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long term media backup & storage solutions?

R

rassoodock

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 22, 2007
77
0
I am interested in a long-term stoarge/archive solution for my rare CDs and DVD disc image files. I thought I would save them all the a 500GB external drive and just store in safely in a closet.

Does anybody else backup their crucial data or media in this manner? If not, I would welcome suggestions about better alternatives. If I leave an external drive sitting for years, is there any danger of data loss or other problems?

I just found that a CD I bought 20 years ago has developed rot, so I'm beginning to panic a bit. Any suggestions or ideas most appreciated.

Thanks!
Michael
 
I'm going down this route although I don't lock the drives away. I backup everything to 2 different drives and the data is periodically refreshed as it's still growing. I expect to replace the drives at some point in the future but hopefully not at the same time. Having 3 copies of the data covers me I hope - ignoring natural disasters,etc.
 
yeah, i guess the more copies you have, the safier you are. i'm not sure about leaving a hard drive in a closet for years. but it might not be bad.
 
I just took a 1 gig drive out of my closet that had been in there for approximately ten years. It's in perfect shape and the data is intact.
 
HDDs aren't designed for long term, inactive storage and can stop functioning if they aren't spun up periodically. An ideal solution is data tape back-up, but that might cost more than you are willing to spend. ;)

If you do the two HDD method I'd make sure to get two different brand HDDs (so you are less likely to have both drives go down if a defective batch comes out of the factory) and determine a back up schedule. You'd probably also want to keep one HDD in your home and one someplace else so if your home is broken into, damaged in a fire, etc.,. you'll still have a copy of all your stuff offsite.

Personally, I don't archive the stuff on my computer but I do do a weekly back-up.


Lethal
 
Rule of thumb is that data must exist on at least three different media and at at least two different geographical locations. The latter protects from fire, theft or flood. Just take a copy to work.

If a hard drive is used as one of the three. Think about the case where you update the backup volume. Many times you wipe it out then re-wite it. You need to have three even during the backup process.

Hard drives work well but don't expect 20 years from one. Just look at the warranty to get an idea. The long term failure point of hard drives the the spindle bearing lubricants.

You will have to rotate you backup media, copy it to ever larger disk drives.

One more thing: Buy an inexpensive fire safe. The smallest sized ones are only abbout $40 and will hold maybe two drives.
 
twoodcc said:
that's good to know. did you have it in anything? (like to keep it from dust and stuff)
Click to expand...

You need to test a few more to get a statistically valid sample.

But a backup system should never depend on the media never failing. The system should allow for media failure. Loosing a drive should not mean loosing data.
 
twoodcc said:
that's good to know. did you have it in anything? (like to keep it from dust and stuff)
Click to expand...

I tossed it into a silver anti-static bag that and folded the bag tightly around the drive. It was a large bag, so I had plenty of overhanging bag to totally enclose the drive.

The drive literally laid in the same place in my closet for about 10 years. I just took it out last month, dropped it into an external enclosure and copied the contents to a DVD.

Note: i just pulled the drive off the shelf and looked at it again: It's a Seagate and the day I pulled it and wrapped it up, I wrote the date on the label using a marker: 12/2004. So, it's nearly 13 years since I pulled it. It was in heavy, daily use before then. It was the boot drive for, I believe, a IIci in a publishing environment.
 
Moof1904 said:
Note: i just pulled the drive off the shelf and looked at it again: It's a Seagate and the day I pulled it and wrapped it up, I wrote the date on the label using a marker: 12/2004. So, it's nearly 13 years since I pulled it. It was in heavy, daily use before then. It was the boot drive for, I believe, a IIci in a publishing environment.
Click to expand...

do you mean 3 years?
 
Archive

What was the source material and is it rare because you no longer have access to it? Always keep all your original tapes and store them properly - don't leave them in an attic or a barn. The ultimate moving image storage media w/over 100 years of proven longevity is film but tape is the next best thing- whether we are talking camera masters or data tape.
 
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