Backup to DVD. How to back up to DVD efficiently.

Amount of Data to Back up to DVD

Backing up to DVD is a good decision if you need to back up from 3 to 50 GB of data. Less or more information should raise questions regarding the necessity of using DVD discs as a backup storage media. Such amount of data provides a convenient way of backing up and restoring the files. Using more than 10-12 discs to backup data may be less convenient, but still may be used under certain circumstances.

Preparing Data to Backup to DVD

Just as with backing up to CD, first the data needs to be organized. This will help finding the right file to restore and ease managing the backups. Secondly, the DVDs should be numbered or labeled using a marker, which will also help finding the right disc to restore the required file. Thirdly, if it is DVD-/+R discs, they should preferably be brand new, if it is DVD-/+RW discs, they should be erased before usage.

Back up to Quality DVD Discs

It is most advisable to use good quality media like Verbatim, Taiyo Yuden, etc. Using quality discs ensures quality writing and ensures error free restoring of backup. Using low quality discs results may lead to much higher losses, not counting that some discs may not be written to, which is less convenient too.

Backing up to DVD

When backing up to DVD, you need to insert DVD discs s one by one. After the backup is finished, it is important to check if the backup was successful. To verify backup you can check if all sectors of the DVD discs are readable and try to restore a single file and see if it matches the original. Also, remember that the discs with backups should be kept in a safe place, the farther the better.