I’d argue you should digitize all of them and use the digital versions exclusively, while saving the physical media as your backup. this keeps the originals safe since they’re more likely to be damaged during handling than the intangible digital file is.
That’s what I did for a lot of my music… ripped them all and put the originals in storage. They’re safe and sound and will last longer than any backup I could have made would.
Now If I could only get my kids to not pillage my stuff before I’m dead that would be nice…
I rip my physical media and only use the digital backups. The original stays safe from damage because it’s never used. Jellyfin is great for this.
downloading it now
If you send me your files, I’ll host them on my server and give you free access to it.
Bought a whole domain to share free streaming with friends and family only for none of them to bother…
more of the opposite these days
As everyone else has said, make digital copies and treat the originals as backup.
Optical disks do eventually fail. Keeping them in a cool, dark place helps.
Sun (UV) makes the plastic brittle, heat cycling degrades the plastic too.
Also, digital stuff degrades too - storage needs to be on systems that can manage digital degradation.Certain modern Linux file systems (BTFRS, ZFS) have mechanisms to prevent data loss.
Yes but not so much as a backup but for actual usage. Then you keep the DVD/CD as a backup.
Don’t rely on optical media for backups.
YES! An extra backup never hurts! (Well it kind of does with these storage prices at the moment, but nonetheless…)
Given the current cost of storage and the extent of your collection, it’s arguably cheaper to buy a 2nd copy of old media than create digital backups.
There’s pros and cons both ways but purely from a cost perspective.
Yes. Bit rot is real.
So is data scrubbing.
