning array storage mediums and their interfaces that have come and gone. Much much more if you go back even further. And there is always the problem of advancing hardware and software leaving behind legacy support... including hard drives.

The problem is so real that some institutes are actually storing not just the hard drives, but the computers that can read them in room sized refrigerators and freezers. The facility I worked at does exactly that. Imagine their surprise when I asked where the manual for those computers were and what they were going to do about the batteries that are bound to die and leak inside. Imagine 50 years down the road, they need to recover data off one of those hard drives and no one remembers how to type on a keyboard.... Come to think of it... the computers they have in storage don't even have keyboards, mice or monitors. I guess I'll have to email them about it.

Anyhow, I digress. As long as you regularly use the media in question, you put yourself in a position to ensure you can move the data to new media, regardless of format, when that time comes.

Personally, I feel that a hard drive as long term storage for a high volume of data is a perfectly viable solution. People just need to be aware of the potential pitfalls that will face them in the long run.

[zaphod]

Programs:  Keep a copy or two on CDs of each major program.  If they are a bunch of small apps, I archive as many as will fit on a CD and burn them off, and also keep a copy on a HD.  Chances are the programs will be obsolete long before your CDs become unusable.

Movies:  Just burn them off onto DVDs as .aivs (or whatever) and not worry about them.  You can probably get 5 to a DVD.  How upset would you be if you actually lost some of them?  Would you honestly go out and bother to 'replace' them?  Knowing how I am, I watch them once and that's it.

Personal data:  What I do is have some simple batch scripts that run nightly to XCOPY over new/modified files from designated directories (on a Datastore partition so they are easy to spot) to a backup drive in another machine.  I periodically burn off copies to DVD, keep one copy and send another offsite with my dad.  I am most interested in keeping pictures and home videos safe.  As I upgrade harddrives, I always create a DataStore (my name) partition and copy over the information from the old drive.  Procedure works well for me. 

Speaking of videos, what I have done is load each MiniDV into the PC with WinDV, make a second copy to a backup HD on the network, then send the original tapes offsite.  Videos of my children seem to warrant a little extra caution.

Having copies of your data offsite helps protect you in case of fire as we all know your standard safe at home won't protect your discs at all.

[Xiaou2]

 Heat expansion compensation only goes so far.   While your drive may seem just dandy..  you
may have reduced the drives life expectancy by years,  from excessive heat.

 
 I speak on terms of pure experience:


 I had a  Re-Writable  cd drive:

 1) after several erases and re-writes...  the CD became corrupt and unreadable.
 2) disc burned at a low speed could not be read by the high speed cd player.
 3) many of the CDRs I have went dead due to the coating falling off them.
 4) many of my audio cds... while token care of well.. have pinhole scratches on the coating.
(while most play fine due to the way audio errors work, but if it were pc data,  it would be corrupted)


 Hard Drives:

 Ive had like 5 drives die on me Personally.   In every instance,  it was ALWAYS the drive that
was mounted directly above the bottom drive.   The heat rising from the bot drive COOKED the
top drive to early death.

 Upon installing massive airflow across all drives and putting 3/4" space between each..  Ive not
had a drive fail yet - and its been like 8yrs.   And I have 8 drives in my system currently, all in
operation.


 Also,  while there is the possibility that 2 drives in the same lot can go bad...  You can simply buy
alternating drives from different manufacturers, of from differing periods of time.   

 But Again,  what is the reality that BOTH drives would fail on the SAME DAY?!   If one drive goes dead,
you IMMEDIATELY grab a new drive and clone it over.   And, If this data is super important,  you can use
3 drives


 As for HD technology..  its pace is fairly slow compared to CD media.   Ive owned IDE drives, and now just
got a few Sata's.   Yet in that short time... Ive had multiple burners.   First the typical CDR burner... then
the RE-Writable drive,  and now a  DVD burner.    And thats not even counting all the damn revisions
of all of those drives.  Anything from  +/-   ,to disc speed compatibility... and more.     And then there
was HD-DVD  (plus and enhanced HD-DVD that they never let loose)  and now BLUE RAY...  and someday
down the line,  there will be a new format.

 Yet HDs barely changed at all.   All motherboard still support IDE.  And there are IDE to SATA adapters
if you prefer..  as well as PCI IDE adapter cards.    And by the time your IDE is obsolete... your IDE drives
wont even be worth hanging on to because they would be so small in comparison the cheapest newest
drives - to which you would have long switched over to.

 And again,  we are talking Cost ,  Ease, and Speed.   You cant beat the cost of HD backup - Period.  Even
with 3 drive setups.    You cant beat the speed aspect.  Nor can you beat the ease.

 
 I can also say that my HD backup system has saved my butt once already, due to a brand new 'defective'
HD  that failed shortly after all the data was installed on it.

[boykster]

That's it, I'm starting a CD/DVD/HD -> punch card translation service!

[paigeoliver]

I can take a drive from the 1980s and stick it in a little box and plug it into a USB port right now.

I also say hard drives. I wouldn't even buy new ones. Just use 3 or 4 old ones, put the data on all of them, as they start to become obsolete you can pull them out and translate them to new drives.

Hard drives don't tend to fail while sitting in storage, and they don't have the batteries/caps that tend to mess up other old electronics.

[Grasshopper]

OK, I’ve read through all the responses and agree with most of what’s being said regarding backups in general.

However, I think that most of the solutions being offered are overkill for my situation. Bear in mind that I only have a few gigabytes of data that is truly irreplaceable. It would be a major hassle if I lost the other stuff, but it is ultimately replaceable, or not worth replacing.

I’ve considered hard disks. If I had a vast amount of data to back up they would be my first choice - cheap (per gigabyte) and convenient. However, the problem with hard disks is that they can fail catastrophically, resulting in the loss of all your data in one go. Multiple disks are one possible answer to this but then the cost becomes too high for the amount of data that I want to protect. Also, multiple copies of any media will reduce the likelihood of data loss. Why should the rationale for multiple hard disks be any stronger than the rationale for multiple DVDs, flash memory etc.?

I’ve also rejected Blu-Ray on the grounds of cost. In any case, it’s not yet clear how durable Blu-Ray disks will be in the longer term.

I would never use online storage on its own. However it might be worth considering as an additional means of backup, in case the house burns down or something. But, and I realise this might be slightly irrational, I feel slightly uneasy entrusting my personal data to a faceless corporation. Anyway, that point aside, I’m going to look into it.

That leaves DVDs and flash memory. Flash memory is very tempting. I almost chose to use it in preference to DVDs. But it’s still just a little too expensive. I don’t think it will ever be as cheap as DVD+/-Rs. However, if the price of flash memory continues to follow Moore’s law for another year or two, it could easily give DVD-RAM a run for its money.

Interestingly, I haven’t been able to find any consistent information regarding the shelf life of flash memory i.e. how long would the data be retained if the memory was left unused for any length of time. I’ve seen estimates varying from two years to forever. Maybe no one really knows as it’s still a relatively new technology. But whatever the true figure is, flash drives are probably at least as durable as even well stored optical media, and considerably more convenient.

I think I’ll stick with multiple copies of optical media for the time being and then maybe switch to flash, or something else in a few years time.

[Grasshopper]

I have one final question.

I’m still not sure what speed media to buy. For some reason the 8X and 16X Taiyo Yuden DVD+Rs cost about the same.

I know there’s a commonly held belief that you should always burn optical media at the slowest speed possible (although even that is disputed by some people). However, is it also better to buy faster media?

All other things being equal, it would seem logical to buy the fastest media you can. However, it occurs to me that the manufacturers might have had to make compromises in other areas (i.e. durability) in order to achieve the higher burn speeds. Has anyone got any thoughts on this?

[SirPeale]

I’ve considered hard disks. If I had a vast amount of data to back up they would be my first choice - cheap (per gigabyte) and convenient. However, the problem with hard disks is that they can fail catastrophically, resulting in the loss of all your data in one go. Multiple disks are one possible answer to this but then the cost becomes too high for the amount of data that I want to protect. Also, multiple copies of any media will reduce the likelihood of data loss. Why should the rationale for multiple hard disks be any stronger than the rationale for multiple DVDs, flash memory etc.?

We're talking about older hard disks.  In the ten-twenty gig range, or even smaller.  Used, they go for peanuts.  Five to ten of these would take up the space no larger than a shoe box.

If you're going to go with optical media, make copies every six months.

[Grasshopper]

We're talking about older hard disks.  In the ten-twenty gig range, or even smaller.  Used, they go for peanuts.  Five to ten of these would take up the space no larger than a shoe box.

If you're going to go with optical media, make copies every six months.

It's funny you should mention that because I've been toying with the idea of fitting my PC with a couple of removable hard disk racks so I could make use of old hard disks. However, my motivation wasn't to back up my data, it was so I could experiment with various Linux distros. I thought I could put one on each disk, slot it in, and play with it, with no risk of damaging my main Windows installation.

The trouble with the plan is that I'm finding it difficult to get hold of old hard disks. They must be out there. But for some reason people don't seem to be selling them, or giving them away.

[SirPeale]

Ask on FreeCycle for old computers.

Or look on eBay.

[sirwoogie]

I would never use online storage on its own. However it might be worth considering as an additional means of backup, in case the house burns down or something. But, and I realise this might be slightly irrational, I feel slightly uneasy entrusting my personal data to a faceless corporation. Anyway, that point aside, I’m going to look into it.

Just to help you on this point. Some online backup vendors provide the ability to use your own encrypted key scheme, not just theirs. If you want to get even more paranoid about it, you could use an encrypted file volume such as something TrueCrypt provides.

I have this same dilemma as you regarding copies and backups. I use a combination of removable hard drives (to take to an offsite location), flash memory (for real-time access), and online (for archival and secondary copy). I don't have that much stuff (about 3 gigs), so it works out good for most media sizes nowdays.

You can't go wrong with most recommendations in this thread.

[ChadTower]

I use DVDs... but I do have a USB drive enclosure and a stack of 12G drives.  I think I'm going to move to making backups on those every couple of months.

Since this guy is looking at a relatively small amount of data... I wonder if 3-4 thumb drives would do him just as well.  Much smaller and if he's not using them for regular access they may be just as safe as a hard drive.

[ark_ader]

After about 5 years of keeping my fingers crossed, I’ve finally decided to back up all the data on my hard disk onto DVDs.

I’ve deleted all the crap and divided up the remaining data into the following categories:

-   personal data that cannot be replaced. This includes letters I’ve written, photos, financial records, arcade CPO designs I’ve made etc. All my personal data comfortably fits onto a single DVD.

-   programs and data (mostly movies) that I’ve downloaded. This stuff can mostly be replaced albeit with difficulty.

I’ve already decided what to do with the personal data. I’m going to put it on DVD-RAM (a very underrated format IMHO) and have a proper rotating disk arrangement. Anything else would be overkill for such a small amount of data.

However DVD-RAM disks are pretty expensive. So for most of the other stuff (which takes up far more space) I plan to make a single copy on another DVD format and that will be it. If the odd disk becomes unreadable over time then it won’t be the end of the world. However, I’m not sure which of the DVD formats is most durable.

From what I’ve been reading DVD+ offers some theoretical advantages over DVD-. However, the differences appear to be marginal and I haven’t found any evidence that they make a difference in the real world. Has anyone got any views on this? My DVD drive can handle anything btw.

A more significant question appears to be whether to use R or RW media. Most people seem to be saying that R media is more durable and that sounds plausible to me. But is there any hard evidence to back it up?

Also, what brand is best? The more I read about different the manufacturing methods used, the more confusing it gets.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Get a HD-DVD burner. 

I hear they are going cheap. 

[SavannahLion]

NVM. Delete this. Lost my temper. One persons opinion is equally as valid as another.

[paigeoliver]

The hard drive solution likely wouldn't cost ANY money at all. If you quickly ask around amongst any techie friends and co-workers you can usually EASILY get a whole bunch of older hard drives for nothing. They have no value at all.

[ark_ader]

The hard drive solution likely wouldn't cost ANY money at all. If you quickly ask around amongst any techie friends and co-workers you can usually EASILY get a whole bunch of older hard drives for nothing. They have no value at all.

Especially now as sizes are getting bigger, those 120GB drives are super cheap. Vac seal those drives afterwards and place them in room temperature storage.  Super idea for cheap storage.

I thought of what you said was rather apt considering the the video of the xbox drive domino stunt i just watched.  So much better than using DVDs.

[ChadTower]

Keep in mind Grasshopper needs about 5-10gb of storage, not 120gb.  Paige is right, free drives of that size are certainly possible to obtain.  A USB enclosure and 3-4 of those will do nicely.  I got my USB enclosure for about $20 shipped, works well, and it takes 2 minutes to swap a drive into it.

[SavannahLion]

I got my USB enclosure for about $20 shipped, works well, and it takes 2 minutes to swap a drive into it.

I'm usually far too lazy to do even that. I went out and bought a 2xPATA to USB adapter sans power and use that instead. At the time it cost me about $25 or so. Now you can find SATA+PATA to USB adapters with a suitable power supply for about that much.

[ark_ader]

Keep in mind Grasshopper needs about 5-10gb of storage, not 120gb.  Paige is right, free drives of that size are certainly possible to obtain.  A USB enclosure and 3-4 of those will do nicely.  I got my USB enclosure for about $20 shipped, works well, and it takes 2 minutes to swap a drive into it.

Another option is to utilise a pull out caddy system.  I have seen them go for as little as $20 and the cages were much lower.  Great for plug and play.  Ideal for those SCSI drives floating around with that capacity.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Removable-Mobile-Rack-Hard-Drive-HDD-IDE-Hot-Swap-2-Fan_W0QQitemZ180218115254QQihZ008QQcategoryZ64463QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

And those hard drives?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Removable-Mobile-Rack-Hard-Drive-HDD-IDE-Hot-Swap-2-Fan_W0QQitemZ180218115254QQihZ008QQcategoryZ64463QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

That would be a cheap solution!