Reddit reviews M-DISC 4.7GB DVD+R Permanent Data Archival / Backup Blank Disc Media (10-pack)

This is right up my alley.

I have a safety deposit box at my bank. THEY AREN'T THAT MUCH!!!

Between 25 and 100 dollars a year, depending on size.

And, for digital storage that's long term. And by long term I mean outlasting the lifetime of a human:

https://www.amazon.com/M-DISC-4-7GB-Permanent-Archival-Backup/dp/B005Y4NKE0/184-1625399-3240447?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-DISC


M-DISC's design is intended to provide greater archival media longevity.[2] Millenniata claims that properly stored M-DISC DVD recordings will last 1000 years.[3] While the exact properties of M-DISC are a trade secret,[4] the patents protecting the M-DISC technology assert that the data layer is a "glassy carbon" and that the material is substantially inert to oxidation and has a melting point between 200° and 1000 °C.[5][6]

A stress test of the media was performed by the United States Department of Defense, proving that M-Disc DVDs are more durable than conventional DVDs. "The discs were subject to the following test conditions in the environmental chamber: 85°C, 85% relative humidity (conditions specified in ECMA-379) and full spectrum light".[7][8]

Conventional DVD-R and BD-R LTH (Low To High) use recording layers of organic dye and separate reflective layers.[9] Standard (HTL) BD-R and BD-R/DL (except LTH BD-R[10]) typically use inorganic data layers, but continue using a reflective layer. M-DISC BD-R has no reflective layer.[11] M-DISC uses a single inorganic recording layer, which is substantially inert to oxygen, but requires a higher-powered laser. M-DISC DVD does not require the reflective layer. Thus, both the M-DISC and inorganic BD-R physically alter the recording layer, burning a permanent hole in the material. Besides physical damage, failure of the reflective layer, followed closely by degradation of the data layer, are the primary failure modes of all optically recordable disks.

Did you watch the video demonstrating the M-Disk media durability?. http://youtu.be/CfBEHlzvZnc Sure, a DVD is excessive to store a small wallet.dat file, but its pretty inexpensive when you consider its a total cost of $60, $30 burner http://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-Portable-External-GP60NB50/dp/B00C2AMK2M/ plus $30 for 10 blank m-discs http://www.amazon.com/M-DISC-4-7GB-Permanent-Archival-Backup/dp/B005Y4NKE0/ If your ultimate goal would be for a family member who gets this DVD from safety deposit box to be able to retrieve the bitcoins, encrypt the wallet.dat w/ the built in pass phrase encryption found in the core bitcoin wallet, and possibly fill the rest of the DVD with a few thousand family photos to use up the rest of the space. You could have the pass phrase stored separately in a completely different document w/ a trusted 3rd party, or the family lawyer. Maybe you could hide the pass phrase deep within the family photos in a picture. It all depends how difficult you want the process to be to retrieve the coins, and how many secrets need to be combined to access them. Be creative, write clear instructions on how to access the bitcoins on the DVD with the wallet.dat, include bitcoin software, but don't be so clear about the password, or even that there is a password in the instructions with the wallet.dat file.. Have that be separated somehow if that is a concern.. but don't be so tricky that no one in the family is ever able to get the coins either.

Even solid state stuff, can just fail randomly. And are not inherently shelf stable.

I would say a DVD/bluray like this more stable for storage. They claim 10,000 years (I really doubt that got tested haha)


I wonder which is better against a catastrophic sun flare though?


Nothing is as good as cloud storage. But nobody has access to your profile, and it will be deleted after your death with nobody to pay for it.