Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New media
New media comments
New profile posts
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
Learning
Computers and Software
Preferred burning software.
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Eduard" data-source="post: 33265" data-attributes="member: 986"><p>First a small disclaimer: I'm certified and work in the Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity field. Data retention is something I discuss with big and small companies every day. That being said, personal data retention has a different imperative - mostly around cost. </p><p></p><p>If you want to look at a detailed discussion on using CD/DVD for storage, the <a href="http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/initiatives/temp-opmedia-faq.html" target="_blank">National Archives</a> has one of the best articles I've seen. Here is the important part: "<em>CD/DVD experiential life expectancy is 2 to 5 years even though published life expectancies are often cited as 10 years, 25 years, or longer. However, a variety of factors discussed in the sources cited in FAQ 15, below, may result in a much shorter life span for CDs/DVDs. Life expectancies are statistically based; any specific medium may experience a critical failure before its life expectancy is reached. Additionally, the quality of your storage environment may increase or decrease the life expectancy of the media. We recommend testing your media at least every two years to assure your records are still readable.</em>" All that being said, I never see CD/DVD's used as long term storage.</p><p></p><p>With hard drives being so inexpensive, here is my approach:</p><p> </p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I have an old HP desktop that supports RAID on the motherboard. I have two 2TB drives (approximately $60 each) in a RAID 1 (mirrored) configuration. This is where everything gets backed-up.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I have two portable hard drives that I rotate offsite (actually my wife takes one to her office). I update both every month with changes.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Important daily use files (e.g. Quicken) are stored on an encrypted (see <a href="http://www.truecrypt.org" target="_blank">TrueCrypt</a>) volume on <a href="http://db.tt/QXlrLUz" target="_blank">DropBox</a> that my wife and I share.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">When we travel, I take a different portable hard drive and copy new images to it while downloading off the memory cards. This way I always have a backup of the previous day's activities.</li> </ul><p>The key is to remember that <u>all</u> media will fail eventually. Redundant copies are the key to long term data retention.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Eduard, post: 33265, member: 986"] First a small disclaimer: I'm certified and work in the Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity field. Data retention is something I discuss with big and small companies every day. That being said, personal data retention has a different imperative - mostly around cost. If you want to look at a detailed discussion on using CD/DVD for storage, the [URL="http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/initiatives/temp-opmedia-faq.html"]National Archives[/URL] has one of the best articles I've seen. Here is the important part: "[I]CD/DVD experiential life expectancy is 2 to 5 years even though published life expectancies are often cited as 10 years, 25 years, or longer. However, a variety of factors discussed in the sources cited in FAQ 15, below, may result in a much shorter life span for CDs/DVDs. Life expectancies are statistically based; any specific medium may experience a critical failure before its life expectancy is reached. Additionally, the quality of your storage environment may increase or decrease the life expectancy of the media. We recommend testing your media at least every two years to assure your records are still readable.[/I]" All that being said, I never see CD/DVD's used as long term storage. With hard drives being so inexpensive, here is my approach: [LIST] [*]I have an old HP desktop that supports RAID on the motherboard. I have two 2TB drives (approximately $60 each) in a RAID 1 (mirrored) configuration. This is where everything gets backed-up. [*]I have two portable hard drives that I rotate offsite (actually my wife takes one to her office). I update both every month with changes. [*]Important daily use files (e.g. Quicken) are stored on an encrypted (see [URL="http://www.truecrypt.org"]TrueCrypt[/URL]) volume on [URL="http://db.tt/QXlrLUz"]DropBox[/URL] that my wife and I share. [*]When we travel, I take a different portable hard drive and copy new images to it while downloading off the memory cards. This way I always have a backup of the previous day's activities. [/LIST] The key is to remember that [U]all[/U] media will fail eventually. Redundant copies are the key to long term data retention. [/QUOTE]
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Learning
Computers and Software
Preferred burning software.
Top
