[Ace F355]

There is no way you can be sure about safety of your data, even with HDDs. No matter how good HDD you have bought, they can fail without pointing any reason. Of course you will get a new HDD in replacement but data is gone forever.

I store my valuable data at two places. at 1TB space alloted to me on our company server and on my 2TB desktop HDD.

Anyway my point is, you have to have a backup somewhere if the data is so valuable for you! HDDs, SSDs, DVD's, Blu-Rays... your call.

[tj123]

There is a no point comparing HDD with DVD. DVD's are no match compared to a HDD when it comes to volume of data back.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Although HDDs seem to be the ideal option with optical disks being more delicate

How can you come to that conclusion? The hard disc is the only really fragile thing in a computer system.

Try throwing things across the room: it's the hdd that will be the thing that stops working!

SSD is too expensive for normal use, let alone for archiving. I guess we'd better wait a decade for that!

There is a no point comparing HDD with DVD. DVD's are no match compared to a HDD when it comes to volume of data back. This looks like a dumb poll.

Volume is not the issue at stake; long-term storage is the issue.

I know nothing about it, except that I'm vaguely aware that drives are now available for PCs... what about Blueray?

[Sankar]

After you have backed up your data onto a backup HDD/DVD its wise to have an additional backup of your critical data with some online data storage service.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by Sankar

After you have backed up your data onto a backup HDD/DVD its wise to have an additional backup of your critical data with some online data storage service.

When you buy laptops nowadays, you even get free data backup accounts for personal use. I got one from Dell when I bought a laptop few weeks back.

[Thad E Ginathom]

you even get free data backup accounts for personal use

I might have some faith in a back-up service that was paid for, but even then, I would not trust my data to a third party.

A free-service provider is under no obligation to you (and you can be sure that their terms will make that very clear) --- the DVD in your cupboard is infinitely more reliable.

This kind of service would be great for off-line temporary storage (for instance, upload your photos while travelling) but the OP is looking for something to last for the foreseeable future.

Come to think of it, that means that there is probably not a single for-ever solution, as the media that is common-place today will be obsolete in years to come.

[NOTORIOUS]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

How can you come to that conclusion? The hard disc is the only really fragile thing in a computer system.

Try throwing things across the room: it's the hdd that will be the thing that stops working!

Exactly

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Come to think of it, that means that there is probably not a single for-ever solution, as the media that is common-place today will be obsolete in years to come.

Yes , But i Think one copy on DVD and Other On a HDD will last me 5-6 years and till then i can have a new technology to archive my data

[Thad E Ginathom]

Yes, I think that is the way to go. Your next generation might be blueray, which will take several DVDs on one disc, and then... who knows what will come next?

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I might have some faith in a back-up service that was paid for, but even then, I would not trust my data to a third party.

A free-service provider is under no obligation to you (and you can be sure that their terms will make that very clear) --- the DVD in your cupboard is infinitely more reliable.

This kind of service would be great for off-line temporary storage (for instance, upload your photos while travelling) but the OP is looking for something to last for the foreseeable future.

Come to think of it, that means that there is probably not a single for-ever solution, as the media that is common-place today will be obsolete in years to come.

I am contemplating paid backup service. Although they say it encrypts on the computer and then sends it to heir server, I am thinking of creating an encrypted file container for all my static data and then store it. and check/refresh it every 6 months so I know it's there.

[anku94]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

How can you come to that conclusion? The hard disc is the only really fragile thing in a computer system.

Try throwing things across the room: it's the hdd that will be the thing that stops working!

I was saying on the basis of personal experience. I had a lot of movies on DVDs and 50% of 'em don't work now. HDDs stay put at one place, but frequently using DVDs wears them out. Not the actual spinning, but the process of taking them out of their protective jackets and replacing them back. That's where the 'delicate' part comes in. I'll admit, I've been a little rough on my DVDs, but HDDs have been more faithful storage devices to me. Of course, I don't usually throw my equipment across the room.

[Thad E Ginathom]

50% of the hard disks I have owned in the last five years have failed!

No, maybe more like 30%, but it is a big percentage, and compares very badly with the very few that ever failed back in my office days. Either we were upgrading too quickly, or the quality has gone down. I don't know for sure which --- but, as I said, they have got vastly bigger in capacity, and hugely dropped in price.

Backup optical discs are not going to be frequently handled.

[anku94]

30%. Hmm, that'd make me go against HDDs too. But I've owned only two HDDs, nowhere near the near-infinite experience of yours, but one of these has been working for me since 13th September, 2004. Almost 6 years. It's a Seagate Barracuda 80GB IDE.

The other one, WD Essentials 320GB Portable has been bought recently, so can't really say, but I've never had a HDD failure ever. So you can imagine the logic behind my preference.

Never thought backup media was such a complex issue. :P

[Thad E Ginathom]

but one of these has been working for me since 13th September, 2004. Almost 6 years.

That really is amazing!

near-infinite experience of yours

Let me just count...

Laptop, with hard disk. That one's been going since 2004 too! Pretty good, now I come to think of it

Desktop: Not so good: four disks, two in the machine, two failures in the junk pile.

External: One, of which, so far, none has failed --- which is a good thing, because it is my backup device! I really ought to copy stuff to DVD more often

In my work experience, about 40 users, with a PC each, and very, very few failures, but very few people made a PC last for more than a couple of years without demanding an upgrade for some reason, so our turnover was quite brisk. We didn't care either (which is perhaps why they lasted so well ) as everyone was explicitly informed that we took no responsibility for any file stored locally on a PC instead of on the network server.

Our servers were backed up to tape, with one copy off-site. We would not have considered HDD, although a second copy of the data (eg a database unloaded to backup files in its own format, or even ascii) was a pretty useful thing to have.

RAID may protect against the failure of single units --- there is still the possibility of a failure of a controller causing rubbish to be written to the discs, or of user misuse deleting or damaging data.

[anku94]

Hmm. Two failures. That's bad. And unlucky.

We do need better backup options though. Something that isn't segmented like DVDs, is not re-writable, which could reduce costs, and is durable.

Say, what's your take on magnetic tapes ? They seem to be ideal for the purpose except that they sound ancient. :P

[Thad E Ginathom]

I am not up to date in magnetic tapes; it is an area that moves fast, and has to, as quantities of data get bigger and bigger. If I remember correctly, the latest technology I used employed tapes physically like the casettes used in digital video cameras. I'm afraid I don't remember the capacity.

The equipment was expensive, so were the tapes, and the speed was painfully slow. It was a constant [expensive] battle to remain able to back up the data in one night.

So, as I write, I am coming to the conclusion that my take on tape backup is that it may be a necessary evil in commercial application, but is entirely unsuitable for home use.

Heck... I had cast-off devices (just as I had cast-off computers) that I ended up just giving away. It was all scsi, anyway, nothing USB.