What is the best long-term storage solution?

[AusWolf]

Hi all.

The question is simple: how do you store sensitive data (family photos, or anything irreplaceable) long-term, and what would you recommend to others? I've tried a few methods in the past with varying experiences:

1. Optical disks:
Advantage: Cannot be deleted, can be stored on a bookshelf or anywhere, relatively portable.
Disadvantage: Small size, home-written disks lose data over time, they can even become unreadable.

2. External hard drives (that's what I'm using now):
Advantage: Large storage capacity.
Disadvantage: Prone to mechanical failure.

3. Cloud storage:
Advantage: Safe.
Disadvantage: Requires internet connection, large amounts of data require monthly subscriptions.

4. Memory card:
Advantage: Extremely portable.
Disadvantage: Large capacities are expensive.

5. External SSD:
Advantage: Small size, fast read/write speeds.
Disadvantage: Data retention?

6. RAID 1 array HDDs/SSDs:
Advantage: If one drive fails, you still have all your data on the other one as backup.
Disadvantage: Requires a RAID controller, multiple drives take up space in your PC case, they consume relatively a lot of power and generate heat/noise.

Is there any other method that you have in mind? How do you store your sensitive data?

 

[R-T-B]

M-DISC optical is specifically designed for longterm optical storage.

 

[AusWolf]

M-DISC optical is specifically designed for longterm optical storage.

It's the first time I've heard about it. Does it work the same way as a normal DVD-R or BD-R?

 

[Mussels]

Umm, all of them?


If you want long term backups you'd be insane to keep them in one location on one medium.

 

[Ahhzz]

Yup. ^^ What he said. Multiple points of backup. Keep local copies for easy access, stored in a cloud solution (dropbox, onedrive, etc) for recovery, and local external backups (external drive, NAS) for redundancy. Also, make sure you're checking that local backup for failure. I've had more than one client at a loss because their local copy hadn't been checked in months, and had failed.

 

[MIRTAZAPINE]

It's the first time I've heard about it. Does it work the same way as a normal DVD-R or BD-R?

M-disc works the same works the same as dvd-r and bluray. The only difference it between it and normal cds is their physical material properties layers which is designed for longterm to prevent degradation. According to mdisc they said 1000 years of readability . I hIghly doubt it but it should be able to last a century. It is the best archival offline storage currently we got. Unfortunately space for bluray have not really caught up even in bdxl variants of mdisc.

Edit : Not all opticals drives can write mdisc. Even if the mdisc format last 100 years the availability of optical tech that could read it is another question.

For longterm storage it is MDisc>Bluray>dvd>HDD. SSD I would not put SSD as longterm storage as the charges in it get lower over time. Regardless the storage medium use all media require longterm care to ensure their data are readable and shifting formats upon signs of media damaging. Data hoarding and preservation is a time consuming activity personally for me doing it.

 

[BSim500]

How do you store your sensitive data?

Objectively speaking, high grade optical has the longest static lifespan (as in it will last decades with no attached "mechanism", no silicon to fail and no magnetic / electric charge to gradually leak).

Realistically speaking, having multiple copies and the ability to easily port data from one old storage medium to a new one as storage technology changes / drives fail is necessary in practise. Eg, imagine someone created an indestructible high grade floppy disc in 1992 that was guaranteed to be read in 100 years by floppy drives in 2092 and immune to magnetic fading. 30 years on (2022), and it's clear that what's keeping old 80s'-90's DOS games alive in retro game communities is zip files + emulators stored on servers by "Abandonware" sites or home NAS's, not people actually inserting floppy disks to play. Same with old cartridge based consoles and emulators, or 8-bit cassette drives (C64 / ZX Spectrum) stored as .TAP files. Just some examples.

Bottom line - Don't make A backup, make several. Don't keep them all in the same place. And expect & accept that you'll probably be porting them to new storage mediums as the decades tick by.

Edit: Also, if you're backing up very old documents with old file formats, whilst many formats (.BMP, .GIF, .ISO, .JPG, .WAV, .ZIP, etc) are positively enduring and have aged very well for compatibility, many others have come and gone (eg, .ARJ, .DIVX, CorelDraw / Lotus 123 / Wordperfect for MS-DOS, .NRG (Nero ISO), .WMA, etc). If you have stuff like this, it may be worth considering you may not be able to open them in future on modern software, and you may need to either convert them to a more portable format now, or at least backup some older version of a software that could read them along with the data itself. Eg, I have a lot of zip files and in addition I backed up a copy of 7zip that was used to create them. I have a lot of DOS games, and in addition to the games I've backed up a "known good" version of DOSBox. It hardly takes up any extra space and when applied to lesser popular formats / software could save a lot of headaches down the line.

 

[eidairaman1]

I do not trust "cloud".

I'd use an odd, SATA/USB SSD/HDD,/USB flash drive, Tape drive with a shielded fire and water proof case.

Or make hard copies of pictures.

Also a disadvangate is ESD for all but the ODD

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Two direct on used hardware copies, one backup hd ,one cold storage Hd and m disks , works for me.
I also use cloud backup for photos only though too.

 

[quanash]

What is the best long-term storage solution?​

When you answer this question as is, there is only one answer.

Magnetic tape data storage.

When you include budget, use point or any other derivatives; the answer will change.

For personal back up, it is best to use 3:2:1 back up rule.

3: Create one primary backup and two copies of your data.
2: Save your backups to two different types of media.
1: Keep at least one backup file offsite.

And RAID is NOT a back up option.

 

[Mussels]

I do not trust "cloud".

I'd use an odd, SATA/USB SSD/HDD,/USB flash drive, Tape drive with a shielded fire and water proof case.

Or make hard copies of pictures.

Also a disadvangate is ESD for all but the ODD

Cloud saved my bacon

I had photos of my sons birth (well, directly before and after, not the gross in between bit) and the phone was stolen the day after (you get forgetful with a newborn)
The one copy on a portable 2.5" drive got erased because some dingbat stuck a fridge magnet onto it

Pretty sure it was pre-google photos so it would have been google drive, but i had uploaded copies for family to download, and they're the only remaining ones.
Since then, i've always kept critical documents locally, on my NAS, google drive/photos, and on mega.nz - with photos being kept on the phone and on google photos