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The primary storage media used by computers is a hard disk which is screwed inside the CPU and connected to the motherboard. It is a fantastic device that is quite small in size but can store hundreds of gigabytes of data and give immediate access to any file whenever required by the operating system. However, hard disks have two problems – they are non-transportable and they may crash taking down all your data with them. What is needed is a small and light data-storage media that has a high capacity for backup purposes as well as taking files from one place to another. This is where the optical disks come in. Optical disks are small circular disks made of tough and durable polycarbonate plastic. Data is recorded on their one side while the other side holds the disk label. These disks are called “optical” because they use a laser beam to read and record data. Optical disks are meant to be used with drives that are installed in computers. When you insert the disk into the drive, it begins to be spun by the drive motor. A laser beam is emitted by the drive lens which bounces off the disk surface and is read by the drive. This beam is capable of etching millions of pits on the optical disk surface. Each pit represents one while its absence represents zero. The pits are arranged in a single groove that starts from the centre of the disk and goes around in circles toward the edges. Optical disks are of two types – compact disks (CDs) and digital video disks (DVDs). The former were introduced about a couple of decades back and represent older technology. They can hold up to 700 MB or so of data, which is quite sufficient for the data backup and transfer needs of most individuals. In recent years, a new optical device – the DVD – has come up which is a vast improvement over CDs. These can hold a whopping 4.6 GB of data. This is enough storage space to accommodate a full-length Hollywood movie. DVDs have rapidly become popular as the media of choice for taking large amount of data backups and transporting very heavy files. Optical drives come in two versions – recordable (carrying the suffix “R”) and rewritable (carrying the suffix “RW”). The former, as the name suggests, is a blank disk that can be written over by the optical drive only once. The latter however can be written and rewritten over a thousand times. CD-RWs or DVD-RWs can actually act like mini-hard disks with their drag-and-drop interface. This rewritable feature has helped make optical disks the world’s most popular portable storage media. Optical disks are made of hard plastic that takes a lot of force to snap. However, they still have to be handled very carefully to avoid making data stored in them inaccessible to the user. There can be many reasons for optical disks undergoing data loss. Scratches and scars are the most common. To prevent this, one should never keep the disk on a table with the recording surface facing down. Also, the disk should not be left exposed to the atmosphere. It should either rest in its protective plastic case or in the drive tray. Data from a disk can also be lost if the recording surface gets smudged or if the disk itself gets bent out of shape due to exposure to a strong heat source. If data on an optical disk becomes inaccessible, you should try to recover it through DIY data recovery software that is widely available on the Internet. Make sure that you keep the following things in mind while making your purchase:
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James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you are concerned about data loss and would like more information on Data Recovery see www.fields-data-recovery.co.uk
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