There appears to be no easy solution to backing up our files. I have a million photos and family files that I'd like to archive. But what's the best way?
I have a 1 Terabyte external drive and I have CDs and DVDs. My brother and son-in-law (both experts in computers and peripherals) tell me that I must not archive my files on CDs. They deteriorate much more quickly than DVDs. They explained why, but I won't try to in this post.
I decided to check out this DesignTools website. Here's the most important thing I got from this article:
"Currently, the best archival brands we know of are from Verbatim, Mobile Fidelity, Maxell, TDK, Mitsui, and Taiyo Yuden.
Verbatim's DataLifePlus and Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc media are particularly worthy of trust: they both have a 100-year life expectancy, which has been confirmed by accelerated aging tests. Both have an extra-hard coating to make them resistant to scratches and UV light damage.
We trust Verbatim because its parent company is Mitsubishi, which invented the dye used in optical media. (But be careful of brands: Verbatim also has a lower-priced "DataLife" brand that isn't as bulletproof.)"
My brother says I should back up with an external drive, but says even that is not foolproof because machines can break down in Hawaii's salty air.
I just bought some Ativa DVD+Rs that were really cheap at Office Depot. (100 for $11.99) Sigh. I'm going to return them today after checking on line and finding out that they were not worth buying. Sigh.
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| Seagate Freeagent hard drive |
So how do you choose? Can anybody recommend an external hard drive or DVD that they think is excellent for archiving?
You are well organized, Kay. I myself have an external drive and CD's and photos as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the visit.Have a great day!
I enjoyed this post, it made me think. I have several portable hardrives filled up, and CD's but did not know they could deteriorate. That's good to know. By the way, after your recommendation I went on line and watched Tangled yesterday. What a very enjoyable movie, I found myself so enchanted by it. Thanks Kay.
ReplyDeleteI think we have a total of 5 external hard drives in different stages of being full or filled up.
ReplyDeleteIn 100 years the photos mean nothing to me and nothing to my ancestors who never met me.
Your photos are like visiting a cemetery 100 years from now. You see nothing you recognize and nobody you know will have a memory of anyone on the photos.
I back things up on external hard drives and suspect they will not be worth a nickel to any of my ancestors.
I know they would like gold or diamonds instead.
I agree with Abe. You worry too much.
ReplyDeleteI have my files backed up on an external hard drive using Apple's Time Machine, and the very most important ones backed up in the cloud, off site. I figure if the place burns down or we have a flood, I need some place where I can get them. Apple offers up to 20 gigs of storage for $100 a year, but I think there are other cheaper places.
ReplyDeleteThis is a real dilemma. I don't know the best answer, but the experts tell me that nothing lasts forever. I use those little joy sticks today to transport files, but no one seems to know how long they will last. I used a zip drive forever to store files. I still have it hooked to my PC, but seldom save files there anymore. The joy sticks are much smaller and hold an amazing amount of information, if only they last a while.
ReplyDeleteKeep us posted on what you finally decide to do. Thanks for the information today, Dianne
My son put on a Seagate Freeagent 500GB external harddrive on my computer. That's supposed to save my written documents and the few photos I have in the computer, so you probably need a bigger capacity. He didn't think it saved my e-mail addresses, but it did, so we've been happy with it. DrumMajor
ReplyDeleteI think Abe is grumpy today. If all you folks capable of getting your photos in a computer with descriptions, some grandkids and great grandkids would like them, IF they had descriptions. Better than the 8 boxes of paper photos I have disorganized in the basement, and the 13 boxes/trunks of family photos from my parents and grandparents that are in outside storage...with very few descriptions. DrumMajor
ReplyDeleteAnother option is to store the files on a reputable and well established online site that offers storage services. Alternately, all the backup drives in the world won't matter an aota if they're stored stacked upon each other or in the same room and then the roof caves in. You could blog about it, about all. Also, a backup drive is not immune to mechanical failure itself. Sounds silly but, two, four, duplicate backups drives is better insurance. When we're in the hospice someday, the files will be a backup to our brain.
ReplyDeleteKay, I am sorry but I am no help with advise on this. We are in a heat wave, almost 100 degrees. Hope you week is going well.
ReplyDeleteI have gold cds don;'t know the brand and I am in seattle now vacationing. i also back up online for mac computers...also having a paper copy is essential if media all fails. good luck!
ReplyDeleteIt's too complex for me. Ask my husband. :)
ReplyDeleteI think a hard drive sounds like a good simple way. However, haven't gotten around to backing much up except on some CDs. Didn't know they deteriorate so much.
ReplyDeleteThumb drives have no moving parts. Technically I guess that means the only wear and tear on them is right at the port where you insert them into the device, so they should outlast the owners. However, like any electronic item they are susceptible to strong magnetic fields and high energy particles so leaving them around, say, any black hole or neutron star will degrade them. But I've heard that rubbing them on your LEFT butt cheek sometimes restores them in that event.
ReplyDeleteHard drives spin platters at 4 to 7 THOUSAND rpm (spins per minute) inside their housings, and reading and writing heads 'fly' just a few thousandths of an inch above the surface of the platters. The bearings in which the platters spin have a limited lifespan and the read/write heads sometimes fly too close to the platters and 'crash' into them, mostly when they've had too much to drink, which is usually just when you turn the drive on or power down (hey, just like some drivers I know). All hard drives fail eventually. My personal experience seems to indicate that laptop drives are much, much more fragile than full sized external hard drives/tower case hard drives. My old dell laptop went through 3 hard drives, one each year of its life.
DVDs degrade at a known rate but fail unpredictably. Since UV light is used to WRITE information onto them, leaving them out in sunlight, which contains lots of UV, will also ERASE them. I have warned the kids umpteem million times of this fact, but no, we recently had to hunt down an older Harry Potter DVD which they neglected to put back into its plastic case... the DVD had been left on a shelf near a window and the factory ink on one side could now actually be dimly seen on the OTHER side, which is usually shiney and silvery; it had gone partially transparent from so many months on the windowsill. Of course the DVD player told us it thought the dics spoke german or something and was obviously not hawaiian. So you need to be careful to store backup dvds in containers that are dark and which stop UV light completely. Inside your refrigerator comes to mind.
aloha,
walt
I guess we have cds. We also have some family history on an external hard drive. For the last two years we have backed everything up with Carbonite.
ReplyDeleteWalt: Thanks a bunch for the very helpful information. I guess I'll get that 2 Terabyte Seagate drive from Amazon along with DVDs and that will have to do.
ReplyDeleteLinda: Carbonite hunh? Hmmm... that's interesting too...
ReplyDeleteI use Carbonite which is online and automatic and a Click-free device which is simple to use...
ReplyDeleteIn the old days, I had a definite preference in hard drives, as it was clear that there were demonstrable differences from manufacturer to manufacturer. Western Digital was a good drive back then, Seagate was so-so. A recent study by Google in their data centers seems to indicate that these differences are no longer true, but another over-riding qualification is evident; that certain MODELS within each lineup seem to be prone to failure. In the larger (1TB and bigger) drives the Seagates seem to fail more often. The Western Digital drives in small sizes likewise fail often but in larger sizes they are very reliable and stable. All drives perform remarkably better if you bury a red fish in the south west corner of your lot at midnight.
ReplyDeletewalt
walt
Cousin Walt: You were JUST in time. I was telling Art to go ahead and get the 2 T Seagate Freeagent after all. Now I'll tell him to switch to Western Digital. Like I said, Dennis and Ed both said, "It's a crapshoot."
ReplyDeleteI looked into the Cloud thing with Carbonite, buuut... I'm still leery of backing everything on my computer to some place in cyber storage. I guess I'm just paranoid. Besides, I want to save stuff that's NOT on my desk top files... meaning the photos.
OK... I'll go check out Western Digital at Amazon. I know it's on sale at Costco right now, but with Amazon, there's no tax or shipping.
Thanks again, Cuz!
I back mine up on flashdrives.
ReplyDelete