Hi, I'm going to get an external HDD to backup my data on, since I'm tired of burning DVD-Rs when I'm out of space on my internal HDD and losing them subsequently. It's a hassle. Besides programming, I use my PC mostly for DTP, photo retouching and music production. I want to archive what I make, permanently. Are HDDs prone to breaking? Are DVD-Rs or other optical media more persistent? Tape drives seem expensive and nonpractical. Are they worth their money for private use? Is anybody out there as worried as me when it comes to accessing our data in ten or twenty years time? Regards, Michael PS: This is my first post, I hope this subject isn't completely off-topic or exhausted. I was unable to find anything on backup media in the forum archive. I'm looking forward to contributing to this place.

In terms of "ten or twenty years", I would be more afraid of drivers and file formats than of outright hardware failure. Either way, I wouldn't mind uploading secondary backups of my data to something like Amazon's S3, and keep the primary backup on DVDs in a safe or dedicated binder.

Quote: Original post by mitsche
I'm tired of burning DVD-Rs when I'm out of space on my internal HDD and losing them subsequently. It's a hassle.

Agreement. DVDs are a right pain, and the capacity is too low for today's media.

Quote: Are HDDs prone to breaking?

HDs have a reasonable life span, and one might easily last 10-15 years. However, you can't trust your data to a single drive, because it *could* die at any moment.

Quote: Are DVD-Rs or other optical media more persistent?

If you keep them in jewel cases, in an air conditioned and humidity controlled environment, then yes, they last pretty much forever. However, if you store them in sleeves, and stick them in the basement, I wouldn't trust them 5 years.

Quote: Tape drives seem expensive and nonpractical. Are they worth their money for private use?

Depends how paranoid you are. Again though, tape requires climate controlled environment to last a long time, and the analog nature of tape storage can mask degradation of your data.

Quote: Is anybody out there as worried as me when it comes to accessing our data in ten or twenty years time?

In my case, it isn't worth the bother. As a programmer, most of my important work lives out in the cloud (sourceforge, google code, google docs, etc.), and most of the rest could be recreated if the need arose. I do run weekly time machine backups to an external hard drive, but I have never had to use them.

Quote: I want to archive what I make, permanently.

Forever is a long time, and you need to decide just how sure you want to be that your data will survive. What sort of causes for data loss are we talking about here? Failure of your primary hard drive? Your house burning down? Earthquake/tsunami/terrorists wiping out your city?

If it is just computer failures you are worried about, then a pair of external drives, and an alternating back up schedule should be fine. At least one of your 3 drives should always be fine when one of the others suffers mechanical failure.

For all other cases, you need multiple layers of redundant backups. Typically this would include redundant hard drives on site, tape backup placed in a bank vault, and internet backup to a datacenter on another continent.

External hard drives are very cheap now as well. I personally have three of them I use. All of my machines have one attached and I also do regular backups to my server.

However, even my setup is at risk because all my data is located in the same room. It would only take a fire or break-in and I'd be screwed. I should really have some offsite storage.

If you want to be really prepared, make sure you have at least one onsite backup and one offsite. That should cover most situations you may encounter.

Also, having reasonably older backups is also a good idea. You never know when one of those "ahh crap my file is corrupt" situations come up. Having a backup of an older copy before the file was corrupted is sometimes handy.

But, as far as DVD vs. Hard Disk goes, I always go the hard drive route. I had too much bad luck with bad CD's/DVD's to ever use them for a backup again.

John

HDD's are a good backup choice. Storing stuff online is a good idea, too, and handy when you suddenly realize you'd like to check up on something when you're out and about. I back up my important projects online and the rest I just keep on my PC HDD and a backup HDD. The chance of my PC, external drive, and website all exploding at once is pretty slim.

On that note, are there any reliable 1TB drives yet?

Quote: Original post by ToohrVyk

In terms of "ten or twenty years", I would be more afraid of drivers and file formats than of outright hardware failure.

Absolutely. But I wanted to focus on the physical aspect.

Quote: Original post by swiftcoder

Forever is a long time, and you need to decide just how sure you want to be that your data will survive. What sort of causes for data loss are we talking about here? Failure of your primary hard drive? Your house burning down? Earthquake/tsunami/terrorists wiping out your city?

I'm mainly concerned with the physical degradation of the storage media and the longevity of the format (e.g. backwards compatibility), so I can actually access my data in the future. I'm neither afraid of tsunamis nor terrorists. In the case of my house burning down, saving my cats has priority.

My reference is analog tape for recording studio sessions. It might be necessary to bake the reel if it hasn't been used for some decades, but otherwise it's pretty much indestructible, metaphorically speaking.

Thanks, all y'all. I think I will go with the multiple HDDs + internet storage approach. I guess there's no simple solution with digital stuff, like printing it out and putting it away in a shoebox. Unless you own giant shoeboxes that is.

I already like this forum very much.

Quote: Original post by mitsche
Thanks, all y'all. I think I will go with the multiple HDDs + internet storage approach. I guess there's no simple solution with digital stuff, like printing it out and putting it away in a shoebox. Unless you own giant shoeboxes that is.

I already like this forum very much.

You could invest in microfilm equipment.

Quote: Original post by Talroth
You could invest in microfilm equipment.

I am not very familiar with microfilm as a digital storage medium, but wouldn't that suffer from many of the same issues as tape storage? To whit: gradual degradation, need for climate control, and setup cost.