What medium would be best for archiving knowledge? Or, does tape storage suffer from bitrot?

[WolframaticAlpha]

I was just thinking, that if one were to try and archive parts of human knowledge for future generations, what medium would be best suited? HDDs, SSDs etc are out. Optical suffers from bitrot. Somethign based off tape seems the best option, but I couldn't find much stuff about data rot on tape storage.

[ToboRobot]

No medium, only process will be secure for long term archival.

Multiple copies and checking to ensure data integrity is required.

 

[artisuke]

Iirc, from prior research, tapes for storage last ~30-40 years in good storage conditions.

[WolframaticAlpha]

1 minute ago, ToboRobot said:

Multiple copies and checking to ensure data integrity is required.

I was thinking ultra long term, like for a time capsule. Something etched seems like a good way(like the voyager discs) but that might be inefficient considering the mounds of stuff that'd be needed to be stored.

[OhYou_]

paper and ink is by far the least cost of entry for a medium that lasts over 100 years. 
https://ollydbg.de/Paperbak/

[Electronics Wizardy]

2 minutes ago, WolframaticAlpha said:

I was thinking ultra long term, like for a time capsule. Something etched seems like a good way(like the voyager discs) but that might be inefficient considering the mounds of stuff that'd be needed to be stored.

There seems to be a lot of data centers now that are constantly replacing failed parts and upgrading storage. I don't see a reason that this can't go on for a very long time. And this is probably cheaper and easier than trying to make some sure long life storage and store it somewhere.

[WolframaticAlpha]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

There seems to be a lot of data centers now that are constantly replacing failed parts and upgrading storage. I don't see a reason that this can't go on for a very long time. And this is probably cheaper and easier than trying to make some sure long life storage and store it somewhere.

The point of this is not archival for 5-10 years. I am talking about close to a human lifetime, for something like the memory of mankind project (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_of_Mankind) but not slabs of stone

[WolframaticAlpha]

8 minutes ago, OhYou_ said:

paper and ink is by far the least cost of entry for a medium that lasts over 100 years. 

backing up wikipedia, would be close to 300 meters of paper

[OhYou_]

Just now, WolframaticAlpha said:

backing up wikipedia, would be close to 300 meters of paper

doing anything costs money. 95% of the information on wikipedia should be useless in 100y. 
there are many things I'd consider archiving first before I backup even a single wiki page

[manikyath]

this is probably a good watch to make you understand the troubles of making something last "generations".

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

8 minutes ago, WolframaticAlpha said:

The point of this is not archival for 5-10 years. I am talking about close to a human lifetime, for something like the memory of mankind project (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_of_Mankind) but not slabs of stone

Those data centers will keep data much longer than that. As drives die, new ones replace them. There is redundancy between datacenters. Data should stay safe as long as the customers are will to keep paying to keep the data stored.

[ToboRobot]

17 minutes ago, WolframaticAlpha said:

I was thinking ultra long term, like for a time capsule. Something etched seems like a good way(like the voyager discs) but that might be inefficient considering the mounds of stuff that'd be needed to be stored.

There is no silver bullet.  As you said, even etching data in stone or metal is inefficient and there is no way to ensure that it will be readable, other than a long term plan and process to maintain and ensure data integrity. 

[Needfuldoer]

The only way to ensure long-term data storage is by migrating the archive to new media every 5 years or so. 

 

For longevity of one specimen of media, metal-alloy writeable discs (like M-Disc and DVD-RAM) and magnetic tape are your best options. They'll last for decades.

[ImorallySourcedElectrons]

Etch it into a solid slab of iridium. If that gets destroyed they'd have had to do some serious things to it.