backup on HDD or DVD

[remusrigo]

I want to backup my photos and I would like to know which is the better media to store them. I would prefer to store them on an HDD because of the space, but I don't know who has a better lifetime.

 

[Hawkeye22]

Neither of them are good for archival purposes as all hard drives fail sooner or later and CD's and DVD's are susceptable to disk rot. If these are your only choices, I'd store your photos in multiple places just in case one fails. Also, if you use a hard drive, make sure it's an external so you can turn it off when not in use. This can help extend it's lifetime.

 

[popatim]

i recommend both and, as Hawkeye has said, multiple copies on dvd with at least 1 copy stored offsite.

 

[John_VanKirk]

Another 2 cents worth in archiving photos, or data, should tragedy strike,

Some folks are considering Cloud storage, which is offsite and encrypted as a choice, like Carbonite etc. Of course, your data is stored on someone else's HDDs but hopefully redundant for safety.
From the DVD standpoint, the Taiyo Yuden DVD+R disks are probably the best for long term storage of 4.7GB per disk, if that's your choice. But just like HDD's may fail over time, the DVD reader available a decade hence may not read the DVD produced on a burner today. Fred Langa has recommended re-saving "important info" every 5-10 years, so it is newly stored on the most up to date equipment.
So, I agree with all, there is no perfect, permanent way to store valuable data without some maintenance.