M-Discs: Stone-like optical discs that are nearly indestructible

[Matthew DeCarlo]

LG and Millenniata, a new startup, plan to launch a new storage format with optical discs that far exceed the average life expectancy of your average optical disc, hard drive, flash storage -- or human for that matter. Whereas conventional storage mediums have an average lifespan of six months to eight years depending on the technology, data stored on LG and Millenniata's M-Disc doesn't suffer the same deterioration and will last forever.

Billed as a "permanent" storage solution, the M-Disc is manufactured out of an undisclosed natural stone-like substance that doesn't degrade over time and lacks the reflective layer found in traditional optical discs including CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays. In conjunction with that mystery material, an M-Disc recorder uses lasers to etch pits in the disc. "Once the mark is made, it's permanent" Millenniata CEO Scott Shumway told Computerworld.

Along with being impervious to wear and tear, the M-Disc is virtually indestructible under high-stress situations that would cripple conventional storage. For instance, the company shows an M-Disc being submerged in liquid nitrogen and then boiling hot water without suffering any errors or delamination to the disc. Another clip shows someone fruitlessly smashing an M-Disc against a table, while normal discs shatter under those circumstances.

If that's not convincing enough, the US Department of Defense ran some stringent tests comparing the long-term durability of Millenniata's M-Disc to other formats. The DoD's conclusion: "None of the Millenniata media suffered any data degradation at all. Every other brand tested showed large increases in data errors after the stress period. Many of the discs were so damaged that they could not be recognized as DVDs by the disc analyzer."

The M-Disc is expected to hit shelves sometime in October for around $3 per disc and they'll be backed by a lifetime warranty. Millenniata's discs have the same data capacity as standard DVDs (4.7GB) and they're backward compatible with existing DVD drives, so once data is stored on an M-Disc, you'll be able to access the data on nearly any computer. Based on our understanding, you'll only have to buy a new M-Disc burner to write data.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/45006-m-discs-stone-like-optical-discs-that-are-nearly-indestructible.html

 

[Gars]

Based on our understanding, you'll only have to buy a new M-Disc burner to write data.

only $2-3k i guess

anyway, it's unexpected to see such a major improvement in this area...

 

[Guest]

When CDs came out in the 80s they were supposed to be nearly indestructible too.....

 

[treeski]

How heavy will they be? =P
It would be nice if they were able to increase the disc capacity to at least blu-ray size. These days, data is getting bigger and bigger.

 

[Guest]

... but cd's material dry out and become brittle over time.

 

[CryVer]

Would be nice to have a M Blu-Ray Disk that I could use for backup

 

[spydercanopus]

Now if only I could read those crystal skulls with an m-drive.

 

[Guest]

This is perfect for family photo's / video's.

 

[Stupido]

and to carve laws in sto... pardon, M-discs...

 

[Richy2k9]

hello ...

really love the concept & wish to see it applied to blurays too

i really had a laugh with your comments .. +thumbs ..

cheers!

 

[KG363]

Love the idea, but the world is moving to bluray, albeit slowly

 

[ebolamonkey3]

Man, $3/ disk. I guess if they ever get big enough, it could be used to permanently backup stuff, but at 4.7gb/disc, too small

 

[anguis]

so does this mean you can finally use the discs as a coaster while you arent using them in the computer? dual use!

 

[mario]

Physical media is dying, they will become a niche market for backups or other storage needs. Blu-ray has never taken off like CDs did and it never will, people buy more music online now than on physical media and I'm sure this trend will catch up with Movies, etc.

 

[Guest]

it will be a great way to archive 'home' or family data.. take a few m-disc's to the safety deposit box...

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

wait.... they have the same polycarbonate layer as a regular CD... so it won't degrade or snap in half, but it'll still pick up scratches then wouldn't it?

I'd much rather have a scratch proof disc.

 

[The5Xfactor]

OK! Let's say I burn one of those 'super' disks with my Tax data on it.. then later, I decide to erase this data for safety reasons.. Now what should I do?

 

[gwailo247]

the5xfactor said:
OK! Let's say I burn one of those 'super' disks with my Tax data on it.. then later, I decide to erase this data for safety reasons.. Now what should I do?

Bury it deep underground so our descendants will find it, and base their understanding of the economy of the early 21st century on your tax records.

 

[Guest]

mario
on August 9, 2011
1:46 PM ................."Physical media is dying"

Name a non physical media.

 

[Guest]

Forever. That would be a first for the universe as we know it.

BS off the port bow!

 

[Archean]

Physical media is dying, they will become a niche market for backups or other storage needs. Blu-ray has never taken off like CDs did and it never will, people buy more music online now than on physical media and I'm sure this trend will catch up with Movies, etc.

To some extent that is true with regard to ordinary users. But all that cloudy stuff is leading us towards a) a less open web, b) put corporations controlling them in charge of what you can and can't do.

I have lots of discussions on this subject and none of IT people I know are interested to place all of their company's data in the hands of other corporations. So at least in the short to medium term I think storage mediums will remain in demand for much of the businesses.

 

[lopdog]

Sounds great with a disk that can't be destroyed, most DVD's have very limited lifetime, but shouldn't they try to make Blu-ray. Who would buy an expensive recorder with only 4.7Gb capacity? That's not very much nowadays.

 

[Guest]

that thing is good but others will try to stop it...its not good for business to create that kind of devices....so i think that we wont see this technology

 

[captaincranky]

(Edit:CC "a burner would cost)...only $2-3k i guess

anyway, it's unexpected to see such a major improvement in this area...

You don't use a burner, just a hammer and chisel... In this way, it's sort of a like tombstone for data; "here lies data, forever". Sort of brings a whole new dimension to the term, "RIP data", doesn't it?

 

[Guest]

You can still destroy them, you just have to physically, like in a CD shredder Although I bet it would take a realy strong one to do that...

This is oooollld though.. This technology came ages ago. One of my good friends new the guy who pioneered it and developed it at BYU, and they've been trying to sell the machines to my work for a few years now. Looks like they've sponsored some more tests and done some re-releases in hopes that it'll appear as something new Where I worked, though, nobody wanted to pay the premium (and I worked in digital archival helping people put their vhs tapes onto DVDs... we prided ourselves in using the premium 'Archival' quality DVDs)