[GNC] File Cabinet, 3-Ring Binders, Paper Records?

[William Prescott]

How long do you expect optical media to be supported. None of the last three computers I bought have an optical drive. External ones are available, for now at least. Long term archiving has to include a plan for migrating to new media as required.

Best wishes,
Will


Burn RW optical discs and archive, make at least 2 copies, copy to new
discs at their 5 year anniversary, or sooner, to reduce risk of bitrot.
(Erase the old discs, then reuse for other purposes, or even for the
secondary backup copies.) Don't append to already burnt discs but use
new ones for more data and whenever there is an error or omission, to
reduce risk of data loss. RW discs are metal media. Archival R discs are
available with dye-sub media, that claim a minimum 50 year lifetime in
storage. They are expensive. RW discs are often more affordable. (just
be sure to avoid the cheap ones.) Always verify writes. It helps to have
on-disc checksums. If using directory-per-file, file checksums can also
be kept in each doc's directory.