Usability

DVD’s require DVD burning software and or special steps to do so. A JumpDrive or USB external hard drive on the other hand has these functions built right in. 98% of the time, as soon as the drive is connected to the system, be it PC, MAC or Linux the systems see the drives and the contents on them; they can be accessed immediately.

In the case of a problem I want that data back online as soon as possible. So in which case I can restore it or in extreme cases I can use it directly from the USB external hard drive itself.

Storage Space

Yes, Blue-Ray has a great amount of storage space and if you wanted to you can archive a lot of data to it, but in ten years where’s it going to be? On the way out.  Researchers have already figured a way to get 1.6 terabytes on to a standard DVD. This means the technology has already flipped while they were playing ‘format wars’. I’m not going to spend money on a format that’s almost outdated.

If I’m really serious in this area, I’m going to be looking for a NAS or SAN to backup my data and I’m going to make it redundant. I’m not failing a compliance inspection just because… I’m going to have my butt covered.

Speed

The only thing thus far that has held it’s compatibility has been the Hard Drive, and it’s also the one that had proven it’s self to grow at a very rapid rate while being compatible. So, using a external drive as a back up is a good idea.

The HD or the JumpDrive is out pacing the DVD. The one true advantage a DVD has over these to is that you can’t write to it unless you have special software or special functions to do so. Not having the ability to write to DVD is great when you’re having to get rid of some malware.

The USB external hard drive and JumpDrive technologies are being improved everyday. The throughput on USB devices is increasing with each revision and hardware release. Blue-Ray on the other hand, they are going to be stuck at a max RPM and that’s as fast your ever going to get.

I’ve spent days loading CD after CD or DVD after DVD to restore a server; it’s not fun. Those were the times I wished I had a USB external hard drive backup.

Durability

But as good as the hard drives are, they are on their way out. Solid state drives are going to replace traditional drives.  And will most likely be better for long term storage. The life of a solid state drive will be longer than a traditional drive. And as with most technology, the more you use it the more likely it will fail; it’s just a matter of wear.

With DVD’s your actually expected to make a copy every 4 years for good measure, but they can last longer if they are kept in a controlled environment [moisture, temperature, sunlight, dust…]; up to 10 years. It’s good, but are you going to have a Blue-Ray DVD player in 10 years.

For some companies, this might be a compliance issue, but to them I would argue the point. I would rather have a USB external hard drive with my data on it than 5-6 DVDs I’d have to restore and then use; not forgetting access speed.

Cost

The cost of a Blue-Ray DVD is relatively cheap; I’ve to admit that, but so is a USB external hard drive if you’re comparing gigabytes.

I can get a 1tb USB external hard drive for about $100 [at the time of this post] and the price of storage is just going to get lower on traditional HDs; the SSD’s are a different story. SSD drive prices’ are going up right now because they are a NEW technology.

My logic tells me that Blue-Ray is not cost effective enough for me in a long term race. I’ll get my money back easily with, ease of use, speed and compatibility.