My planned time capsule

[TheGermanEngie]

So recently I've stumbled upon videos about M-DISC, and its ability to (possibly) hold data for a very, very long time. Much longer than I need it for, not the 1000 years it claims to hold. Anyway, I've been thinking about what I should use to store it in to protect from the elements. What if I kept the disc in the burner itself? The enclosure is pretty tough, and I can put it in big ziploc bag (pretty element proof against dirt and water and such) which will be inside a pelican case of some sorts. I'll throw in a USB to SATA power adapter so I can just plug and play. If the future still has USB type A ports. If not I'll just use an adapter.

 

What do you think? Would it work? Or something totally different?

[GoldenLag]

personally to store data for a very very long time i would use a SSD of sorts an place it within a vacuum flask, also known as a thermos. i dont know the rated life of an SSD that remains un-used. 

 

the idea is that the thermos will keep it protected from the elements and then a external container will keep it from physcial harm

[Pixel5]

the idea is good but it will probably not be possible to read the files for most people in the future.

 

Technology and transmission protocols change so quickly that its very likely even in as low as 50 years it would be hard to read any data from it.

[TheGermanEngie]

4 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

personally to store data for a very very long time i would use a SSD of sorts an place it within a vacuum flask, also known as a thermos. i dont know the rated life of an SSD that remains un-used. 

 

the idea is that the thermos will keep it protected from the elements and then a external container will keep it from physcial harm

SSDs, due to the way they hold an electric charge, can only last one year holding their data. So they are a no go.

[GoldenLag]

2 minutes ago, TheGermanEngie said:

SSDs, due to the way they hold an electric charge, can only last one year holding their data. So they are a no go.

You can get smalller disks cant you? Those halfsize ones sometimes used for certain installs. Id use that combined with a larger vacuum flask.

[samcool55]

Just make sure the physical box can't rust.

I've seen a few time capsules appearing 50-100 years later but being completely useless because the case rusted away.

[TheGermanEngie]

29 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

You can get smalller disks cant you? Those halfsize ones sometimes used for certain installs. Id use that combined with a larger vacuum flask.

It's not the size of the disks themselves, it's the tiny imperfections in the flash memory that cause the charge to slowly drain over time. Every SSD has this problem. It's just the way they're designed...

[ScratchCat]

1. Use multiple hard drives for redundancy. Preferably enterprise grade disks.
2. Place in an insulated, sealed container to prevent rapid temperature changes causing the hard drive to be damaged.
3. Encrypt the files so anyone who finds it cannot read the contents.
4. For anything longer than a decade include various adapters, spare components or maybe a laptop to read the data with.
5. Put your name and address on it plus an incentive to return it to you should someone find and take it.