bluray good backup option ?
 

I'm wondering if using bluray disks to backup data is a good option. I usually use DVD-R to backup data. But it might be more convenient to use BD-R as they can hold much more data.

Some info:

1) cost

BD-R costs about $10 per disk of 25 GB, thus $0.40 per GB storage space

DVD-R costs about $0.40 per disk of 4.7 GB, thus $0.08 per GB storage space

a bad burn can mean a significant loss of money with a BD

2) scratches

As you might know, the writable layer of a bluray disk (BD) is closer to the surface and groves much smaller, this would normally mean a much higher susceptibility to scratches. However, the different companies making BD have come up with special hard coats to protect the otherwise vulnerable BD. How effective are these coatings ? Does anyone have any experience with them ?

3) burning

I use Linux, so I'll probably be burning with growisofs. Some notes on it:
http://fy.chalmers.se/~appro/linux/DVD+RW/Blu-ray/

it looks like in order to maintain data integrity all BD-R will burn at 50% reported speed. I wonder if they implemented this because there were problems burning them correctly ... ?

4) DRM - digital rights management

This only applies to commercial BD right ? It should have no impact on BD-R that I burn myself, right ?

I hate DRM, I would like to protest it as much as possible. I don't want them to restrict my rights.

5) others ...

Thanks for your thoughts.

Since Bluray is the next gen in optical media, I have also looked at it from a backup point of view. Since you are buying recordable discs, I would probably assume it is safe to say that DRM is not applicable in the case making one's own disc.

You pretty much hit the issue right on the head with cost, and support. I was surprised that Linux could even burn bluray at the moment. I myself am also looking at bluray for backup, and think it would be nice to have maybe 50gb or even 100gb on a single disc, it would be more convenient than having a bunch of dvd-rs or even dual layer dvds.

At this point all you can do is wait for the prices of the media and drives to come down. I myself am considering to buy the next super-multi drive (that supports CD/DVD AND bluray), but those seem to be rare and still very expensive, and again, the cost of media. I was surprised to find out that it costs $10 per 25gb disc, because last time I checked, it was still $1 per GB, so 25GB discs still costed $25.

If you have a DVD burner, and it burns dual layers, you are at the moment better off buying dual layers, if you need more storage. I recommend Verbatim discs, because those are very reliable.

You can always tell the early adopters. They're the ones with the arrows sticking out of their butts.

At this point, it seems to me that bluray is too new for us to have any good idea about the longevity of these disks. I know that some people (myself included) got burned on DVDs because of shelf life problems that no one expected. There seems to be substantial differences from disk manufacturer to manufacturer, differences based upon the brand and age of the burner, differences based upon the speed of the write operation...with the net consequence that DVD-R seems to be a fairly hit and miss way of backing up. Also, those disks are so easily damaged by scratches.

Will bluray be better? Tell you what. You do it, and gather the data, then tell the rest of us. I do hope you don't lose any important information along the way though.

I was hoping someone did that already and would tell me :) I think it's too expensive and bleeding-edge for me right now, maybe if I wait, it will get cheaper and better.

Thanks for replies so far. It's funny because I was reading a similar post on a rather fanatical bluray forum and they were all for it (for obvious reasons), and fanatical about it too. I didn't want to believe it, because they weren't stating any facts whatsoever.

bluray currently is too expensive, so it is useless for backups. I'd wait until bluray disk price will drop to the current prices of blank dvds.