• Visitors can check out the Forum FAQ by clicking this link. You have to register before you can post: click the REGISTER link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. View our Forum Privacy Policy.
  • Want to receive the latest contracting news and advice straight to your inbox? Sign up to the ContractorUK newsletter here. Every sign up will also be entered into a draw to WIN £100 Amazon vouchers!

Archive Media

Collapse
X
  •  
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Archive Media

    I've just discovered a load of well rotted DVD-R & DVD-RW, I'm currently rescuing a few things off them (photos that aren't already on HDD and backed up)

    What do people use for long term archiving? I'm thinking an SSD in an external box probably has the longest shelf life, what with write endurance being a non-issue in this application. Does flash rot by itself?

    The other alternative is a good old mechanical HDD.
    While you're waiting, read the free novel we sent you. It's a Spanish story about a guy named 'Manual.'

    #2
    Roughly how much space is required?

    Dropbox unlimited is $15/month but if you don't need too much space there are plenty of freebie storage providers.

    Edit: D'oh, I see the question is specifically about long term rather than just backup. Although freebie online may still be the answer.
    Last edited by Pondlife; 28 January 2014, 10:21.

    Comment


      #3
      I'm a bit surprised, I would expect DVD to have a long shelf life... then I looked it up. About 5 years. That's scary! I'll watch this thread with interest.

      Comment


        #4
        NAS with a RAID array

        Online storage with a decent cloud provider if you don't have too much storage requirements. Photos go to Flickr, for example.
        Originally posted by MaryPoppins
        I hadn't really understood this 'pwned' expression until I read DirtyDog's post.

        Comment


          #5
          I have a 1Tb USB external drive plugged into my NAS, and it backs up all my accounts, music and photos at 3a.m. every morning.

          Some really important stuff I stick in DropBox too, which means it gets spread over 3 machines as well.
          Never has a man been heard to say on his death bed that he wishes he'd spent more time in the office.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by DirtyDog View Post
            NAS with a RAID array
            +1 for this as well.

            I now buy all drives in pairs and RAID them. Even with external HDDs I buy them in a pair and rsync them.

            Comment


              #7
              I already have my data drives (3 x 1TB) backed up to a 3TB drive. What I want is to have a long term archive of my "precious memories" that I can give my parents to look after so that when I am gone my kids have something to look at. I'd guess I'll have at least 1-2 TB of photo and video so a hard disk seems like the best option. I'll have a look into online but I don't know how well flikr etc will cope with raw files and high bandwidth video (I'm keeping original DV and soon to be 35mbps MP4 footage) and I don't want to downconvert anything. I suppose Amazon S3 is worth a look as well.
              While you're waiting, read the free novel we sent you. It's a Spanish story about a guy named 'Manual.'

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Platypus View Post
                I'm a bit surprised, I would expect DVD to have a long shelf life... then I looked it up. About 5 years. That's scary! I'll watch this thread with interest.
                Yeah, I've seen a few statements that optical has an "unlimited" shelf life and while that may be true for factory pressed DVDs & CDs it most certainly isn't for the writeable & rewriteables. Even the best ones go off quite quickly. I only use them as a temporary store for e.g. installing windows now. I thought I had all my photos on HDD but I found a few more DVDs worth while clearing out. Luckily I still have the original negatives for most of the film ones.
                While you're waiting, read the free novel we sent you. It's a Spanish story about a guy named 'Manual.'

                Comment


                  #9
                  Yeah so cloud is quite expensive for a whole TB.

                  Dropbox $15/month x 5 users = $75 a month
                  Amazon S3 = 0.085 per GB = $85

                  A USB harddrive or even quite an upmarket NAS is clearly a lot more cost effective.
                  While you're waiting, read the free novel we sent you. It's a Spanish story about a guy named 'Manual.'

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Pondlife View Post
                    +1 for this as well.

                    I now buy all drives in pairs and RAID them. Even with external HDDs I buy them in a pair and rsync them.
                    Strictly speaking, you should buy the same drives from different suppliers, rather than buying in pairs. Statistically, drive failures will be more common in drives from the same batch, so you want to make sure that the drives come from different batches. This may be taking the protection thing a bit far, though

                    The Drobo drive was good for this - you can mix and match drives at any time, and they automatically split things out for you. Drive sizes don't need to be the same, so I have a couple of 1TB, a couple of 1.5TB and a 500GB drive in the same array.
                    Originally posted by MaryPoppins
                    I hadn't really understood this 'pwned' expression until I read DirtyDog's post.

                    Comment

                    Working...
                    X