Hi all, 

With all due respect, I believe CD or DVD to be better backup than PC or
portable hard drives for this reason: Hard disks have an even shorter
lifespan than CDs or DVDs. While Stephen is correct that CDs and DVDs can
become corrupt over time, hard disks tend to fail within about 3-5 years.
The benefit of using hard disks is primarily speed of access, not longevity
of media. 

Were it me or my client I'd recommend they keep the media on hard disks as
primary access method but then backup the documents/images to CD or DVD
today AND ensure that they budget periodically for refreshing the media or
migrating to whatever the current (as opposed to cutting-edge) and
standardized media is at defined intervals - say 5-10 years tops. Use
high-quality media, not the CDs you get 100 for $10 at the local office
supply store, and buy CD-R or DVD-R or DVD+R rather than any flavor of RW.
If you can find media labeled as "archive-quality" use it - MAM-A makes
archival CDs that use a different chemical substrate that should last longer
than the CD or DVD reader will assuming reasonable storage conditions. 

As an alternative, flash-based storage such as USB-type flash drives or
Compact Flash cards might work as well as they are transistor-based rather
than magnetic or optical but we don't really have any good data on their
longevity. 

Regards, 

Jesse Wilkins
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