Best Archival Storage Solution?

[Beloit911]

What are some good systems for long term data storage? Something that can hold for a few years. Tape is too expensive and my data size is relatively low at less than 10TB. I would prefer to have some form of EM protection also.

 

I hear SSDs can have faults if powered down too long and HDDs just seem to fragile.

 

Any ideas?

[Mira Yurizaki]

The only other option if you don't want to do tapes and are paranoid about SSDs and HDDs is archival grade optical disks, which is impractical given your total data size. So let's set some records straight.

 

SSDs do potentially have the issue of losing data sooner than HDDs, but this fear was likely stoked by a study testing the worst case situation (https://www.pcworld.com/article/2925173/debunked-your-ssd-wont-lose-data-if-left-unplugged-after-all.html)

 

As for HDDs, well I'll defer to this post: https://superuser.com/questions/284427/how-much-time-until-an-unused-hard-drive-loses-its-data

 

Both situations can be mitigated by checking the storage media regularly. Which I argue you should do anyway to verify the archive is still good.

[Beloit911]

Thanks for those links. I was hoping to be able to bury the media in a box as a time capsule for my kids in several decades so it seems I may have to reevaluate my plans as digging it up to rewrite isn't really going to work.

 

I'll look into those optical archive discs also.

[Mira Yurizaki]

3 hours ago, Beloit911 said:

Thanks for those links. I was hoping to be able to bury the media in a box as a time capsule for my kids in several decades so it seems I may have to reevaluate my plans as digging it up to rewrite isn't really going to work.

 

I'll look into those optical archive discs also.

I wouldn't worry so much about if the media is readable.

 

I'd worry more about that the interface they use is still commonly available by the time it's dug up.