Long term data storage options

[Video Beagle]

I have several "archive collections" that I back up to disc.. Blu Ray and DVD.... movies I've ripped, music rips, old files.. stuff that never needs to be changed, just stored. Some, like the movies and music, I keep on a HDD too to use, but if that crashes, I have the disc back up.

 

I'm wondering, though, is there a better/more economical medium to use then optical discs?  (A linus type storenator is not "economical" for my level ).

 

I was thinking SSD's... since they're pretty stable once written...could write, fill, and store...and the cheap ones that aren't that great for regular use (as covered in several videos) should be fine as just an unplugged backup unit for use only when needed....BUT, it doesn't look like even those "cheap" ones get into blu-ray $/gb range.  HDD's are more economical, but not sure if they store  long term well enough.

 

Anyone have thoughts on this?

[Electronics Wizardy]

How many tb are you thinking?

Normally multiple hdds is the best value for storing data, and just check them every once in a while(run a scrub to make sure data hasn't changed). Unless you have a ton of storage tape doesn't make sense.

[Roswell]

I'd be careful about backing up to recordable discs, they don't last very long in the grand scheme of things before they just fail to read. I've seen people complain about dead discs after only 5 years or so.

[Video Beagle]

5 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

How many tb are you thinking?

Variable..growing.....like I could do 15tb for media/art projects/documents/ etc backup..but growing into the future cuz I'm a digital horder.

 

(Babylon 5 style data crystals would be good, but somoene needs to invent those ;( )

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Video Beagle said:

Variable..growing.....like I could do 15tb for media/art projects/documents/ etc backup..but growing into the future cuz I'm a digital horder.

 

(Babylon 5 style data crystals would be good, but somoene needs to invent those ;( )

Thats not that much. Id get a few big external hdds, and just store multiple copies in different locations, and check them every year or so.

 

Maybe store it on a cloud location aswell

[TetraSky]

You really should just consider, that maybe, some stuff isn't worth hoarding because you're unlikely to ever reopen them in the future.

 

Just give M-DISC a look. They are archival grade disc, available in both DVD and Blu-ray format. They don't use organic dyes and thus are generally better than off the shelf regular discs which do. While their claim of 1000 years is likely over exaggerated, they will likely last you more than just a couple years if stored properly.

[divito]

While tape is "cheapest," the drives themselves are the big expense. If you're truly looking to have archives (ie. things you'd rarely, if ever, touch or want/need to access) and your hoarding gets up there in size, it might eventually be worth the investment to do tape.

You never mention a budget, but hard drives are the next practical solution based on cost. Deployment/size pretty much depends on how good your organization of data is and what it actually contains. Since you label this more as archive/back-up, having a NAS sort of seems like a waste. You'd be better off with an external dock/enclosure and use drives based on your needs/budget and write to them/edit their contents when necessary.

You mention ~15TB of everything at this moment. Theoretically, you could grab one 16TB drive for all of it, or two 8TB drives (which seems to be cheaper atm). I can't pretend to know what kind of categories or organization you have, but perhaps you could have even smaller TB drives per category to allow room to grow for each.

[doommood]

What about tapes? Have you considered tapes as long-term storage? Here is a helpful post regards backup media https://www.hyper-v.io/keep-backups-lets-talk-backup-storage-media/

If you haven't seen, check the Snazzy Labs video how they are backing up his data onto tapes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wRiJBFYn3A

[StDragon]

On 6/11/2020 at 6:53 PM, TetraSky said:

You really should just consider, that maybe, some stuff isn't worth hoarding because you're unlikely to ever reopen them in the future.

 

Just give M-DISC a look. They are archival grade disc, available in both DVD and Blu-ray format. They don't use organic dyes and thus are generally better than off the shelf regular discs which do. While their claim of 1000 years is likely over exaggerated, they will likely last you more than just a couple years if stored properly.

Never use flash media; specifically SSDs for offline (disconnected) storage. Their retention is between 1 year and a few weeks before permanent data loss sets in.

 

Standard consumer optical R and RW media last up to 10 years before bit-rot sets in. At first, there will be a few correctable errors, but at some point, the media will be degraded due to oxidization that partial loss will be evident.

 

Your best bet is M-Disk. LG has an external USB one for $25, and the media is just as cheap. Can last up to 1,000 years!

[Video Beagle]

@TetraSky @StDragon  Thanks for the info...I'd not heard of M Disk before. I wonder if my bluray drive is compatable..

 

Looking into what I currently use , Verbatim claim "a one hundred year archival life" for the bluray disks.... now, that sounds as outlandish as the 1000 years they claim on the M...do you know any info..or non SUPER tech heavy places, I can learn more about these numbers?

[StDragon]

3 hours ago, Video Beagle said:

@TetraSky @StDragon  Thanks for the info...I'd not heard of M Disk before. I wonder if my bluray drive is compatable..

 

Looking into what I currently use , Verbatim claim "a one hundred year archival life" for the bluray disks.... now, that sounds as outlandish as the 1000 years they claim on the M...do you know any info..or non SUPER tech heavy places, I can learn more about these numbers?

I'm not aware (can't actually test the 1,000 year claim without passing through 1,000 years). But, here's the bits (pun intended) that matter. I'll quote from the Wiki page.

 

Quote

M-DISC uses a single inorganic recording layer, which is substantially inert to oxygen, but requires a higher-powered laser. M-DISC DVD does not require the reflective layer. Thus, both the M-DISC and inorganic BD-R physically alter the recording layer, by burning or etching a permanent hole in the material, rather than changing the color of a dye

 

Quote

U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division of the U.S. Department of Defense found that M-DISC DVDs are much more durable than conventional DVDs. "The discs were subject to the following test conditions in the environmental chamber: 85 °C, 85% relative humidity (conditions specified in ECMA-379) and full spectrum light"

 

Eventually you can get them to fail above 90C, but that's just to test the threshold of the claims. No one in their right mind will be storing at those temps.

 

TLDR: Because the material is inert to O2, and no chance of data-loss of flaking off material, you can rest assured that with reasonable storage and handling, your data will remain intact. Meaning, no need for exotic methods such as storing in nitrogen filled bags.

 

From what I can tell, it's about 8.7 to 9.3 cents per GB of data stored (for using all 25 disks in a pack - 1.25TB or 2.5TB total) ) depending on if going 50GB or 100GB per disk.