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.

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 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.