Best way to backup a huge collection?

[gbryant]

Lo, for about 5 years I've been ripping cds, collecting rare stuff, and generally building a now humongous MP3 collection of about 30 gigs (though I know there are those that have more). That's far too many CDrs to even contemplate attempting backing up like that. Plus, I've been using CDrs for nearly ten years now and I've noticed they do sometimes just degrade over time. I don't have a DVDr drive, but using one of those it would still take at least fifteen disks right? Also, do DVDrs hold up any better then CDrs? I'm not certain DVD is a better option for backing up. Is there something else I could use? I don't have a lot of money, but I would be willing to spend a bit to back it up safely.

 

[overclock]

your choices are dvd or another hard drive.

 

[DaveSimmons]

TDK Armor Plated DVD-Rs have a super scratch resistant coating, but cost $2-3 each.

$50-65 for a NEC burner (get one with software CD) and $50-60 for armored DVDs and Bob's your uncle!

Or:
For my 300 GB of FLACs I use a pair of hard drives I use a second pair of drives that I keep in a closet and only attach to the music server to copy the new CDs I've ripped. A second HD is more of a medium-term solution though.

 

[hippotautamus]

I would get an external hard drive. I wish I had backed mine up...34gb of music, gone *whines*

 

[Insomniak]

External HDD.

 

[blackrain]

Originally posted by: gbryant
Lo, for about 5 years I've been ripping cds, collecting rare stuff, and generally building a now humongous MP3 collection of about 30 gigs (though I know there are those that have more). That's far too many CDrs to even contemplate attempting backing up like that. Plus, I've been using CDrs for nearly ten years now and I've noticed they do sometimes just degrade over time. I don't have a DVDr drive, but using one of those it would still take at least fifteen disks right? Also, do DVDrs hold up any better then CDrs? I'm not certain DVD is a better option for backing up. Is there something else I could use? I don't have a lot of money, but I would be willing to spend a bit to back it up safely.

i've got some really old stuff too. I don't think it will degrade any time soon if you keep it in a dark place at a reasonable temperature.

I've got a lot of my stuff double backed up on DVD and external HDD. As time goes by, the stuff that becomes least important on the external HDD gets erased but remains on my DVD backup

 

[imported_Kensai]

Originally posted by: hippotautamus
I would get an external hard drive. I wish I had backed mine up...34gb of music, gone *whines*

I have 2TB worth of movies. I *have* to use HDs. DVDs take too long and tapes take even longer. RAID 1.

 

[Gurck]

I have two drives (no RAID) in my main rig, I just mirror my collection onto the second one.

 

[ShadowBlade]

i use one hard drive for OS and programs, second for music and movies so when i need to install a new OS, i can keep my stuff

 

[biostud]

Ipod or similar.

 

[gbryant]

Thanks for the replys guys, I guess DVDs sound like a decent option. On CD degredation, I had a couple of old CDRs (about 10 years old) that were sitting in a box untouched for 4 or 5 years. I pulled them out the other day and the label and blue-ish coating on the data side just flaked off in big chunks, like old paint. Maybe they got too hot or something, but it made me wonder about their ultra-long term viability.