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Long term storage device

Camouflage42
By Camouflage42
in Storage Devices
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Hello, basically I am very nostalgic person and I want to download documentaries and my favorite videos from youtube and even some movies, family photos and store them somewhere so I can watch them like 30 years from now. Is buying 2 portable external hard drives best option for this ? I don't trust clouds also my internet is not as fast to upload TB's worth of storage. I am searching for weeks now but can't decide what to use. Would be awesome if you guys could help me out.

 

Have a good day

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Posted
5 minutes ago, Camouflage42 said:

Hello, basically I am very nostalgic person and I want to download documentaries and my favorite videos from youtube and even some movies, family photos and store them somewhere so I can watch them like 30 years from now. Is buying 2 portable external hard drives best option for this ? I don't trust clouds also my internet is not as fast to upload TB's worth of storage. I am searching for weeks now but can't decide what to use. Would be awesome if you guys could help me out.

 

Have a good day

There is no good answer if you really just want to let it sit for 30 years before using. Perhaps microfilm or M-Discs, but the data density isn't great, and that doesn't guarantee the hardware to access it will still exist. 

 

A better answer is to keep revolving synchronized/redundant backups on multiple formats/platforms, updating/transferring as things change/update/progress (that's my current plan; it takes some investment/dedication of time and money, but it's the only way I know of).

Main System (Byarlant): Ryzen 9 5950X | Asus B550-Creator ProArt | EK 240mm Basic AIO | 32GB G.Skill DDR4 3600MT/s CL16 | XFX Speedster SWFT 210 RX 6600 | Samsung 990 PRO 2TB / Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB | Corsair RM750X | StarTech 4× USB 3.0 Card | Realtek RTL8127 10G NIC | Hyte Y60 Case | Dell U3415W Monitor | Keychron K12 Blue (RGB backlight)

 

Laptop (Narrative): Lenovo Flex 5 81X20005US | Ryzen 5 4500U | 16GB DDR4 3200MT/s (soldered) | Vega II 384SP Graphics | SKHynix P31 1TB NVMe SSD | Intel AX200 Wifi | Asus 2.5G USB NIC | Asus ProArt PA278QV | Keychron K4 Brown (white backlight)

 

Proxmox Server (Veda): Ryzen 7 3800XT | ASRock Rack X470D4U | Corsair H80i v2 | 128GB Micron DDR4 ECC 3200MT/s | 2× Samsung PM963a 960GB SSD / 4× WD 10TB / 4× Seagate 14TB Exos / 4× Micron MX500 2TB / 8× WD 12TB (custom external SAS enclosure) | Seasonic Prime Fanless 500W | Intel X550-T2 10G NIC | LSI 9300-8i HBA | Adaptec 82885T SAS Expander | Fractal Design Node 804 Case

 

Proxmox Server (La Vie en Rose): GMKtec Mini PC | Ryzen 7 5700U | 32GB Lexar DDR4 (SODIMM) | Vega II 512SP Graphics | Lexar 1TB 610 Pro SSD | 2× Realtek 8125 2.5G NICs


Media Center/Video Capture (Jesta Cannon): Ryzen 5 1600X | ASRock B450M Pro4 R2.0 | Noctua NH-L12S | 16GB Crucial DDR4 3200MT/s | EVGA GTX750Ti SC | UMIS NVMe SSD 256GB / TEAMGROUP MS30 1TB | Corsair CX450M | Viewcast Osprey 260e Video Capture | TrendNet (AQC107) 10G NIC | LG WH14NS40 BD-ROM | Silverstone Sugo SG-11 Case | Sony XR65A80K

 

Workbench (Doven Wolf): Lenovo m715q | Ryzen Pro 3 2200GE | 16GB Crucial DDR4 3200MT/s (SODIMM) | Vega 8 Graphics | SKHynix (OEM) 256GB NVMe SSD | uni 2.5G USB NIC | HDMI add-in module

 

Network:

Spoiler 
                       ┌─────────────── Office/Rack ───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
Google Fiber Webpass ── Cloud Gateway Max ══╦═ Pro XG 8 ══╦═ Flex 2.5-8 ══╦═ Doven Wolf
                      La Vie en Rose (DNS) ═╬═ Narrative  ╠═ Veda-NAS     ╠═ La Vie en Rose (vmbr)
                                Veda (DNS) ─┘             ╠═ Veda (vmbr)  ├─ Ptolemy (vmbr)
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╩═ Ptolemy-NAS  ├─ Veda (Mgmt)
║   ┌ Closet ┐      ┌───────── Bedroom ─────────┐                         └─ Veda (IPMI)
╚═══ Flex XG ══╦╤═══ Flex XG ══╤╦═ Byarlant
       (PoE)   ║│              │╠═ Narrative 
Kitchen Jack ══╣└─ Dual PoE ┐  │╚═ Jesta Cannon*
   (Testing)   ║┌─ Injector ┘  └── Work Laptop
     Bedroom ══╝│        ┌─────── Media Center ────────────────────────────┐
     Jack #2    └──────── Switch 8 ────────────┬─ nanoHD Access Point (PoE)
Notes:                                         ├─ Sony PlayStation 4 
─── is Gigabit / ═══ is Multi-Gigabit          ├─ Pioneer VSX-S520
* = cable passed from Bedroom to Media Center  └─ Sony XR65A80K (Google TV)
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Posted
53 minutes ago, Camouflage42 said:

Hello, basically I am very nostalgic person and I want to download documentaries and my favorite videos from youtube and even some movies, family photos and store them somewhere so I can watch them like 30 years from now. Is buying 2 portable external hard drives best option for this ? I don't trust clouds also my internet is not as fast to upload TB's worth of storage. I am searching for weeks now but can't decide what to use. Would be awesome if you guys could help me out.

 

Have a good day

Yeah use a couple HDDs but they risk failing before 30 years so backup at least twice/10 years or so

DVDs can last 20 years+, but storing a bunch of data isn't easy with them...

AMD R9  7950X3D CPU/ Asus ROG STRIX X670E-E board/ 2x32GB G-Skill Trident Z Neo 6000CL30 RAM / ASUS TUF Gaming AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX OC Edition GPU/ Phanteks P600S case /  Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 ARGB cooler/  2TB WD SN850 NVme + 2TB Crucial T500  NVme  + 4TB Toshiba X300 HDD / Corsair RM850x PSU/ Alienware AW3420DW 34" 120Hz 3440x1440p monitor / ASUS ROG AZOTH keyboard/ Logitech G PRO X Superlight mouse / Audeze Maxwell headphones

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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted (edited)

hard disks may last 15 years if you are using them for this purpose, but you have to remember to make multiple copies over time. For example, Hdd 1 and 2's info can be written to Hdd 3 and 4 after 15 years, let's say. Also check the smart status and run chkdsk /r when you get a new disk. You can also routinley (say every 7 years) run chkdsk /r to see if the disk has bad sectors.

 

Edited by lol old teck guy
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3 minutes ago, lol old teck guy said:

solid state drives may last 30 years if you are using them for this purpose

If you leave them powered, maybe, but TLC/QLC/PLC NAND drains charge slowly, so even after a year or two you might start seeing degradation if kept offline. SSDs are NOT for long-term offline storage.

Main System (Byarlant): Ryzen 9 5950X | Asus B550-Creator ProArt | EK 240mm Basic AIO | 32GB G.Skill DDR4 3600MT/s CL16 | XFX Speedster SWFT 210 RX 6600 | Samsung 990 PRO 2TB / Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB | Corsair RM750X | StarTech 4× USB 3.0 Card | Realtek RTL8127 10G NIC | Hyte Y60 Case | Dell U3415W Monitor | Keychron K12 Blue (RGB backlight)

 

Laptop (Narrative): Lenovo Flex 5 81X20005US | Ryzen 5 4500U | 16GB DDR4 3200MT/s (soldered) | Vega II 384SP Graphics | SKHynix P31 1TB NVMe SSD | Intel AX200 Wifi | Asus 2.5G USB NIC | Asus ProArt PA278QV | Keychron K4 Brown (white backlight)

 

Proxmox Server (Veda): Ryzen 7 3800XT | ASRock Rack X470D4U | Corsair H80i v2 | 128GB Micron DDR4 ECC 3200MT/s | 2× Samsung PM963a 960GB SSD / 4× WD 10TB / 4× Seagate 14TB Exos / 4× Micron MX500 2TB / 8× WD 12TB (custom external SAS enclosure) | Seasonic Prime Fanless 500W | Intel X550-T2 10G NIC | LSI 9300-8i HBA | Adaptec 82885T SAS Expander | Fractal Design Node 804 Case

 

Proxmox Server (La Vie en Rose): GMKtec Mini PC | Ryzen 7 5700U | 32GB Lexar DDR4 (SODIMM) | Vega II 512SP Graphics | Lexar 1TB 610 Pro SSD | 2× Realtek 8125 2.5G NICs


Media Center/Video Capture (Jesta Cannon): Ryzen 5 1600X | ASRock B450M Pro4 R2.0 | Noctua NH-L12S | 16GB Crucial DDR4 3200MT/s | EVGA GTX750Ti SC | UMIS NVMe SSD 256GB / TEAMGROUP MS30 1TB | Corsair CX450M | Viewcast Osprey 260e Video Capture | TrendNet (AQC107) 10G NIC | LG WH14NS40 BD-ROM | Silverstone Sugo SG-11 Case | Sony XR65A80K

 

Workbench (Doven Wolf): Lenovo m715q | Ryzen Pro 3 2200GE | 16GB Crucial DDR4 3200MT/s (SODIMM) | Vega 8 Graphics | SKHynix (OEM) 256GB NVMe SSD | uni 2.5G USB NIC | HDMI add-in module

 

Network:

Spoiler 
                       ┌─────────────── Office/Rack ───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
Google Fiber Webpass ── Cloud Gateway Max ══╦═ Pro XG 8 ══╦═ Flex 2.5-8 ══╦═ Doven Wolf
                      La Vie en Rose (DNS) ═╬═ Narrative  ╠═ Veda-NAS     ╠═ La Vie en Rose (vmbr)
                                Veda (DNS) ─┘             ╠═ Veda (vmbr)  ├─ Ptolemy (vmbr)
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╩═ Ptolemy-NAS  ├─ Veda (Mgmt)
║   ┌ Closet ┐      ┌───────── Bedroom ─────────┐                         └─ Veda (IPMI)
╚═══ Flex XG ══╦╤═══ Flex XG ══╤╦═ Byarlant
       (PoE)   ║│              │╠═ Narrative 
Kitchen Jack ══╣└─ Dual PoE ┐  │╚═ Jesta Cannon*
   (Testing)   ║┌─ Injector ┘  └── Work Laptop
     Bedroom ══╝│        ┌─────── Media Center ────────────────────────────┐
     Jack #2    └──────── Switch 8 ────────────┬─ nanoHD Access Point (PoE)
Notes:                                         ├─ Sony PlayStation 4 
─── is Gigabit / ═══ is Multi-Gigabit          ├─ Pioneer VSX-S520
* = cable passed from Bedroom to Media Center  └─ Sony XR65A80K (Google TV)
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I was a semi professional photographer for about 10 years and would die inside if I lost some of my photos.  I bought 2 small NAS setups and keep one at a friends house on his network and one on my network along with a 1 drive in my system dedicated to those pictures as well as 2 other external HDD's that i keep in my very very fireproof safe LOL...  Overkill to some maybe but I highly doubt i'll lose all of them at the same time.

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