I would recommend having multiple copies on different media.
I have a copy on
1. PC HDD
2. local NAS (HDD),
3. off site Back-up disc (HDD) and
4. optical discs distributed to various long suffering relatives.

If any one fails/is stolen/is lost then there is a back up somewhere.

You will likely need to change encoding format when major advances are made eg AVC is dominant now when DV AVI was a few years ago. I have converted my old DV AVI files to frame rate compatible mpeg4/AVC. (kept the original format as well as storage is cheap) Panasonic SD9, Panasonic TM700, Panasonic SD600, GoPro HD Hero.

Hi Dave,

For me I archived all my old Hi8 footage onto multiple internal 2TB hard drives. One went into a safe deposit box for safe storage and others are in my PC for easy file access. I found that the cost per Gig was reasonable and convenient. I initially started archiving to Blu-Ray discs but found this method time inefficient. It is so easy to just copy an entire hard drive onto another one. But you also have to anticipate and plan for future obsolescence of today's current technology. I am sure that in 50 years when my son or daughter gets a hold of the hard drives in the safe deposit box they will say "what are these?". Hahaha! So I'm sure as technology changes you will be rearchiving your footage onto some other more current high capacity device.

I also use a device mounted in an available
Drive bay in my PC that allows me to plug in internal hard drives on the fly. This way you can have lots of extra hard drives and have the ability to plug them in when you need to access certain archived footage. I should point out as it relates to power director projects, that I let power director pack all my projects into a folder so that I never have a problem with power director not finding video clips that I use that are located on the other unconnected hard drives.

There are also the USB connected external hard drive option that you might consider.

I am sure you will get other valuable input from other members.

Best,

Kevin
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Quote: But you also have to anticipate and plan for future obsolescence of today's current technology. I am sure that in 50 years when my son or daughter gets a hold of the hard drives in the safe deposit box they will say "what are these?". Hahaha!

That's why I always transfer a copy to a cave wall. Jerry Schwartz

Quote: I would recommend having multiple copies on different media.
I have a copy on
1. PC HDD
2. local NAS (HDD),
3. off site Back-up disc (HDD) and
4. optical discs distributed to various long suffering relatives.

If any one fails/is stolen/is lost then there is a back up somewhere.

You will likely need to change encoding format when major advances are made eg AVC is dominant now when DV AVI was a few years ago. I have converted my old DV AVI files to frame rate compatible mpeg4/AVC. (kept the original format as well as storage is cheap)

Almost the same as pjc3

I use a 2TB Western Digital 'Book' Happing editing

Best Regards

Neil
CubbyHouseFilms
My Youtube Channel
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Hi,
I keep my (video) files in:
1. External HDD (1TB Western Book)
2. PC
For me thats enough PowerDirector 17. Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i7-4770 (8M Cache, up to 3.90 GHz); Hard Disk: SSD 250Gb + SSD 500GB.

My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AndresRootsi

I appreciate everyone's input. WINDOWS 7 PRO 64 BIT [SP1]
ASUS P8P67LE MB
Intel Ci7 2600K 3.40 Ghz
2X 8GB 1600Mhz Dual BL
2X EVGA GTX460 1GB SC
120GB Corsair Force 3 SSD
2X 1TB WD10000 SRTL Caviar Black
PD 9 Ultra 64
LG-12X Blu-Ray
Cameras: Canon 7D, Canon HF S21

To be honest, I'd rely more on BD than on an external hard drive. A hard drive is always a ticking time bomb, and a failure is (unless you have deep pockets) almost always fatal. Their interfaces are also subject to obsolescence. Try finding an IDE controller if you don't believe me.

Even if you someday don't have the hardware to read a Blu-ray disk yourself, there will be services around that can do it just as there are services around that can dub a tape cassette.
Jerry Schwartz