Need Recommendation for External Blu-ray Drive

[Apprentice]

I'm thinking about getting an external blu-ray drive for backup.  My plan is:

1. External HD (SanDisk SSD)
2. Cloud service (MS OneDrive for now)
3. M-DISC Blu-ray (this is what I'm thinking next)

Is M-DISC good for long-term data storage?

Any recommendation for the external Blu-ray drive?

[Brian]

1 hour ago, Apprentice said:

M-DISC good for long-term data storage?

It should be. That said, Digital Rot is a very real thing. Supposedly, they are rated to last around 1000 years, but the technology is new and that has yet to be proven outside a lab environment.

[Brian]

You can buy practically any external USB Blu-Ray Drive these days. The cheaper ones should be around $60-ish, but they can be limited, especially when it comes to archiving stuff. (This is an attempt to cut down on Piracy.) Personally, I bought this Internal Blu-Ray Drive and this External Case to convert it to an external. The reason is I was able to Downgrade the Firmware so I can create my own "Netflix/Cloud" service and have all of my movies on a Plex Media Server, which will be run from a NAS, so archiving is what I had in mind. Of course, I haven't gotten around to building one, but will eventually. (Waiting for the SD Media to get a little larger in capacity for a NAS.)

[Apprentice]

Thanks!

Is it something like this?  What are your thoughts on cost-effectiveness in terms of choosing the internal blu-ray drive + casing vs. buying something like the OWC unit?

[Brian]

Yeah, since you are going for the M-Disc Media, definitely something like that drive.

In fact, BUY IT! (OWC makes decent case stuff and they are using a LG Drive.)

Plus, with a Drive like you just linked to, it's WAAAAAAY more sturdier than a flimsy external drive. You are going for Archival Grade, so you want "Beefy."

[Apprentice]

Thanks Brian, much appreciated!!!