I’ve read that burned DVDs are not good for long-term storage. They tend to decay and you’ll get read errors after a while.
Do you know anyone with experience using Memory Vault?
No, sorry.
I had a long term hard drive quite on me. I found this out after my current hard drive died. Most of the material recovered came from DVD’s.
I would do a one time back up of all the stuff you’ve got now on DVD’s. Those get stored in a fire safe or someone else’s house or bank safe. Then I’d get a networkhard drive to back up the backup drive along with your current computer.
I don’t know why my backup drive crashed but it was very disconcerting to lose my laptop hard drive only to find the backup dead. The Network hard drive should be set up to backup everything in real time. The other hard drive should be used to backup your pictures as you go but not be plugged in while not in use. That keeps it free of voltage spikes.
This gives you 3 layers of protection plus offsite protection (DVD’s).
I use Carbonite to backup both photos and my MP3 collection (and various much smaller data sets). It’s offsite, so if my home is destroyed, like by fire or hurricane, that stuff is safe. It costs about $50 a year, which I think is reasonable.
Quoted lifespans are 2-5 years.
I have jump/flash sticks 7 yrs old that still work fine, but I swap out the ones I have stuff on that I really care out every few years and have the most important on multiple drives. The HD solutions seem excessive cost-wise and I can’t imagine all of your zillion photos are THAT valuable. Even high-res photos aren’t typically so big that you can’t fit a bunch onto an inexpensive jump stick.
I also have emailed some to myself. I know email isn’t as secure, but it’s not like I have info or pics on there that I’d freak if someone got hold of.
Finally I agree that printing out some of your most precious and putting in an album is an outstanding idea. The more “tech” solutions aren’t always best, to put it mildly.
I have (home-burned) CDs from 17 years ago that are perfectly readable. DVDs, about 10. No decay evident yet. All have been kept away from strong light.
Now if you leave them out in the sunlight for a few weeks, that’s a different story.