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What DVD format is best for archiving purposes?

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Grasshopper:
After about 5 years of keeping my fingers crossed, I’ve finally decided to back up all the data on my hard disk onto DVDs.

I’ve deleted all the crap and divided up the remaining data into the following categories:

-   personal data that cannot be replaced. This includes letters I’ve written, photos, financial records, arcade CPO designs I’ve made etc. All my personal data comfortably fits onto a single DVD.

-   programs and data (mostly movies) that I’ve downloaded. This stuff can mostly be replaced albeit with difficulty.

I’ve already decided what to do with the personal data. I’m going to put it on DVD-RAM (a very underrated format IMHO) and have a proper rotating disk arrangement. Anything else would be overkill for such a small amount of data.

However DVD-RAM disks are pretty expensive. So for most of the other stuff (which takes up far more space) I plan to make a single copy on another DVD format and that will be it. If the odd disk becomes unreadable over time then it won’t be the end of the world. However, I’m not sure which of the DVD formats is most durable.

From what I’ve been reading DVD+ offers some theoretical advantages over DVD-. However, the differences appear to be marginal and I haven’t found any evidence that they make a difference in the real world. Has anyone got any views on this? My DVD drive can handle anything btw.

A more significant question appears to be whether to use R or RW media. Most people seem to be saying that R media is more durable and that sounds plausible to me. But is there any hard evidence to back it up?

Also, what brand is best? The more I read about different the manufacturing methods used, the more confusing it gets.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

SirPeale:
I would not rely on an optical media format for important stuff.  I have (had) some important things I backed up onto CD.  I used good grade CD-R, burned it at a slow speed, and placed the discs into a climate controlled environment.

After a couple years the discs were unreadable.

I would use some variety of magnetic media backup.  A few smaller hard drives would be an idea.  That way if one of the drives fails for whatever reason, you have redundant backups.

Or you could copy your DVDs every six months or so, just to make sure you always had a good copy.  DVD writable media is cheap.

shardian:
The difference between +R and -R is pretty much pointless now. Taiyo Yuden makes the best discs. Sometimes they are rebadged as other brands and you can tell from the manufacturing country. I have never seen them myself as a rebadge. Anyways you can buy them at Supermediastore.com.

ChadTower:

A hard drive may not be all that more reliable in the long run.  I don't think the format matters, but the quality of the media might, and make sure to make several copies.  All of my photos and such get written out 3 times.  Often I'll make backups again a year or two later when I think of it.

EwJ:
For data that you will be reading only with you pc,  +r, -r really won't matter.
A lot of the +r, -r stuff you hear about is from when some older models of home dvd players didn't 'like' the +r..  But with the +r, you can sometimes set the 'book type' to dvd-rom instead of dvd+r for compatibility.
As shardian said, Taiyo Yuden is pretty much the best.  Have had good luck with Verbatim as well, but YMMV.  It also depends on the make/model of your burner - some have better compatibility with different brands of media than others.  Watch the burn speed as well, some software will set it to a maximum, that may be too quick for the media you are using. Some manufacturers supply software that will allow you to test the media to see what quality you will get with the burn and best speed to use , etc. 
It would be a good idea to look for tools for your burner - as well as any firmware updates that may help with compatibility with certain media.  Some manufacturers supply media compatibility lists for their burners on their websites.
As already stated, make more than 1 copy and ensure that you 'verify the written data' after the burn.

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