Data on CD/DVD is always prone to corruption and error. I have experienced backup stored on CD/DVD media becomes inaccessible after 3 years on shelf. Thus, a CD/DVD backup on online storage is a more suitable plan against data loss. A backup image of CD/DVD online would make retrieval and replication easier. Online backup storage also cost money depending on the storage space used. Uploading full CD/DVD online takes a lot of bandwidth too.

A solution to the common problem would be to reduce first the CD/DVD image prior to uploading on an online data storage. Reduction of CD/DVD image size could be achieved through Universal Image Format (UIF) with the use of compression software. The UIF CD/DVD images have advantages as being fast and reliable. It also includes password protection and data encryption. This makes CD/DVD images in UIF suitable for online storage over other forms of compression like zip, rar and other CD/DVD images format.

The reduced images size at high quality compression-method makes UIF a good choice over other options. Another is the the advantage to transfer CD/DVD images through the Internet in a secure manner with password protection and data encryption feature. This makes it difficult for any sniffer and hacker to compromise. Lastly, what I like is the easy way of accessing files without having to extract them. A free virtual CD/DVD drive emulator software like MagicDisc could mount UIF image and all files could be accessed just like accessing your the physical CD/DVD. For those who subscribe on online backup storage, it is highly recommend to compress CD/DVD images with UIF prior to uploading on the Internet.