External HD and storage ?n

Hi all.
i have a question about storing some of my projects and sample librarys on DVD.
the situation is that iv been on the road for the last 6 months and will continue to be so for probably the next 4 months. i tried to bring as little as i possibly could.... which is still a lot. anyway, i have 2 500gig external HD's with my projects, instrument libraries and my own sample library collection. Both HD's are the same; 1 being an exact copy of the other.
Now, i have on each HD about 15 gig of projects that i am not working on anymore and dont intend to work on until im back home so i want to free up my external HD and store them on DVD's
so thats my question....what is it like storing important to me items on DVD's. how long are they good for on the DVD ( lifespan ).
also, should i be partitioning my external HD's???
any help much appreciated

thank you Sampleconstuct for your answer on the DVD's
Im sorry, but im not quite sure what you mean in the second paragraph about the partitions. im only new to the whole concept as iv only ever ran a laptop but as im about to invest in a desktop system iv started research the partition idea.
is it not better to partition the drive so as to have project files on 1 partition, sound libraries ( e.g Kontakt, omnishpere etc) on another and other stuff on a 3rd partition???
im sorry, im just not clear
thanks for your help!!

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Message was edited by: Phillip Roh

External HD and storage ?n

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