EMKoper said:
But you can physically distribute your back-ups this way.. I give a full copy of my digital photos to my parents every year to maintain a separately geographic update. A natural disaster could impact all back-ups whether they are hard-drive, CD, DVD, or tape that are all in a single location if it were to occur (a lesson from 9/11 for many businesses and some govt. organizations, unfortunately).
Does anyone know how long a DVD-R lasts? I typically us them for "archival" back-up and keep them in a controlled climate (that is not in the hot/cold attic) and don't expose them to light (could UV impact their longevity?)... how often should one back-up their back-ups?
This is a real important question.
I would revise my backup disks once every 2 years at a minimum.
If any of your disks were labelled using a Sharpie, you need to verify and copy those as soon as convenient using a CD safe marker.
I'm pretty sure the Library of Congress has a few data storage recommendations too, but fro what I've heard CD's and DVD's
will deteriorate over time.
Most of us have numerous CD's that could use a bit or reorganization anyway.
If you need to copy the files on your older CD's anyway, you might as well
organize them in some way to help you keep track of everything
and toss the junk you'll never use again.