chainofponds Loc: Maine

Is there an advantage to storing photos on DVD vs CD discs? Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

JimH Loc: Western South Jersey, USA

You can fit more on a DVD medium. I think they're both fairly rugged, as things go. Keep them out of direct sunlight and don't let the cat chew on them. If you're burning disks, and your software allows it, do a 'verify' after the burn. This ensures that all files were copied correctly. "Close" or finalize the disc after burning. Make a plain vanilla disk with just files on it, don't make a 'slideshow' disk or 'picture disk' or any of those other varieties - it's possible that the software that would be used to place the images and junk on the disk might go barmy on you and you'd not be able to retrieve the files in a few years or so. Make it 'readable in any PC'. That should hold you.

chainofponds Loc: Maine

Thanks for the info. Any brand preferences out there?

zaroba Loc: Pennsylvania

tests using ovens or uv light to basically rapidly age CDs and DVDs have shown that DVDs will degrade much faster then CDs. in order to fit more data on a dvd then on a cd, the individual recording spaces are much smaller and as a result, less damage is needed to render files unreadable. its mainly the laminate that holds the layers of the discs together that degrades over time.

personally, i just keep my pictures on my hard drive, and have a lot uploaded to my website for storage.

APhelpsPhoto Loc: Indiana

I used to use CDs/DVDs. But it got to the point that I had hundreds and hundreds of them that I had to store. So I got an external hard drive. So much easier!

PhotoArtsLA Loc: Boynton Beach

The problem with using CD's for backup is one of pit depth. You simply cannot allow burn speeds above 2x, where 1x is preferable. I find MOST software, particularly on PCs, disallow anything but a "fast burn." For this reason, the PC industry, years ago, actually stated CDs are not safe for long term storage. You know your burn is fast when it happens in a few minutes. A full CD should take at LEAST 15-30 minutes (an hour is much better.)

Pit Depth is the basis of CD storage. The faster you burn, the more shallow the pits, and thus, the shorter the lifespan. Slooow burns give deeper pits and more lifespan (archival nature.)

That said, if you can find GOOD quality CDs, which are not really the stuff of common stores, and burn them SLOOOWLY, you can expect at least decades of archival storage. I have 25+ year old burned CDs which are still going strong today. I used to buy in bulk, and the discs were $1 EACH. The stuff you see in stores is basically all temporary stuff. Expect to pay a premium for archival quality CDs.

Luckily, were are nearing the era of carbon storage. THAT will be a banner day for digital... everything.

chainofponds Loc: Maine

Excellent information! Thanks everyone. Is there a way to slow down a burn if your computer is fast. I have a Mac.

zaroba Loc: Pennsylvania

can't say i know anything about macs. but every 3rd party burning program i have seen lets you select the speed that the disc was burnt at.

ckayaker

Chainofponds,
The first thought that comes to mind is the storage capacity of CD vs DVD. I haven't used either for several years, but I recall the CDs having a size of 700meg and the DVDs having a size of about 5gig. Doing the math indicates 7 cds to equal the space of a dvd. As far as I'm concerned, neither is adequate for long-term storage. I have a 500gig external hard drive that I back up all my files on, and after three years it is almost full. It would take 100 dvds filled to max to equal the capacity of the external hard drive. Keep in mind that unless you devise a good system for storing files on CDs or DVDs, retrival could become a challenge. Those are my thoughts, and I'm sure there are others out there.
ckayaker

JimH Loc: Western South Jersey, USA

The only real problem with hard drives is they are electro-mechanical. Moving parts fail. Magnetic dipoles fail. And once a hard drive goes south, it's very difficult and $$$$ to recover files from it. Their benefits over optical storage are cost/GB, speed, and ease of use. I use both. I'm not all that concerned about a DVD failing in 50 years. I can see that the Smithsonian or LofC might have different requirements, though.

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

Another thought . . . CDs will soon fade away as the higher capacity DVD is favored. Then blu-ray is coming on very quickly. What happens when you can't find a player that will allow you to copy those photos off that old CD? Seen an 8-track player lately? :-)

Not saying my way is best, but I keep all my data (photos included) on external 1TB drive. Next to it is another 1TB drive that I use for backups, using SyncBackSE (free) to perform the backup. At work, I have another 1TB drive that I use to back up the backup drive. It comes home with me once a week overnight and I back up the backup drive. Next morning, it goes back to my locked cabinet at work.

Point being, if (God forbid) the house burns down, I still have a copy of ALL my data, photos included.

zaroba Loc: Pennsylvania

not all drives are mechanical. solid state drives are growing in capacity and i wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they completely replaced mechanical drives in 5-10 years. to the best of my knowledge, they are made the same way sd cards etc are made.

besides, its rare that a mechanical drive fails without giving warning signs days, even weeks in advance. thus allowing for time to replace it.

JimH Loc: Western South Jersey, USA

Virtually all of the cd-disk spinning machines produced since 1982 are backwards compatible - I can put a CD I burned in 1985 on my IBM PC-AT at 1X, in my brand new Blu-Ray player and it reads the files just fine. The trick, as I warned in my original post, is to use the old original file system, not any intermediary 'photo management' software.

The bottom line here really, is that so long as you use SOME backup strategy, you'll probably be ok, barring a global EMF, magentic polar shift, or asteroid collision.

JimH Loc: Western South Jersey, USA

This is quite true - drives have gotten much much more reliable in the last few years, but I've had drives in the past come to a screeching halt with very little warning. The real danger with most HDs these days is shock - have one fall off your desk while in operation and it could be bye bye birdie. My cat almost knocked a 2TB drive off my desk the other day and I caught it just in time.

RiverNan Loc: Eastern Pa

I just purchased a 1tb external drive. I find Cds/dvds annoying and I never gave much thought to their life. Just a big pain to organize. Also at the moment I have many photos on Picassa...I often wonder about the cloud. Maybe something to look into. I looked at a mobile external drive at 2x the price. It was nice and small and very. If I reach capacity of 200,000 on the big one Ill consider the small one. Good luck with whatever you decide.