CD 'Ripserver': The pack rat's worst enemy
(Credit:
BornRich)
There are some people who just can't bear to part with musty old vinyl albums, let alone their CD collections. As a result, they often rely on the excuse that it's just too much trouble to convert them into MP3 files and store them (though we know the real reason). So to help them through their recovery, something like the "Ripserver" may be in order.
This innocuous-looking device from Ireland-based Ripfactory is only slightly bigger than a shoebox but can hold up to 1 terabyte of music, according to BornRich. Better still, all that needs to be done is insert the CD into its slot, and the Ripserver will automatically rip and archive it before unceremoniously spitting out the obsolete form of media.
Using Linux technology, the Ripserver also works with other devices that can plug into its USB port, whether they be game consoles or thumb drives. The downside: Now you'll have time to tackle those boxes of baseball cards.
replaced by another STABLE and PERMANENT media, like an EPROM or
similar, they're the best format for storage. Hard drives and flash memory
are just too unreliable to trust with a few thousand dollars of music. Once
the cat knocks this Ripserver off the desk all you have left is an actual
shoebox. The disk, and your songs, are toast.
Writable CDs and DVDs are great for temporary storage, but they start to
degrade in about 5 to 7 years, and have to be transferred to new disks on a
regular basis. Heck, even your companies are using DAT for backing up their
servers and mainframes because of their (much) higher capacity and reliable
medium. Just no strong magnets, thank you.
Your White Snake CDs will last 50 to 100 years with proper care. Nothing
else comes close. Except Vinyl.
replaced by another STABLE and PERMANENT media, like an EPROM or
similar, they're the best format for storage. Hard drives and flash memory
are just too unreliable to trust with a few thousand dollars of music. Once
the cat knocks this Ripserver off the desk all you have left is an actual
shoebox. The disk, and your songs, are toast.
Writable CDs and DVDs are great for temporary storage, but they start to
degrade in about 5 to 7 years, and have to be transferred to new disks on a
regular basis. Heck, even your companies are using DAT for backing up their
servers and mainframes because of their (much) higher capacity and reliable
medium. Just no strong magnets, thank you.
Your White Snake CDs will last 50 to 100 years with proper care. Nothing
else comes close. Except Vinyl.
I bought my first CD in 1984 and now 24 years (and 3000+ CDs) later, I still listen to those first 3 CDs with no issues.
I built my first PC in 1985 (286 w/ 10MB hard drive) and no part of that system is still working. The 386 I built in 1989 is still running, but it is on it's third hard drive.
The floppy backups I made in the 80's are useless and no equipment exists to read the tape backups I made in the 90's.
So, when a solution comes along that can safely preserve the almost 2 TB of lossless music data that will be easily accessible after 20 years, I will look at it, but until then find something better to do than accuse me of hoarding.
- Aw come on Mike
- by MadLyb March 5, 2008 4:44 PM PST
- Do you really consider a lossy mp3 stored on hard disk as a perfect substitute for Lossless PCM on a sealed optical medium?
- Like this Reply to this comment
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(4 Comments)I bought my first CD in 1984 and now 24 years (and 3000+ CDs) later, I still listen to those first 3 CDs with no issues.
I built my first PC in 1985 (286 w/ 10MB hard drive) and no part of that system is still working. The 386 I built in 1989 is still running, but it is on it's third hard drive.
The floppy backups I made in the 80's are useless and no equipment exists to read the tape backups I made in the 90's.
So, when a solution comes along that can safely preserve the almost 2 TB of lossless music data that will be easily accessible after 20 years, I will look at it, but until then find something better to do than accuse me of hoarding.