Best Storage Solutions for Digitizing and Backing Up a DVD or Blu-ray Collection

Digitizing a physical disc collection takes two separate pieces of hardware working together: a drive that can actually read the discs in the first place — most modern laptops no longer include an optical drive of any kind — and somewhere reliable to store the ripped files once they come off the disc. Here is what each step actually requires, and where people most commonly underestimate the project.

Step one: an external optical drive that can read your discs

For a mixed DVD and Blu-ray collection, the Archgon aluminum USB 3.0 drive is a commonly recommended all-in-one option that reads and writes Blu-ray, DVD, and CD on both Windows and Mac, with build quality reviewers describe as noticeably sturdier than the typical thin plastic external drive sold at a lower price point.

Check Archgon USB 3.0 External Blu-ray Drive on Amazon

Ripping 4K UHD Blu-ray discs specifically

Standard Blu-ray drives generally cannot read 4K UHD discs at all, due to additional copy protection built specifically into the UHD disc format. Drives built around the LG BU40N chipset running in native “LibreDrive” mode are the commonly cited workaround here, since they can read UHD discs directly with ripping software like MakeMKV without needing any firmware flashing or workaround steps — a detail genuinely worth checking before buying if your collection includes any 4K UHD Blu-rays rather than only standard Blu-ray or DVD discs.

Check 4K UHD Blu-ray Drive LibreDrive on Amazon

Budget alternative: a basic DVD/Blu-ray writer

If the collection is mostly standard DVDs rather than newer 4K discs, a simpler combo drive like the Pioneer BDR-XD07B covers Blu-ray, DVD, and CD reading and writing over USB 3.0 at a noticeably lower price than the specialty UHD-capable drives described above, without sacrificing anything for a collection that does not include 4K discs anyway.

Check Pioneer External Blu-ray Writer on Amazon

Step two: somewhere to actually store the ripped files

Ripped Blu-ray files run large — often 20 to 50GB each for a single UHD movie, and still several gigabytes each for standard-definition DVD rips — so plan storage capacity accordingly rather than assuming a small leftover drive will cover an entire collection. A desktop external hard drive like the WD Elements line offers the cheapest cost-per-terabyte for a large archive that mostly stays connected to one computer or a home media server rather than traveling anywhere.

Check WD Elements Desktop External Hard Drive on Amazon

For a more portable setup, or if the ripped files need to travel regularly between a laptop and a separate media server, a high-capacity portable SSD such as the Samsung T9 trades some cost-per-terabyte for speed, durability, and a much smaller physical footprint.

Check Samsung T9 Portable SSD on Amazon

Putting the whole project together

A full digitizing setup is simply three pieces working in sequence: an optical drive for reading the physical disc, ripping software like MakeMKV to extract the actual video file from the disc, and a large-capacity drive to hold the result afterward. Plan the storage drive first rather than last, since underestimating total file sizes on a 100-plus disc collection is the single most common reason people run out of space halfway through a project and have to pause to buy more storage mid-way through.

A realistic time expectation

Ripping a single Blu-ray typically takes somewhere from twenty minutes to over an hour depending on the drive and the disc’s length, so digitizing a sizable shelf of discs is genuinely a multi-day background project rather than a single weekend task — plan to let it run in the background over several evenings rather than trying to power through an entire collection in one sitting.

A note on legality and personal use

Ripping discs you physically own for personal backup and private viewing is generally treated differently from distributing copies, though copyright law around disc ripping varies by country and specific circumstances — it is worth a quick check of local rules before digitizing a large collection, particularly for any commercially rented or borrowed discs rather than ones you personally own outright.

Checking disc condition before you start

Older discs with visible scratches or disc rot are a common source of failed rips, and it is worth sorting a large collection by condition before committing to the project — badly damaged discs may need a specialized disc-resurfacing kit or a professional recovery service rather than a standard rip attempt that will simply fail partway through. Starting with the discs in the best physical condition first also means any workflow problems get caught early, before dozens of hours have already gone into the project.

Frequently asked questions

Can I rip discs using just my existing gaming console’s disc drive?

No — console disc drives, including PlayStation and Xbox optical drives, are locked down and do not expose the kind of raw disc access that ripping software like MakeMKV needs, so a dedicated external PC-compatible optical drive is required regardless of what disc-reading hardware you may already own.

Do I need special software beyond an optical drive to rip Blu-rays?

Yes — the drive only reads the physical disc; software like MakeMKV or similar ripping tools handles extracting and decrypting the video file from the disc into a standard file format that a NAS, Plex server, or hard drive can then store and play back normally.

Is it faster to rip discs on a desktop versus a laptop?

The optical drive and storage destination speed matter more than the computer itself for ripping speed, so a laptop with a fast external drive and a fast storage target rips just as quickly as a desktop with the same two components — the main practical difference is simply having enough free USB ports for both at once.