www.makemkv.com

I ask you which do you prefer and why:
ISO the complete disk?
MKV split into pieces and parts?

Don't hate me, but I've been using AnyDVD for 'decades', mostly because I can copy an entire disk to an ISO.

If this has already been bled to death elsewhere, just point me to where please.

Thanks in advance.

That might depend on what one wants to achieve.

I have a NAS with like 65TB. Whenever I get a DVD or BluRay, first thing I do is create an ISO backup of the disk and put it onto the NAS.

Then I go ahead and rip the ISO to get the various MKV files and transcode them with handbrake. So in the end I have both, the original ISO (usually stripped of its copy protection) and the transcoded MKV files.

Advantage: Whenever there is a new codec (like AV1 or something newer even) or better filters for old movies, I can rip the ISO again and transcode it again, without having to touch the physical disc (which can and will deteriorate over the years)
Disadvantage: It takes up lots of space.

Keeping the whole ISO is usually for people who want to keep the menu structure. Though I am not sure if any external player like Plex or alike can just open such an ISO to do that.

If you want everything on the disk, ISO is a good way to go.

If you want the movie itself, why bother saving "everything else"?

I keep all the files from the disc but, not in a .iso.

The .iso file seems pointless to me. Even if the TOC/LBA of the UDF image is intact, it's still going to be a bootleg if you burn it out. Loosing the TOC index doesn't seem like a real loss, but if I knew how to save the TOC/LBA without saving the .iso... I would . Also, as far as I know, there isn't a magic LBA that a file has to be aligned to (like PSP isos or something), so I rrrrrrrealy don't see the point of an .iso.

Questions arise though: Are the files that are decrypted the exact file before the studio/company encrypted it for the disc? Is the TOC/LBA of the udf.iso the same as the disc?

I keep the image files so I can hash them just in case someone starts a DB of the hashes (similar to CUEToolsDB or AccurateRIP). The only disadvantage is an extra ~1.2GB to ~2GB bigger than it is when re-containerizing it. You could use ffmpeg to write the bitstream(s) of a MKV to stdin and hash that way but, that would only be the "main" video and audio files (not other possible pressing/region differences in menus/warnings etc.).