Long-term Drive Storage & Preservation

[Gixene]

MacRumors Community,

I bought a Samsung T3 Portable SSD - 250GB - USB 3.1 External SSD to use as a bootable cloned drive to use with Carbon Copy Cloner. This is after a recent realization of the importance to have a backup solution.

As like many others here, it will be off-site. I realize those of you prefer to store your drives in a safe deposit box at your financial institution, place of employment, home of a friend or family, etc.

I'm interested to learn how each of you store and preserve your drive to prevent damage be it fire, water, shock, theft, humidity, temperature, static, etc.

I have read some interesting recommendations but little here on MacRumors. The most interesting recommendation I read is by using silicia packs. These are commonly found in packaging. Placing near the drive to prevent moisture. These can be ordered via Amazon.

I eager to know what others here in the MacRumors community do to store and preserve their backup drives (not where, but how). Please be sure to share the a link of the product(s) you use to allow others to purchase.

Thank you, Gixene
[doublepost=1478814614][/doublepost]I apologize. I intended to post this in the Mac Accessories section. Please move.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

No suggestions in particular.

Generally speaking, bank vaults are in climate-controlled environments. While the use of silica gel packs can't hurt, they may not help much, either.

The other factor is that unless you plan to make a single backup and leave it in the bank vault forever, you're going to be removing it from the vault from time to time in order to make a new backup. Keep the thing in a watertight container when traveling and storing. By all means, pop in a silica pack to deal with any excess humidity. But if you seal it in the watertight container while it is at room temperature and in an area of moderate humidity... your drive won't be at very much risk.

 

[Gixene]

No suggestions in particular.

Generally speaking, bank vaults are in climate-controlled environments. While the use of silica gel packs can't hurt, they may not help much, either.

The other factor is that unless you plan to make a single backup and leave it in the bank vault forever, you're going to be removing it from the vault from time to time in order to make a new backup. Keep the thing in a watertight container when traveling and storing. By all means, pop in a silica pack to deal with any excess humidity. But if you seal it in the watertight container while it is at room temperature and in an area of moderate humidity... your drive won't be at very much risk.

Sure, I am actually a banker (hence Mr. Monopoly avatar). So I'm quite knowledgeable on safe deposit boxes and vaults in general. I wasn't inquiring on "where" members of this community store their drive, but "how" members store their drive.

Example, how do you store your drive? Is it thrown in your friend's dirty laundry hamper with nothing protecting the drive? Or is it in a friend's closet sealed in an airtight container?

I imagine some here in this community store it off-site without protecting it from elements. Though I am very certain many here are extremely particular in regards to how it's stored. I'm just curious is all.

So, how do you store your drive?

 

[talmy]

My backups are made to bare 3.5" HDDs which I store in these: https://www.amazon.com/iKross-Color...1_45?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1478832406&sr=1-45&th=1. I have two sets, one on-site and one in a safe deposit box. I swap the sets every couple of weeks (it's in my calendar so I don't forget!)

I don't use silica packs and I don't think I've ever had a backup drive fail.

 

[HDFan]

Larry Jordon has on his website several articles about long term storage of unplugged hard disks and SSD's. Neither Hard Disks or SSD's in long term storage have infinite shelf life. Hard disks need to be refreshed every year or two. An SSD should go a year or two according to Micron.

I have some stand alone drives that I store offsite just as they are. For bare drives in a safe deposit box I'd just ensure that it was in an antistatic bag. Like tally's enclosure's idea so I just ordered:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00W4RYCU6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Clix Pix]

For my Samsung T1 and T3 external SSDs, I use Khanka protective hard carrying cases which work well for both at home and travel. They keep the SSD protected from hard knocks and of course also protected from dust and such. At home I keep these in an armoire, which further protects them from dust and other particles. When it's time to use one of the external SSDs, I just take it out of the case, plug in the cable and use it with the computer until I've finished backing up or doing other things.

My larger desktop external hard drives with platter disks I keep in Hefty One Gallon plastic bags for protection from dust and moisture. Again, they live in the armoire when not actively in use, although I do always have the most current ones (usually two) on the desktop for convenience when I'm ready to plug them in. Those are not in plastic bags. My collection of much older external drives (not in plastic bags) is stored in another cabinet in a different room.

Link to Amazon and the Khanka cases, which fit both the T1 and the T3:

https://www.amazon.com/Khanka-Prote...TF8&qid=1478835953&sr=8-1&keywords=Samsung+T3

I don't keep any of my external drives in a bank vault or offsite, although I know I probably should. I do have multiple backups -- redundancy is important in case of drive failure!

 

[Gixene]

My backups are made to bare 3.5" HDDs which I store in these: https://www.amazon.com/iKross-Color...1_45?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1478832406&sr=1-45&th=1. I have two sets, one on-site and one in a safe deposit box. I swap the sets every couple of weeks (it's in my calendar so I don't forget!)

I don't use silica packs and I don't think I've ever had a backup drive fail.

Those are excellent storage containers! Good idea on a calendar reminder. Life can be hectic. With an off-site backup I could see 'out of sight, out of mind' being an issue.

Thank you for sharing!

Larry Jordon has on his website several articles about long term storage of unplugged hard disks and SSD's. Neither Hard Disks or SSD's in long term storage have infinite shelf life. Hard disks need to be refreshed every year or two. An SSD should go a year or two according to Micron.

I have some stand alone drives that I store offsite just as they are. For bare drives in a safe deposit box I'd just ensure that it was in an antistatic bag. Like tally's enclosure's idea so I just ordered:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00W4RYCU6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I completely agree. Backup drives shouldn't have the 'if it ain't broke, don't replace it' ideology we have with many everyday items we use in life. The backup drive should be in condition in the event it's needed for what it's intended for.

Glad you found this thread helpful and bought based on the recommendation of talmy.

Thank you for sharing.
[doublepost=1478837563][/doublepost]

For my Samsung T1 and T3 external SSDs, I use Khanka protective hard carrying cases which work well for both at home and travel. They keep the SSD protected from hard knocks and of course also protected from dust and such. At home I keep these in an armoire, which further protects them from dust and other particles. When it's time to use one of the external SSDs, I just take it out of the case, plug in the cable and use it with the computer until I've finished backing up or doing other things.

My larger desktop external hard drives with platter disks I keep in Hefty One Gallon plastic bags for protection from dust and moisture. Again, they live in the armoire when not actively in use, although I do always have the most current ones (usually two) on the desktop for convenience when I'm ready to plug them in. Those are not in plastic bags. My collection of much older external drives (not in plastic bags) is stored in another cabinet in a different room.

Link to Amazon and the Khanka cases, which fit both the T1 and the T3:

https://www.amazon.com/Khanka-Prote...TF8&qid=1478835953&sr=8-1&keywords=Samsung+T3

I don't keep any of my external drives in a bank vault or offsite, although I know I probably should. I do have multiple backups -- redundancy is important in case of drive failure!

That is a nice case for your Samsung T1 and T3. Seems like you have quite the collection of drives but also seems like you are proactive in keeping the drives in good condition.

Thank you for sharing!

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Multiple back ups in various locations some over NAS is probably the best option using raid 1 for a further back up of the back up.

Drives fail 1 back up is probably not enough if you have critical information to keep.

 

[zhenya]

Are you thinking long-term archival storage or merely off site? If the former, the issues noted above apply, and this is a very difficult question to which we don't currently have a great answer. If the latter, I'm automated to the cloud and haven't looked back. Manual backups are fine as a 3rd tier, but as your primary backup the manual factor is going to break down sooner or later.

 

[Gixene]

Multiple back ups in various locations some over NAS is probably the best option using raid 1 for a further back up of the back up.

Drives fail 1 back up is probably not enough if you have critical information to keep.

Yes, I was not speaking of the location or quantity of the backups. Not "where" but "how" as I've mentioned a couple of times now. Do you throw it under your relatives couch cushions? Or do you do anything extra to protect it?

Are you thinking long-term archival storage or merely off site? If the former, the issues noted above apply, and this is a very difficult question to which we don't currently have a great answer. If the latter, I'm automated to the cloud and haven't looked back. Manual backups are fine as a 3rd tier, but as your primary backup the manual factor is going to break down sooner or later.

This was a general inquiry. Personally, I will backup the cloned drive 1-3 months. I don't collect as much content as many here, so I may not feel it's necessary to do so. Though I still think it's important to keep your backup as safe as possible from any elements that could effect the drive. Just a few extra steps such as waterproofing and dehumidification may not be a bad idea.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Just a few extra steps such as waterproofing and dehumidification may not be a bad idea.

Yes. If you do waterproofing, definitely do dehumidification, too. Sealing excess humidity into the container wouldn't be a great thing.

 

[Gixene]

Yes. If you do waterproofing, definitely do dehumidification, too. Sealing excess humidity into the container wouldn't be a great thing.

Definitely agree, good point. I just believe that if one would go through the extra trouble of keeping an off-site backup, you may as well take precautionary measures.