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question about storing files on external hard drives?

adammusic

adammusic

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 6, 2007
702
987
so i just backed up everything onto one drive (lacie golden disk 500gb). i just read about hard drives dieing and losing info. this is stuff i cannot lose and have worked on for about 10 years. if i just kept this external on a shelf and rarely used it...how long can i expect it to last. i took everything off my maxtor (250), western digital 250, and western digital passport 160. selling the maxtor and passport. how often should i update externals?
 
how long should it last just sitting on a shelf?

and whats the most reliable brand of dvds?
 
Another, although more expensive option that is less labor intensive than burning DVD's is backing up to a redundant hard drive. So basically having two drives and having one mirror the other or simply manually backing it up on a regular basis. Its highly unlikely the two drives would ever fail at the same time.

In my case I even keep drive # 2 in the office when i am not backing it up. That protects the data from fires etc.
 
adammusic said:
how long should it last just sitting on a shelf?

and whats the most reliable brand of dvds?
Click to expand...

I once had a hard drive that I used for a week loaded with stuff. Let it sit in the box on a shelf and took it out about a year later. Installed it in the computer and it was dead. I believe it was a Western Digital.

As far as DVDs, just get a brand that you know such as Memorex or Sony. I've used both brands.
 
bloogersnigen said:
CD/DVD/BRD/HDDVD are more reliable because their data is not meant to change. its meant to be burned and kept. Hard drives are meant to be written over so they are less permanent.
Click to expand...

DVDs/CDs degrade over time due to the dye used in the disc. The most cost effective way to store your data will definitely be HDDs still.
 
If it's really precious files we are talking here, I'd seriously do a triple back-up. Have them on a hard drive that you will access and use, back them up on a drive that is strictly for back-ups, and burned on a DVD (which, depending on how precious they are, you might just want to put a copy in a safe deposit box or at a friend's house in case of fire, etc).

And if you do back up on DVD, do not put a paper label on them! In a few years chances are very strong that they will not work, and you'd have to use Goo Gone to get the labels off.
 
treehorn said:
If it's really precious files we are talking here, I'd seriously do a triple back-up. Have them on a hard drive that you will access and use, back them up on a drive that is strictly for back-ups, and burned on a DVD (which, depending on how precious they are, you might just want to put a copy in a safe deposit box or at a friend's house in case of fire, etc).
Click to expand...

Good advice, this is what I do with my photo backups.
 
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