Optical Media and TEXT and BYTE Data

In a database environment, the vast storage capacity of optical media make it particularly attractive for storing TEXT and BYTE data such as text documents, source and object programs, and scanned images. TEXT and BYTE data theoretically has no maximum size, although in practice the Optical Subsystem allows a maximum size of about 2 gigabytes per TEXT and BYTE data object. The number of locks available in the system might impose an additional constraint on the size.

The trade-off for the capacity, lower cost, integrity, and security that optical media provide, however, is slower access. In general, accessing optical media is slower than accessing magnetic disks. Typically, an optical drive accesses data at speeds that are 25 to 50 percent slower than a magnetic disk drive.