BACKING UP: Are DVDs good way to backup Video Files?

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runningrock

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Sep 17, 2015
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Hi Masters! my hard disk is losing some space because of my video collection (Running Man Series, others videos - 130 gb) and i am planning to get them to a safer place to free up some space and also to be prepared for sudden, unexpected, inevitable HDD failure (hope that will never happen).

what are ways of backing up those files? i don't have plans on getting a new Hard disk.

THANKS A LOT!
 
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glamdringfh

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Dec 23, 2013
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Hi runningrock,

DVD's would be one way of doing it, though unless you have double layer discs it's going to take a LONG time...and even with double layer it will be a drag.

If you can afford it I recommend trying a cloud backup service like Crashplan. You can try the cloud backup free for a month, after that it's $5/month for an individual license. Unlimited backup size, so you could backup your entire drive, not just the video collection.

https://www.code42.com/store/
 
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Martell1977

Martell1977

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Oct 26, 2010
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You should consider a BluRay burner. They come in 25gb, 50gb and 100gb disc capacities. The burners have become rather affordable as well. While not extremely fast, it gets the job done and you wont need as many discs.

Example:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136250
 
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MarkW

MarkW

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Dec 7, 2009
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If you look around at companies that need to store lots of data, what do they all use?

DVD's? No
Blu-Ray? No
Hard Drive? Yes.

There is a reason for that. The primary two reasons are cost, and speed. I recently bought a 2TB Enterprise grade HGST hard drive on Amazon for $70. One of those, and you should be able to store a massive number of videos.
 
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Supermuncher85

Supermuncher85

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Aug 18, 2010
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I agree buying another harddrive is way simpler than using DVD's + they do decay unless you get more expensive RAM disks (which I've used extensively and supposedly they last ~30 years). Also ram disks require a burner that can write them and you even have to keep a backup reader/writer drive if yours fails (oh you damn ZIP drives I hate you!).
 
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popatim

popatim

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Ok, moving them to DVD isn't a backup. A backup is an extra copy that is stored on another device. The idea is that you don't want to ever have just 1 copy of something you considered valuable enough to backup.

Optical disk is a viable backup option. Unlike HDD's they wont usually be damaged if you drop one or get it wet. They have a low initial cost with BD-r's being the current cheapest form for the short term. And they will last quite a long time in your closet without needing any 'maintenance'. You can get a 50 pack of 25gb quality disks for $40. ($.032/GB)

DVD's are just about as cheap with a disks being about $.20 each ($.0425/GB) With the same benefits and drawbacks of BDr just you go thru 5x the amount of disks and slower write speeds overall.

An HDD is the cheapest, but to me the least 'safe', backup media. I would recommend an external drive that you wont move. Just unplug it (power and data) until you need it again so you don't worry about drops or spills with it. And dont forget to power it up once every few months and let if do some work to keep things/internals from freezing up.

I don't know any major companies that backup to HDD's for any long term storage, All the ones I have worked for backup to Tape. Yes they are alive and doing fine. They are just as fast as a harddrive in sequential reads/writes with some as fast as ssd's. Random kills them though LOL. Initial costs are crazy high for this kind of technology though.
 
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Solandri

Solandri

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DVD/Blu-ray
Pros:
Cheap - around 2-3 cents/GB
Expandable - just buy more BD-Rs if you need a little more storage
Archival - M-DISC can supposedly last 1000 years
Long time support - CDs from 30 years ago can still be read by modern optical drives
Durable - resistant against bit rot due to massive error correction

Cons:
Slow - USB 2.0 is fast enough
Fragmented - each disc has relatively small capacity so you need a lot of discs. Can't have all your files available at once.

Hard drives
Pros:
Massive capacity - you can hold several TB in the palm of your hand
Cheap - 4-6 cents/GB
Fast - 100-150 MB/s peak

Cons:
Lacks reliability - susceptible to bit rot
Not durable - drop it on a hard floor and your data is probably gone
Questionable longevity - tends to be replaced by new physically incompatible format every 10-15 years.
Erasable - you risk accidentally erasing your data every time you access it

Cloud storage
Pros:
Extremely resilient - data center takes care of backups and uptime
Semi-resilient - somewhat resistant to bit-rot due to storage on RAID
Always compatible - will be moved over to new storage hardware as technology advances

Cons:
Very slow access speeds - 10 MB/s or slower for most people, especially when uploading
Expensive - on the order of 10 cents/GB per year
Requires an internet connection

Flash
Pros:
Durable - can withstand most forms of physical abuse
Small - fingertip to finger sized
Fast - potentially faster than HDDs, though most implementations are slower

Cons:
Expensive - on the order of 30 cents/GB
Questionable longevity - data stored as electrical charge in cell which slowly leaks out
Questionable compatibility - advancing so quickly it's unknown how long connection formats will still be compatible (e.g. what happens to all these USB A flash drives when USB-C becomes standard?)
Potentially erasable, though more are showing up with read-only switches
 
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Martell1977

Martell1977

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There are positives and negatives to each kind of backup. With Blu-ray the backups are portable and durable in a case, plus the blu-rays can be used for things other than data storage (i.e. movies playable on many blu-ray players or a PS4) but are scratch-able and can be lost. An external HDD is nice but might fail or be damaged by drops. An internal HDD is not portable and subject to failure, but both internal and external offer massive cheap storage.

Nothing is perfect, the OP has to decide what fits his needs best.
 
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popatim

popatim

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Dec 2, 2009
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If its mounted inside your pc its not much of a backup, its additional storage - but still better than nothing.
The Ideal backup is one you can disconnect (network,power, and data) so that its immune to things like accidental deletions/formats, viruses, power spikes/surges/brownouts... which can wreak havoc on your precious data and can even physically damage your drives. The ideal backup is also one that is safely portable. This is so you can take a 2nd copy offsite and eliminate loss of data from things like a fire.


Also - I wasn't discounting the cost of a optical drive; this is definitely a situation where you should use what you already have.
 
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Aokkeith

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Nov 9, 2015
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Aokkeith

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A few months ago I purchased got backup for my computer.
It has proven to be the best cloud back up system I have
ever even heard of and I'll tell you why. My computer crashed
a couple of months after I got it. I felt very blessed to
be able to buy another computer quickly; I had just started
an online business and much information on my old computer
was irreplaceable. The storage is unlimited and I found all
of my files were easy to restore to my new computer. I'm so
grateful I had invested the small monthly amount
to save the invaluable files. Find out more here:
http://gotbackup.com/webinar_pre_launch.php?id=AmeKeith
 
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