I've been subscribing to the theory for several years that the best way to safely store data for long terms was to use redundant hard drive spindles, and keep up with maintenance. That used to be valid, because no optical storage media had been invented that was rated for any kind of decent long term retention. (10 years max used to be the rule of thumb - with no assurances whatsoever.)
Sometime in the last few years optical technology greatly improved the longevity of certain media types. I missed that . . .
So the question today I started researching was "how do I store all my family digital photo's safely?"
So far it looks like (Edit: hypothetical - they don't appear to exist yet on the market) Gold Media DVD+R is the way to go. Proper storage in a cool, dry, dark place in acid free liners also seems to be critical.
One of the preferred SATA burners on the market for good quality burns:
Samsung SH-S223F
Found several good articles on the topic, but wondering if anyone here has direct experience with this problem. If you have some tips, please post them below!
Links of worth so far:
http://adterrasperaspera.com/blog/2006/10/30/how-to-choose-cddvd-archival-media
http://www.infinite0.com/archives/99
http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub121/contents.html
