Data archivists who want to ensure their files are accessible for a very long time have a new option courtesy of Pioneer. As reported by Japan’s PC Watch, the electronics giant has introduced new Blu-ray discs that are guaranteed to last 100 years, a timely and relevant product that follows a revision to the Electronic Book Preservation Act in Japan that calls for local businesses and government agencies to store records digitally instead of on paper. Dubbed “DM for Archive,” the BDR-WX01DM drive costs around $400, while the 25 GB discs cost $16 each.
From a PC Watch report (machine translation):
I would like to pay attention to the DM for Archive compatible disc “IPS-BD11J03P” released by Pioneer along with the optical drive “BDR-WX01DM” for archives. This BD-R disc compatible with DM for Archive has already acquired optical disc product certification for archiving. Archive optical disc product certification is a certification system operated by the Japan Document Information Management Association (JIIMA), a third-party organization. Although there are restrictions when used with a specific optical drive, it is a system that certifies that it has initial recording quality and long-term storage performance that comply with JIS X6257.
This BD-R disc, which is compatible with DM for Archive, uses the dedicated writing application “DM Archiver” with the BDR-WX01DM, which is a drive compatible with DM for Archive, and saves data with the recording quality specified by JIS X6257. can be stored, and long-term storage of data for more than 100 years is possible by observing the operation method specified in JIS X6257.
In addition, the BDR-WX01DM, a high-performance optical drive for archiving, comes with a dedicated writing application “DM Archiver”, which makes it easy to record DM for Archive compliant with JIS X6257, which is not supported by ordinary writing software. can be realized.