I would like to use DVD media like one might use a tape cartridge.

Run my application.
App asks for the first DVD
App writes the DVD until it is filled
App asks for the next DVD
...
Repeat until app has written all that it wants to store using as many DVD's as might be required.

I have heard mention of a "DVD packet driver" or something similar
that lets folks do this sort of thing. Can anyone shed any light on this?

Also, while I'm asking DVD writing questions, what about "double sided" and "lightscribe" creation on linux?

Thanks,
~~~ 0;-Dan

This isn't the exact sequence you're looking for, but it should do the trick.

Use the Tape ARchive tool with the multi-volume option (tar -M), to create some backup files. Then use whatever method you would usually use to burn those files to DVDs.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...me-tar-278989/

Yes, I know how and have used tar --multi-volume ... in the past. The primary trouble with this approach is the need for enough disk space to hold all of the archives
before they get burned to DVD. The DVD-as-tape approach would not require all of that space though it might use a small about of space for prep or staging.

That Washington State software includes applications that support use of DVD in ways that are similar to traditional disk drives. I am hoping that there is similar components for Linux use of my DVD drives.

Cheers,
~~~ 0;-Dan

Does the tar multivolume approach have a level of robustness? For example, does it simply create a data stream, and if there is an error somewhere in that data stream, is the backup unusable?

Anyone here use coherent? Back in the coherent days, there was a multivolume cpio which does just what was sought...creates a multivolume set. I believe that it would place files on each volume, which meant that a failure in any media would only corrupt, at most, the files stored on that media. The downside was that the media size was the max file size. Back then kernels fit on floppies...

play with tar ... --multi-volume --tape-length NNN ... to see how things stack up.
The NNN details how many 1024-byte blocks live one each "tape volume". After that many blocks are written, tar asks for a "reel change". REMEMBER -- most of this was invented when few computers anywhere used mega-bytes much less giga-bytes. (chuckle)

You can also direct the output of tar to STDOUT and then pipe that output into split -bytes=NN ....

Clarification: 'split' will chunk the file, but without creating any "tar-ball" integrity details. The "--tape-length=NNN" approach keeps 'tar' in control of data integrity.

~~~ 0;-Dan