OpticalDiscArchive

WhitePaper

SonyCorporation,ProfessionalSolutionGroup,
ContentCreationSolutionBusinessDivision
December2012
OpticalDiscArchiveWhitePaper 2

1. Background
While the general trend in the professional audio/video media industry has moved
steadily from its tape based origins toward file based workflows for acquisition post
production and distribution, the archive domain has remained largely tapebased. Now is
thetimetoconsiderthisfinalandallimportantfinalstageoftheproductionprocess.
As a leading broadcast equipment manufacturer Sony is very consciously aware of the
challenges facing many broadcasters with regard to their media archives. While there
remains uncountable hundreds of thousands of hours stored on the long legacy of Sony
video tape formats including Betacam, BetacamSP, Digital Betacam, D1, D2, HDCAM and
most recently HDCAMSR, the message from our customers remains loud and clear they
want an alternative to tape for longterm archive storage! Likewise in the case of the film
industry, archivists have been reluctant to transfer film to tape, even the most modern
digital datatape formats are considered by many to offer insufficient benefit, in terms of
archivallife,totheoriginalfilmstock.
The most common complaint from the user community is the constant need to migrate
valuable assets from one form of tape or harddisk media to the next simply to maintain a
viable archive. This requirement for Copy Migration, coupled with the wellknown and
understood issues associated with longterm storage of film and tape media in respect of
environmental conditions, susceptibility to damage by flooding and other natural disasters
continue to challenge the continued use of the traditional carriers. Furthermore, the true
cost of ownership of maintaining these large media archives on media which demands
constant environmental controls and power hungry data centres is becoming more and
moreunacceptableinanincreasinglyenvironmentallyfriendlyworld.
It is against this background that Sony turned its attention to the problems facing
archivists worldwide. We have listened carefully to our customers in the broadcast media,
soundandfilmarchivecommunitiesineverypartoftheworldwhereweoperateandhave
challengedourresearchanddevelopmentgroupstoseekabetteralternative.
Not surprisingly, our attention turned towards optical recording techniques and optical
discinparticular.Whilethecapacitypermediaanddatatransferratesassociatedwitheven
thelatestBluraydiscsdonotcomparefavourablywithmoderndatatape,thefactremains
thatopticaldiscsareconsiderablymoredurablethanharddiskstoragesystemsormagnetic
tapebasedmedia.
The choice of technology for large media archives is clearly not one to be taken lightly,
and once committed the requirement to perform copy migration every several years is no
longer acceptable. The historical trackrecord for optical disc technology in terms of
generational compatibility is very encouraging. Even the earliest music CDs and CDROMs
introducedtheearly1980sremaincompatiblewiththelatestBlurayplayersdrivenlargely
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bytheverysignificantmassmarketforopticaldiscstoragemedia.Thisisakeyconsideration,
anditcanbeexpectedthatthistrendwillcontinueinthefuture.
The user community has from time to time in the past identified Bluray Disc technology
asapotentialarchivecarrier,buttheideahasneverbeenwidelyadopted,primarilyfortwo
reasons:Thecapacityofthesinglediscwasconsideredinsufficient,andmechanicalhandling
ofthebarediscswasconsideredtooproblematicforthetargetapplication.
2.OpticalDiscArchiveNewStorageSystem
Sony has sought to address the key shortcomings of optical disc as an archive carrier
namely capacity per media, data transfer rate and mechanical handling. The result is an all
newopticaldiscbasedstoragesystem,basedonBluraytechnology,butinheritingsomekey
attributes from Sonys Professional Disc (XDCAM) which has enjoyed very widespread
success by the broadcast and professional video production community since its
introductionin2004.
TheproposednewOpticalDiscArchiveStorageSysteminvolvestheuseofmultiplebare
discs contained within a very robust cartridge and a dedicated disc drive unit with an
associated software driver able to manipulate the discs individually providing a seamless
read/writecapability.

Photo21.OpticalDiscArchiveDriveunit&Cartridge
The highly compact disc cartridge is designed to hold 12 optical discs and is sufficiently
robust to withstand the rigours of any typical robotic storage system and much more. In
additiontoallofthestandardaccelerationtestsforremovablemediaithasbeentestedina
varietyofextremehandlingconditions.
This white paper seeks to outline the key characteristics and features of the recording
mediathecartridgeanddrivemechanismaswellastheassociatedfilesystem.

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3.OpticalDiscArchiveRecordingMedia
3.1MediaProductRange
The Optical Disc Archive cartridge may be populated with a variety of compatible disc
media,includingoptionsforbothWriteOnceandRewritablediscsaccordingtotheneeds
ofindividualusersandtheirparticularapplications,asshowninTable31.

Table31
3.2BasicRecordingMechanism
UnlikeinthecaseofCDRandDVDRwhichutiliseorganicdyeasrecordingmaterial,the
recordingprocessoftheOpticalDiscArchivereliesonaphysicalchangefromthe
crystallinetoamorphousstructurecalledphasechangetechnology.Itisthroughthis
processthattheOpticalDiscArchiveisconsiderablymorerobustandreliable.Recording
isachievedusingahighlyfocused,shortpulsedlaserbeam.Therecordingmaterialis
instantlylocallyheatedtoatemperatureaboveitsmeltingpointandthenrapidlycooled,
resultingapermanentchangeofstate.Thesignalisrecoveredviathedifferenceofthe
reflectedpowerofthelaserbetweenthecrystalandamorphousstructureasshowninFig
31.
Byitsverynature,therecordingishighlyresilientinrespectofallmannerof
environmentalconditions,includingdebrisandmoisture.Opticaldiscsareabletowithstand
eventhemostsevereenvironmentalconditionsasfoundinthecaseofnaturaldisasters.
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Fig31.
3.3Reliability
Typical reliability test results against accelerated environmental conditions are outlined
below.
Figure 32 shows the test results when the media is subjected to a highly corrosive gas
environment. Mixtures of hydrogen sulfide (concentration; 0.07ppm), nitrogen dioxide
(1.4ppm), chlorine gas (0.07ppm) and sulfur dioxide (1.4ppm) corrosive gases were
introduced into the environmental test chamber. The temperature and relative humidity
were kept at 35 degrees Celsius and 85% humidity during the storage experiment for 295
hours.

Figure32.StorageTestunderCorrosiveGasEnvironment
ThisagingtestisbasedonthecorrosiveenvironmentaltestconditionsspecifiedbytheIEC
(International Electrotechnical Commission) Method4 (revised). Almost all devices which
passthisformofacceleratedtestareconsideredtobesafefromcorrosionforover30years
under normal environmental conditions. No corrosion or error rate change in the Optical
DiscArchivewasdetectedfollowingthisagingtest.
The estimated longevity for Optical Disc Archive media using the accelerated
temperature and humidity aging test is presented in Figure 33. Discs were stored in
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environmental test chambers in which the temperature was kept at 60, 70 and 80 degrees
Celsius (at 85% relative humidity). Degradation in error rate versus storage time was
measuredforeachagingcondition.Weestimatedaveragemedialifeendtobeatthepoint
at which the error rate increases to the criteria of error correction for each temperature.
Figure 33 shows the result of wellknown Arrhenius plot (same as ISO/TC42/SC N4296
Acceleration Test Method for MagnetoOptical Disc Media), where the horizontal axis is a
reciprocaloftheabsolutetemperatureforagingandtheverticallineistheendoflifetime
foreachcondition.Extrapolationtoroomtemperatureindicatesthattheaveragemedialife
isover50years.

Figure33.LongTermStorageTestunderAcceleratedTemperature
Furtherstresstesthasbeenconductedbyultravioletirradiation.Thismethodwasoriginally
standardizedforthepurposeoftestingfadingcharacteristicsofdyedtextilesbutisnowalso
usedforlightexposuretestingofDVDRmedia.BasedontheinternationalteststandardISO
105B02:1994, ultraviolet light of 1w/m2 exposure power by a Xenon arc lampis irradiated
onto the recording surface of the disc for 15 hours at 45 and 70% relative humidity. The
errorrateisstableandremainsunchangedafterthetestasshowninFigure34.

Figure34.Xenonarcfadinglamptest
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In addition to normal environmental conditions, storage media used to preserve valuable

archivaldataoughttobeabletosurvivenaturaldisaster,particularlyflooding.Theseawater
soak test is outlined in Picture 31. Recorded Optical Disc Archive cartridges were
submergedinseawaterfor5weeks.Thecartridgeswerethenrecoveredandrinsedwithtap
water before being dried at room temperature. There was no corrosion or damage of any
kindtothediscsthemselves.Alltherecordeddatawasrecoveredwithnofailures.

Picture31.SoaktestoftheOpticalDiscArchivecartridgeinseawater
Note. All the experimental data shown in the chapter 3.3 is the result of single layer
rewritabledisc.Actualresultsmaydifferdependingonthetestconditions.
3.4CartridgeDesign
ThenewOpticalDiscArchivesystemincorporatesarobustandcompactcartridge,which
holds12barediscs.Theshapeofthecartridgeisalmostsquare(130mminlength,132mmin
width, and 26.7mm in height). The weight of the cartridge is approximately 320g including
12discs.Thiscompactcartridgeismadefrompolycarbonateresin,wellknownforitsheat
proofqualities;itprovidesadurableanddustresistantshellforitspreciouscontents.
AllthemaincomponentsareshowninFigure35.OnceloadedintheOpticalDiscArchive
drivesystem,theuppershellofthecartridge(includingfront&backshellsandseveralsmall
parts)isphysicallyseparatedfromthelowershell,whichcontainsthe12discs,byreleasinga
pair of locks. The sideboards at both ends of the lower shell have twelve grooves on the
insidesurfacewhichsupportthediscpackasshowninFigure35.Thelowershellassembly
isreinforcedviaasimplemetalbridgebetweenthetwosideboards.Oncethecartridgeis
ejectedfromthedrivesystem,theupperandthelowershellsarereunitedandthenlocked
tightly together, to hold the discs securely. The center pillar of the upper shell forms a
structural pillar between the lower and the upper shells. This provides very considerable
mechanicalstrengthtothestructureandservestoprotectdiscsandtheirpreciouscontents
fromloadpressure,shockandvibration.
Thiscompactbuthighcapacityopticalmultidisccartridgeisalsointendedtobehandledby
roboticsystemsinmassstoragelibraries.Withthisinmindthecartridgehasbeencarefully
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designedwiththispurposeinmindandincorporatestwopairsofslots,locatedonthelower
shelltofacilitatesecurehandlingbymechanicalgrippers.

Figure35.InsideMechanismoftheCartridge
Each Optical Disc Archive cartridge contains a builtin RFID tag (Radio Frequency
IDentification) which uniquely identifies each cartridge such that the content can be easily
identified using a variety of compatible RFID readers and mobile devices for effective asset
management.
Whatfollowsisadescriptionofthedriveunitandtheassociatedfilesystem.
4.OpticalDiscArchiveDriveUnit
The dedicated drive unit is built in two parts comprising the read/write platform and its
integratedmultidischandlingmechanism.Thecompletedriveiscontainedwithinstandard
5inch fullheight housing and as such may be easily accommodated within a variety of
roboticsystemsifrequired.
The read/write mechanism is based largely on the latest XDCAM drive technology, and as
such benefits from the proven reliability and track record of the past 8 years or more. The
basicread/writeplatformisabletoaccommodateallavailablemultilayerdiscs,includingre
writableandwriteoncemedia.
TheDualChannelHeadSystemincorporatestwoopticalread/writeheadsmountedona
single head assembly (Photo 41). This dual channel head assembly delivers twice the data
rateofasingleopticalhead.Usingthisdesign,itremainstechnicallyfeasibleimplementa4
headread/writesystem,therebyfurtherdoublingthedatathroughput.
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Photo41.
The ODSD55U is the first Optical Disc Archive compatible drive. It supports a USB 3.0
interfaceandassuchcanbesimplymountedasanexternaldrive,viathesuppliedsoftware
driver.Table41showsthebasicspecificationofODSD55U.

Table41.BasicspecificationofODSD55U
TheODSD55Udriveunitsupportsanadditionalrecordingmodecalledwriteverifymode.
Inthismode,whilethefileisbeingwrittentothedisc,therecordeddataissimultaneously
readtoconfirmtherecordingprocess.Inthismode,onelaserheadactsasthewritehead
while the second laser head acts as the read head and as such the overall data transfer
rateisreducedbyapproximatelyhalf.
Optical disc recording is by nature extremely reliable, thanks largely to the noncontact
nature of the recording mechanism. Indeed, in the case of the XDCAMProfessional Disc no
such writeverify mode is provided and realworld experience over the past eight years or
more has been excellent. That said, the write verify mode is provided in the case if the
Optical Disc Archive as an option, in recognition of the very nature of data archive and
backup applications and the current trend among users to verify the data integrity after
eachread/writeprocess.Thewriteverifymodeisauserselectableoptionprovidedinthe
suppliedSoftwareUtility.
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The random access nature of the medium provides for faster access times than can be
achievedwithtape,andintypicalusecasesinvolvingmultiplefileretrieveandindeedpartial
file retrieves, practical tests have shown that the faster speed of access more than
compensates for the somewhat slower data transfer rate. However, actual datarates are
sufficient to allow for realtime video replay, direct from the archive media a highly
desirablefeatureforsearchandbrowseoperation.
Despitetheseadvancesandtheuseofmultipleread/writeheadsandtheresultantincrease
in data throughput, the fact remains that Optical Disc Archive disc may be recovered by
meansofasingleopticallaserreader,regardlessofsourceofmanufacture,therebyenabling
a very high degree to future compatibility in much the same way that the latest Bluray
playerisabletoreadanearlyCompactDiscorDVDdisc.
5.Filesystem&FileFormat
5.1FileSystem
Users prefer a standard file system, with support for Drag and Drop User Interface via a
selectionofoperatingsystems.
The file system for the Optical Disc Archive is fully compliant with the industry standard
UDF(UniversalDiskFormat)andECMA.
In normal operation, the cartridge is mounted as a single media, and the driver software,
which is open to industry partners, manages the transition between individual discs to
provide seamless storage over multiple discs. The Optical Disc Archive supports the
conceptofVolumesetasdefinedinECMA167/UDF.Volumesetimpliesacollectionof
oneormultivolumes.Inthiscasevolumemeansonephysicaldisc,andtheOpticalDisc
Archiveusesmultivolumeset,whileBlurayusesasinglevolumeset.
It is by using this Multi Volume Set that the Optical Disc Archive format is able to be
mountedasonelargelogicalvolumethroughthefilesystemdriver.
5.2SequentialRecording&FileSpanning
In the case of the Optical Disc Archive format, data is recorded sequentially on the disc
forbothwriteonceandrewritableasoutlinedinFigure52below.
1. When a new cartridge is loaded into the drive, it is logically formatted and the first file
systemisrecorded.
2. After file1 has been recorded, a new file system which describes the file1
informationiscreatedandrecordedattheendoffile1record.
3. Subsequently,whenfile2andfile3arerecorded,anewfilesystemwhichdescribes
files1,2and3informationiscreatedandrecordedattheendofthefile3record.
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4. If file1 is subsequently deleted, the file system data is updated and recorded. The
deletedfiledatastillphysicallyremainsonthedisc,butisnotreferredintheupdatedfile
system record. Note: Available capacity is not increased, but rollback function is
supported.

Figure52.Sequentialrecording

As outlined above, the Optical Disc Archive file system accommodates large files which
might exceed the capacity of a single bare disc and as such a single file might span across
multiple discs. This Spanning discs process is performed by the file system driver
automatically and is outlined in Figure 53 below. Note that the application layer software
neednotbeawarethatthefileisspannedornot.
Whenfile2isrecordedandtheavailablecapacityofDisc1isto beexceeded,thefile
systeminformationwhichdescribesthecontentsofDisc1isrecordedattheendofDisc
1,andthesubsequentdataisrecordedonDisc2andtheprocessisrepeatedfromDisc
NtoDiscN+1.

Figure53.Filespanning
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Whenthecartridgeisejectedfromthedrive,thediscnumberwherethelatestfilesystem
is recorded is stored to the cartridge memory and when the cartridge is loaded this disc
number in the cartridge memory is read first and the disc which includes the latest file
systemisimmediatelyloaded.Forthisreason,theMountTimewhenthecartridgeisloaded
isrelativelyshortcomparedtotheXDCAMsystemeventhoughOpticalDiscArchivedrive
handles 12 discs at a time. The latest file system shows the entire folders/files/metadata
informationinthecartridgethroughthebrowser.Ifthefileonthecurrentdiscisselectedits
access is immediate and if the file on a different disc is selected the file system driver
automatically change the disc to access to the target file. The disc change process time is
constantregardlessthelocationofthetargetdiscinthecartridge.

6.Conclusions
The Optical Disc Archive ensures archival life of more than 50 years and eliminates the
need for ongoing Copy Migration. The very nature of themedia and the recording process
meansthattheenvironmentalconditionsformediastoragemaybeconsiderablyrelaxedby
comparison with that for tape based media. Both of these factors contribute towards
significantsavingsinthetotalcostofownership.Furthermore,therobustnessofthemedia
in the event of natural disaster is a further significant advantage in the event of such
occurrences.
AsaformofremovablemediatheOpticalDiscArchivemaybedeployedasameansfor
theexchangeofcontentbetweenfacilitiesandforstorageoflargerNonLinearEditing(NLE)
project files. For these and other such use cases, including offline Disaster Recovery
solutions,amanagedshelfarchiveremainsaverypracticalsolutionforwhichtheOptical
DiscArchiveisalsowellsuited.
The technology lends itself well to both offline (shelf based) and automated (robotic)
handlingsystemsandtheperformancecomparesfavourablywithstateoftheartvideotape
recorders,includingtheabilitytosupportrealtimereplayforsearchandbrowse.
Itisexpectedthatthesystemwillbebothwellrecognisedandsupportedwithinthemedia
archive community via a targeted Industry Alliance Program, both in terms of
interoperabilityandmultisourcingofkeycomponents,includingthemediaitself.