[SOLVED] What kind of drive is best suited to survive for decades if used infrequently?

[Daboa]

I'd like to store memories on a drive for my child to access when she has grown up. I will probably add files to it once per year; otherwise, it will sit in a fire-proof safe. For this use case, does SSD vs. HDD matter? I'm leaning toward SSD for shock resilience in case it gets bumped while moving or something. I welcome any thoughts or advice. Thanks!
(Yes, I'm also backing up to cloud storage, but I want to back up locally, too.)

 

[RealBeast]

I'd like to store memories on a drive for my child to access when she has grown up. I will probably add files to it once per year; otherwise, it will sit in a fire-proof safe. For this use case, does SSD vs. HDD matter? I'm leaning toward SSD for shock resilience in case it gets bumped while moving or something. I welcome any thoughts or advice. Thanks!
(Yes, I'm also backing up to cloud storage, but I want to back up locally, too.)

With yearly access, either would work fine -- but plan on updating to current device types as connections, etc. change over time.

I have piles of old HDDs that work fine if I attach them to a PCI SCSI card in Windows XP, all 18GB of each drive. In a few more years I'll have nothing left to access them. Of course the data was migrated long ago, but you get the idea.

 

[thx1138v2]

I don't think it's the type of drive that will be a problem but the interface. Think about what kind of interface was in use in 1990 or even 1980 and all the updates we've been through in the meantime. And that's just 40 years.

You probably want something that is an external drive with a very generic interface like USB. You might want to research archival systems.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive_interface

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-DISC

Glass DVD technology

 

[cryoburner]

It might also be worth keeping the data on two drives, and storing one in a different location outside your home.

 

[popatim]

When you add more data, re-add ALL the data not just the new stuff.
Nothing is going to last decades on it's own except maybe some of the archive M-Discs (expensive)