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Is it OK to use a DVD for saving humongous files?
I have a friend who has these SD cards he’s been shooting photos on for years. He asked if I could save them for him. He doesnt use external hard drives (long story), so I figured the simplest thing to save it all in one place that could work on any computer, Mac or PC, is to save them all on a burned data DVD. Is that a good idea? I think so but I just want to make sure im not missing something here.
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3 Replies
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Sure, why not !
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You bet. It’s probably safer than a hard drive…which will die someday.
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Sure. All DVDs are “data” DVDs (there’s essentially only one format, unlike CDs), but yeah. The best proof against loss is redundancy. Use high quality DVDs. Make two copies, store each in a different place.
There are cheap DVDs that may have problems in a year or two, and high quality DVDs that may be good in 100 years, if stored in the dark. Flash memory is probably good for about 10 years, if it doesn’t get too hot. Nothing much out there that lasts forever.
Hard drives are pretty good, too. The main issues with HDDs are not the data storage per se. Will the mechanicals still be good in 10 or 20 years? Probably… if you’re storing them and not running them constantly. But there have been issues, like “stiction” — the lubricants have, at least in the past, hardened when not used. And of course, “format rot”… will you still be able to read these in the future. USB is a good bet for longevity — there’s no much reason for it to be replaced large-scale.
-Dave
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