The Shelf Life of CDs and DVDs

by: COMMANDER ENTERPRISE
art by: Rx Z

Are your CDs/DVDs “forever”?

It used to be that backing up data before consisted of burning precious MB’s and GB’s into good old reliable CDs and DVDs. Although extra hard drives and external hard drives are already popular options and heavy in use, they’re mostly used for transferring many or large files from pc to pc.

But for more common smaller copying, burning backup files to blank CDs and DVDs were more practical; with the convenience of portability, size and accessibility options (you can view music, films, docs, photos on DVD players and common media readers easily). USBs served the same purpose and were more personal, but it was for temporary storage and everywhere portability.

CD’s and DVDs were “permanent” copies that were not for transferring but for long term storage and reference, to have preserved copies that were portable and presumably will last a lifetime. But how long exactly do CDs and DVDs last?

When forever comes crashing
For a time we thought they were considered top shelf and forever – but cases of lost data files abound with rotting or hole-ridden discs that just didn’t make it with their battle with time. Since their wider use and popularity starting in the 80’s up until the early era of the 2000’s, cases of deteriorating CD’s and DVDs started appearing, proving that it’s not the most reliable and long lasting form of data storage.

Although more reliable and having a bigger capacity for data, external drives and add-on hard drives are prone to storage issues and data corruption, unlike high quality pro-pressed discs that are well-maintained.

Discs in optimum conditions should last many years; CDs for at least 30-40 years or so, and DVDs and high quality DVD-Rs at around 100 years. For burned CDs, they last a maximum of up to 5 years for most common CD-Rs. But then again, this is all relative. It applies to the maximum and optimal shelf life of high end quality pressed discs. For burned ones, the lifespan greatly varies due to factors such as quality of material, the process of burning the media or data and the CD-ROM drive used to make copies.

Then, there’s the maintenance and handling of the actual item. Not touching the data surface, avoiding scratches, marks or bumps, proper handling, proper storage, proper temperatures are just some of the things to consider when properly storing your media. As we can see, there is no definite lifespan to expect as these determining factors affect and make the actual shelf years variable.

Keeping data storage alive
Let’s face it, data storage mediums all have their limits, pros and cons. In order to keep them for a longer time, we would have to follow their maintenance requirements to make sure they last longer and hold important data efficiently. But when it comes to having effective long-lasting backup, we don’t have any options aside from the limited shelf life of either burned discs or hard drives and external drives, and some minor contingency planning and maybe common sense.

Some experts have even suggested the use of analog data tapes to store data. And with basic storage and proper care, they reportedly last several times longer than burned DVDs or even original pressed CDs and DVDs. A latest analog tape release for example, can hold as much as 6.25 Terabytes.

Barring magnets and magnetic accidents, flooding, really extreme temperatures or other destructive factors, they can do the job and hold much more data per space. But for data accessing times, a thick roll of analog tape undoubtedly will take up a lot of time, sacrificing some of its storage and durability over accessing times.

In that case, analog tapes can serve as “dormant” backup, stored for archiving, while readily accessible media formats like discs and drives can serve as “active” backup, ready for use or copying. Until a more formidable format comes along, we have discs and other media formats to help us, but we need to be more smart and careful when handling and keeping them. Done right, your data and files can almost be forever, or at least ready anytime for as long as possible.