most reliable way to store data for years to come?

[naseem142]

Hi,

What would be the most reliable way to store personal data, like pictures , videos , text files , some old game files that i'd like to keep etc etc.. without the fear of losing them over the years due to disc or usb corruption which happened to me once causing me to lose valuable files so i am really worried it might happen again.

Would an external drive do the job for keeping data for up to 30 years maybe without busting? or are there any special drives that are special made for long term storage.

I think i'd be storing around 100gb of files, and i'd be really be happy to keep them the safest possible way. Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[rgd1101]

Another thing to worry about is format you saved them in. Can it be read by any app 30 years from now.

 

[naseem142]

Another thing to worry about is format you saved them in. Can it be read by any app 30 years from now.

well how about 10 years? I guess then i can move everything off the old drive and move it to another.

Any good external drives that you would recommend ?

 

[USAFRet]

Hi,

What would be the most reliable way to store personal data, like pictures , videos , text files , some old game files that i'd like to keep etc etc.. without the fear of losing them over the years due to disc or usb corruption which happened to me once causing me to lose valuable files so i am really worried it might happen again.

Would an external drive do the job for keeping data for up to 30 years maybe without busting? or are there any special drives that are special made for long term storage.

I think i'd be storing around 100gb of files, and i'd be really be happy to keep them the safest possible way. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Swapping over to new drives and new media every couple of years.
Having a couple of full copies sprinkled around.

30 years ago was 1986. What storage media were we using then? 5.25" floppies. When was the last time you saw a floppy drive?
What storage will we be using in 2046?

 

[why_wolf]

blu-ray archival discs. Frankly whatever you do, make two copies. Its digital info so even a minor error in it could make a file unreadable.

 

[naseem142]

blu-ray archival discs. Frankly whatever you do, make two copies. Its digital info so even a minor error in it could make a file unreadable.

thanks!

 

[tvodae]

blu-ray archival discs. Frankly whatever you do, make two copies. Its digital info so even a minor error in it could make a file unreadable.

Some articles exaggeratedly praised this storage method, but I regret to have followed their advice. Instead of predicted " at least 20 years storage lifetime " a lot of my stored personal data on them can't be read by any DVD/BD drives for some reason after less than 5 years. In my opinion, the risk to have some minor scratches during years on the one side is huge, on the other side this kind of storage media could be ruined once they have been marked by appropriate marker pens or labeled.
Since the hard drives become so cheap nowadays, I only use the external HDs with 3-4TB capacity as storage data, and replace them every 3 years independent from theirs conditions by new ones. I'm aware of the existence of cloud drives, but I don't have much confidence on the providers. .