1. Cost-per-bit of storage for optical disks is very low because of their low cost and high storage density. Additional cost benefit comes from the the fact we can erase data on some optical and reuse them many times.
2. Use of a single spiral track makes optical disks an ideal storage medium for reading large blocks of sequential data such as audio or video.
3. Optical disk drives do not have any mechanical read/write heads to rub against or crash into the disk surface. This makes disks more reliable storage medium than tapes or magnetic disks.
4. Optical disks have data storage life in excess of 30 years, making them better storage medium for data archiving as compared to megnatic tapes or magnetic disks.
5. Since data once stored on CD-ROM/WROM disks becomes permanent, there is no danger of losing stored data by erasing it or overwriting on it by mistake.
6. Due to their compact size and lightweight, optical disks are easy to handle, store, and port from one place to another.
7. We can use a computer having a CD-Rom drive, a sound card, and speakers as a music system, whenever desired, for playing audio CDs.
8. We can use a computer having a DVD drive to watch (such as movies) by playing DVDs.
1. Data access speed of optical disks is slower than that of magnetic disks.
2. Optical disks requires more complicated drive mechanism than magnetic disks due to the need to have laser generating source and detection lens, which require precision engineering and careful handling.
3. Since optical disk is a removable media, it is prone to scratches, dust, sticky prints (including fingerprints), etc. While handling. Hence, they need careful handling.
4. When used for off-line storage, we must label optical disks properly for easy identification.