Tapping into some of the underappreciated strengths of Blu-ray

As a storage medium, the Blu-ray disc appears to be riding an acceptance curve similar to the one of its predecessors – CD and DVD media.  When the CD first came out, in the 1980s, it was seen as a format for distributing audio files. The use of the CD as one for distribution of programs and data took years to develop.  At the end of the 1980s, CD-Recorders sold for around $2000, and a 700 megabyte blank disk cost $10 or more.  Successfully recording a usable CD-R disc was not a foregone conclusion – so the cost of creating ONE usable disc may have run closer to $20, $30 or more dollars.    Today, of course, CD-recordability is built into the DVD drives in most computers, or into aftermarket drives that may cost as little as $20.  And blank CD media costs just pennies.

The DVD followed a similar path, with the medium used initially for distribution of video.  However, the industry was aware of the potential for using the medium for data storage.  It still took some time for the recorders to become affordable, and for the cost of blank media to become more affordable.  The industry struggled with the –R/+R debate for a while, and eventually settled on allowing the recorder to sort things out.  As noted above, drives can be purchased for much less than $100.  Inexpensive media can cost pennies, quality media costs slightly more, but may provide more scratch resistance, be less prone to errors, and be generally worth the price difference when a quality recording is needed.

Today, floppy drives are disappearing from computers – files can be easily transferred by recording them onto CD or DVD, or copying onto a flash drive.

Blu-ray is still often perceived as a medium for distributing high definition video.  Its use as a storage medium is just beginning to be appreciated.  The most commonly available Blu-ray drives in computers are BD-ROM drives, which can read data and videos, but lack the ability to write to them.  The multiple formats for recordable Blu-ray were already explored in earlier blogs.

However, it should be clear that there is significant potential for use of the Blu-ray disc for recording as much as 50 GB today, and with new technologies proposed earlier this year, the ability to record up to 125 GB on a single piece of media.   Although the drives at first won’t be priced for consumer use, economies of scale will inevitably bring down the price of drives and media.

Although an IT organization may not initially consider that it needs to often record 50 GB of data or other materials onto a single disc, the need for this will undoubtedly be appreciated once the technology becomes better publicized and more available.  Giving an organization the ability to create a bootable image of each of its servers and workstations, and store them compactly, in anticipation of a disaster, drive crash, or worse, can help reduce the risk of business loss.  As an adjunct to disk or tape backup, re-writable Blu-ray discs may prove to be a viable addition to a company’s disaster recovery strategy.  (Add to this the fact that, because a Blu-ray disc is a random access medium, restoring files from the disc can be much faster than a similar restore from tape).

Clearly, the issue with Blu-ray disc as being more than just a distribution medium for high definition video hasn’t been explored effectively enough.   Clearly, it will…..