Posted by Kromey at 2:50pm Nov 13 '12Everything else you've said is absolutely correct, however -- DVD is good, dual-layer DVD is better, Blu-Ray is even better, and dual-layer Blu-Ray is best (and this BDXL thing may be bestester).
That said, though, optical media is not the most cost-effective solution for storage in the year 2012.
Using Newegg as my benchmark, the cheapest dual-layer Blu-Ray discs I could find cost about $3.60 each ($90 for a 25-pack), which is 7.2 cents/GB.
Large-capacity external hard drives come in the range of 5-8 cents/GB, have a much smaller form factor (a 1TB external hard drive is smaller than the 20 Blu-Ray discs it would take for equivalent storage capacity), are re-usable, and their larger capacity means that it's easier to find the file(s) you're looking for quickly (speaking of which -- they're also faster!).
Yes, hard drives can fail -- but so can optical media! And in fact you can take preventative measures with your hard drives -- most notably just using them from time-to-time -- that can reduce the odds of failure, something you cannot do with optical media (burnable optical media degrades over time, and there's nothing you can do to prevent that). Really the only advantage optical media has over external hard drives is that dropping it isn't an automatic death sentence.
What I would recommend for you backup and archival needs is this:
Get yourself two (or more, if you prefer) external hard drives, each with sufficient capacity for what you're backing up. Connect one, back up your data, then unplug it and store it somewhere safe -- I happen to have a safe deposit box with my credit union where I keep mine. Then connect and use (for backup) the other one. Periodically swap these two hard drives, so you've always got a (semi-)current backup stored securely offsite, but also a bleeding-edge backup right handy in case your computer's hard drive fails. This is my backup solution for my file server (which itself is half backup, half storage, and has an "on-board" backup solution as well (data is backed up nightly from one RAID array to the other, then to the external hard drive)).
Now, all that being said, if you have your heart set on optical storage, then dual-layer Blu-Ray is the way to go today; doing some Googling, BDXL is brand-new, so it makes sense there aren't a lot of manufacturers supporting it yet. So my recommendation would be to get a burner that supports BDXL (the one you found looks good), and use dual-layer Blu-Ray discs for now -- then upgrade to BDXL discs when those become feasible.
And periodically -- say, every 2-3 years -- check on the condition of your burned optical discs, make sure they aren't showing any signs of degradation, and re-backup that data if they are; I would also say automatically re-burn any disc that is more than 5 years old, just to be safe.
That said, though, optical media is not the most cost-effective solution for storage in the year 2012.
Using Newegg as my benchmark, the cheapest dual-layer Blu-Ray discs I could find cost about $3.60 each ($90 for a 25-pack), which is 7.2 cents/GB.
Large-capacity external hard drives come in the range of 5-8 cents/GB, have a much smaller form factor (a 1TB external hard drive is smaller than the 20 Blu-Ray discs it would take for equivalent storage capacity), are re-usable, and their larger capacity means that it's easier to find the file(s) you're looking for quickly (speaking of which -- they're also faster!).
Yes, hard drives can fail -- but so can optical media! And in fact you can take preventative measures with your hard drives -- most notably just using them from time-to-time -- that can reduce the odds of failure, something you cannot do with optical media (burnable optical media degrades over time, and there's nothing you can do to prevent that). Really the only advantage optical media has over external hard drives is that dropping it isn't an automatic death sentence.
What I would recommend for you backup and archival needs is this:
Get yourself two (or more, if you prefer) external hard drives, each with sufficient capacity for what you're backing up. Connect one, back up your data, then unplug it and store it somewhere safe -- I happen to have a safe deposit box with my credit union where I keep mine. Then connect and use (for backup) the other one. Periodically swap these two hard drives, so you've always got a (semi-)current backup stored securely offsite, but also a bleeding-edge backup right handy in case your computer's hard drive fails. This is my backup solution for my file server (which itself is half backup, half storage, and has an "on-board" backup solution as well (data is backed up nightly from one RAID array to the other, then to the external hard drive)).
Now, all that being said, if you have your heart set on optical storage, then dual-layer Blu-Ray is the way to go today; doing some Googling, BDXL is brand-new, so it makes sense there aren't a lot of manufacturers supporting it yet. So my recommendation would be to get a burner that supports BDXL (the one you found looks good), and use dual-layer Blu-Ray discs for now -- then upgrade to BDXL discs when those become feasible.
And periodically -- say, every 2-3 years -- check on the condition of your burned optical discs, make sure they aren't showing any signs of degradation, and re-backup that data if they are; I would also say automatically re-burn any disc that is more than 5 years old, just to be safe.
I've never heard of BDXL... - Kromey