A review of M Disc archival capability with long term testing results (2016)

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Real-world durability of M-Disc and optical media

  • One commenter reports a decade-long abuse test of an M-Disc-branded BD-R (used as a coaster, flexed, washed, left outdoors), with ~22 GB still reading fine on spot checks.
  • Others still use optical discs (including M-Disc) for personal backups and family photo albums, sometimes even as “bug-out bag” media because they’re cheap, light, and simple.
  • There is regret that optical as a consumer format is “dying,” though some note Blu-ray drives and console BD/DVD playback are still widely available today.

LTO tape: capability vs practicality

  • LTO is repeatedly proposed as long-term archival (30–50 year media life, very low $/TB at scale, common in enterprise).
  • Counterarguments: drives are large, loud, expensive, SAS/FC-only, have limited backwards compatibility (typically 2 generations), and are poorly suited to non-technical home users.
  • Pro-LTO side: used drives and older generations can be cheap; for hundreds of TB and above, total cost beats HDDs; people expect used drives for old generations to remain available for decades.
  • Anti-LTO side: relying on scavenged, obsolete drives is seen as unrealistic for individuals; frequent generational upgrades and special hardware make it unattractive compared to USB HDDs or optical.

Drive / format longevity concerns

  • A recurring theme: the real risk is not media decay but finding working drives in 10–40 years.
  • Some argue optical has an advantage because it was mass-market and backward compatibility is strong (CD→DVD→BD). Others think LTO is common enough in data centers to remain serviceable.
  • Several conclude any static medium is risky; practical archiving means periodic migration regardless of format.

M-Disc specifics and branding doubts

  • There is confusion about whether later “M-Disc” branded media changed formulation; one reply cites a manufacturer statement claiming newer discs are “advancements” with unchanged archival promises.
  • Blu-ray M-Discs may be closer to standard HTL BDXL in construction than to the special non-organic DVD M-Discs, raising questions about how unique the BD variant really is.

Data integrity verification & ECC

  • The article’s “play back the movie” test is criticized as too weak; commenters advocate hashes and parity (e.g., par2, dvdisaster) and tracking corrected errors via on-disc ECC.
  • Optical ECC (Reed–Solomon) already hides many bit errors; a meaningful longevity test should measure corrected error rates over time.

Broader skepticism about niche archival media

  • Some prefer mirrored HDDs, offline HDD/SSD sets, or multi-site NAS replication, plus sharing copies with friends/family.
  • Others suggest that for truly long-term, human-readable preservation, printing curated subsets on archival paper may be more realistic than any digital medium.

Miscellaneous

  • One tangent critiques the site’s broken mobile layout as an example of “anti-responsive” web design.