I use regular Verbatim 25GB disks. Since I keep the original CDs and usually use the Mp3s to listen, this is only a part of my 3-2-1 backup strategy. Nothing meant to be 200 years archival proof :-)
However, I never use anything but Verbatim, never had a bad experience with it.
Very cool archival setup! Funny you say that about Verbatim. I have a several old burned discs from the 2000s and 2010s where the dye has degraded and is no longer readable, but I have one specific blue Verbatim disc my childhood friend burned for me in the late 90s, and it still reads today!
> and it still reads today!
Exactly my experience. Verbatim is worth the additional cost in my opinion. I mainly do the archival as a hobby... not sure I ever gonna need it :-) However, I'm pretty scared of ransomware these days, so I tried to make my setup as ransomware proof as possible and zfs-auto-snapshot + self burned blurays with the most important data seemed like a good idea :-)
Verbatim is, was, has, and always will be, the gold standard.
Years ago I tried archiving to optical media and after a few short years, things were failing. Like all the things.
I am of the opinion that (multiple) hard disks might be the most recoverable. I might be wrong.
Do you have a rec for any long-life BR discs?