Hi,

I’m not sure if this is the right community for my question, but as my daily driver is Linux, it feels somewhat relevant.

I have a lot of data on my backup drives, and recently added 50GB to my already 300GB of storage (I can already hear the comments about how low/high/boring that is). It’s mostly family pictures, videos, and documents since 2004, much of which has already been compressed using self-made bash scripts (so it’s Linux-related ^^).

I have a lot of data that I don’t need regular access to and won’t be changing anymore. I’m looking for a way to archive it securely, separate from my backup but still safe.

My initial thought was to burn it onto DVDs, but that’s quite outdated and DVDs don’t hold much data. Blu-ray discs can store more, but I’m unsure about their longevity. Is there a better option? I’m looking for something immutable, safe, easy to use, and that will stand the test of time.

I read about data crystals, but they seem to be still in the research phase and not available for consumers. What about using old hard drives? Don’t they need to be powered on every few months/years to maintain the magnetic charges?

What do you think? How do you archive data that won’t change and doesn’t need to be very accessible?

Cheers

  • Extras
    7•3 days ago

    Might be a dumb idea but hear me out. How about sealing a reputable enterprise or consumer SSD in one of those anti static bags with a desiccant and then sealing that inside a pvc pipe also with desiccant and then burying it below the frost line? You’ll just have to dig it up and refresh everything every couple of years, think 3 years at most iirc for consumer ones. Obviously this isn’t a replacement for a backup solution just archival so no interaction with it. It’ll protect it from the elements, house fires, flooding, temperature fluctuations pretty much everything and its cost effective. Hell you can even surround the hard drive bag in foam then stuff in the pvc pipe for added shock absorption. Make a map afterwards like a damn pirate (its night time so my bad if I sound deranged)

    edit I took a nap: in hindsight I should’ve clarified. I went with an ssd in this idea since its more durable than a mechanical, better price for storage capacity compared to m-disc, and most likely to be compatible with other computers in the future in case you need it for whatever reason. Of course you can use another storage media, like m disc, just know of the drawbacks. Like needing a m-disc burner (~100$), several discs depending on how big of a capacity you need (price varies), pray that there’s still a drive that can read m-disc in the future and know that’s its gonna be slow when getting your data back regardless. All you would have to do to modify the idea would be getting a disc case that kinda suspends the disc so nothing is touching it’s surfaces. Then the same idea: antistatic bag with desiccant, foam or even bubble wrap around it, stuffed in a pipe with desiccant buried below your frost line. People usually skip the “in optimal conditions” part when talking about m-disc but this way we get close to those optimal conditions

    • @ReversalHatchery@beehaw.orgEnglish
      3•3 days ago

      went with an ssd in this idea since its more durable than a mechanical, better price for storage capacity

      how? sorry but that does not add up to me. for the price of a 2 TB SSD you could by a much larger HDD

      and most likely to be compatible with other computers in the future in case you need it for whatever reason.

      both of these use SATA plugs, it should be the same

      • Extras
        1•3 days ago

        oh my bad i was referring to the storage capacity difference between ssds and m-disc. I’ll edit it in

    • MentalEdge
      1•3 days ago

      This is a very, very bad idea.

      SSDs are permanent flash storage, yes, but that doesn’t mean you can leave them unpowered for extended periods of time.

      Without a refresh, electrons can and do leak out of the charge traps that store the ones and zeroes. Depending on the exact NAND used, the data could start going corrupt within a year or so.

      HDDs suffer the same problem, though less so. They can go several years, possibly a decade, but you’d still be risking the data on the drive but letting it sit unpowered for an extended time.

      For the “cold storage” approach you should really be using something that’s designed to retain data in such conditions, like optical media, or tape drives.

      • Extras
        1•3 days ago

        Yeah that’s why I said it needs to be refreshed and also edited in an option for m-disc in case they want to go the optical route

        Of course you can use another storage media, like m disc,

        You’ll just have to dig it up and refresh everything every couple of years, think 3 years at most iirc for consumer ones