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Until a decade or so ago, it was common practice to back up important files to CDs or DVDs. That is no longer the best choice. The price of these discs is relatively high, the storage capacity is limited and the lifespan also leaves much to be desired.
CDs, DVDs and hard drives
When the recordable CD was introduced in the 1990s, it immediately became the most suitable medium for backing up large and/or important files. At that time CD discs were cheap and easy to use compared to hard disks and backup tapes. The same was true for the DVD a few years later. Times change, however. The price of hard drives has dropped dramatically. A hard drive is much cheaper per gigabyte (GB) than a CD or DVD. Think about it: a set of ten DVD discs costs about 4 euros, which comes down to 9 cents per GB. This while an external hard disk of 4 TB is for sale for about 120 euros, so 3 cents per GB.
Other benefits of hard drives
External hard drives today have even more advantages over CDs and DVDs. First, hard drives have much more capacity, which makes backing up large files a lot easier. In addition, the lifespan of a hard disk is better, provided you do not use it continuously. An external USB hard drive that you only use for weekly or monthly backups can last for decades. We now know that CDs and DVDs do not stand the test of time well. In practice, CDs that are fifteen years old are often no longer readable (well) and when CDs or DVDs are continuously exposed to sunlight, the lifespan decreases even further.
Advice
Do you still have a large collection of files that are only on CD or DVD? Then we strongly recommend that you copy it to an external hard drive or USB stick as soon as possible. If that does not work, it is important to store the slices in a dark and dry place, as this extends the lifespan.