Best long term storage medium ( passive)

Hi all,

I want to store some stuff on ____ that will last a few years

I dont know if cd's or dvd's are the way to go but physical format is not to big of an issue i just want to be able to come back in a few years (10) and read it if i have to


any ideas?

I just read this week that cds and dvds will only last on average 2 years due to being made with cheap material.

There are supposedly some cd/dvd's made high quality that last... 20? 50? years or something. I can't really say, my work uses them for photos because people are all about keeping photos for 1 million years and they need cd's to last as long as the original negatives.

I'm not sure if you will find any as i have never come across any. I'm sure however someone here has purchased some, from somewhere. Besides the states has a ton more stuff then us canadians so its probably very likely.

I heard something you might want to keep in mind when storing your files... In 10 years, you might have you data, but no way to read it. First off, there might be no way to read your media. After that, you have to hope the modern software can read the file format.

I cant confirm any of this, nor may it be true, but something that you can prevent a 'doh' 10 years down the road.

I heard CD's lose info in 3-4 years whereas floppy's last 6-8 years.

My best guess is USB flash drives bUt I have not heard any stats on them.

The CD's that only last a couple of years are usually the blue colored ones. the good ones have a different recording layer that lasts a long time. Over 10 years usually. I forget what the layer is called.

I've have CD-Rs from 3~4 years ago and they read fine.. just store em in a cool, dry, dark place; like a closet. My CD-Rs were TDKs and Fujis (made in Japan so they're TYs)

Try tape backups, thats what big corporations use so Im guessing they are reliable...

MO, DVD-RAM or tape.
CD-R or DVD-R are no backup medium. Most newer DVD burners for 50$ can read and write DVD-RAM

my experience has been that burned cd's of any type only last 2 years, 3 if cared for very well. i have two burned os's that have now crapped out and are missing critical files needed, both after about 2-3 years.

whoever said store on floppies is smoking the good stuff and needs to share.

i don't know ANYONE who doesn't agree with me that both heat and dust ruin
those suckers in about 2 weeks. that + any kind of ld/damaged/ heavily used
a: drive itself tend to corrupt floppys. IMHO it's not a viable option.

now, DVD's? i personally have NO IDEA because to me theyre too new.
i really don't know how long they last , but if someone wants to give example's im all for it.
matter of fact, i'd like to know which dual layer double sided dvd's to buy for longevity myself

just buy an 80GB hard drive save your files and store it in a cool dry place and you'll be good or you can save on good quality DVDs and update (burn) them to new DVDs every 2 years.

dlavrenz said:

I heard CD's lose info in 3-4 years whereas floppy's last 6-8 years.

My best guess is USB flash drives bUt I have not heard any stats on them.

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pass me some of what your smoking. floppies are the most unreliable storage media these days. You can make a floppy in one machine, take it to another and it can't read data. The physical object may last 6-8 years, but not what is on it.

I have CDs (both music and data) that are pushing 5-6 years and they all work just fine. Kept in CD binders in a cool dry room and not one issue. All burned on generic stuff.

As for the true and sure long term storage it is indeed tapes. However, the comment made above 'in 10 years will hardware/software exist to read it" plays in here. With hard drives the format really has not changed save the IDE->SATA conversion but tapes have changed drastically. If you want to see what I mean take a look in Veritas (or commercial backup program) and view the "media type" menus listing the media types it knows. It is frightening and while most people don't keep up on tape drives/libraries as much as they do computers, they are changing a good deal as well. The other problem of course is cost. Tapes cost many times more than other alternatives so thats one thing to consider.

As for CD shelf life, I too have heard the same thing. Even going so far as to say that a hard copy (paper) version of the data stored on a CD will often last longer even when kept under optimal conditions. But if you go for quality CD/DVD this lessens the problem. As the old proverb goes, 'you get what you pay for'

Also some things to keep in mind that WILL hurt the 'shelf-life' of your archives. 2 big ones are labels and the ink/pen used. every stick-on label ive used for CD/DVD do not last long at all, and tend to come off at the most unfortunate time (ie when in your cd drive) Also it was shown not long ago that certain permanent markers contain acids that can corrode the discs over a period of time. This is easily solved by getting special pens for CDs and are low cost so its little problem.

Wow...that was a bit long-winded ^^;

Holographic disks should offer a long lasting storage medium. Do you mind waiting a few years for the tech to develop?

^^^pik4chu^^^

Yea I thought the people were morons who said the floppies last longer but I have heard it from two different sources. They may not be telling the 100% truth ut that is what they said so make up your mind yourself as to what you believe.

Personally I think CD's would last longer but I have not done any testing so I don't know and am no means an expert.

dlavrenz said:

^^^pik4chu^^^

Yea I thought the people were morons who said the floppies last longer but I have heard it from two different sources. They may not be telling the 100% truth ut that is what they said so make up your mind yourself as to what you believe.

Personally I think CD's would last longer but I have not done any testing so I don't know and am no means an expert.

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I dont doubt that a floppy itself lasts 8 years, its the contents that I greatly doubt. heck ive had floppies last less than 5 minutes (as in carrying from one computer to another), can't expect them to last 8 years

as for testing... not like we got 10 years to spend seeing which media lasts longer

pik4chu said:

as for testing... not like we got 10 years to spend seeing which media lasts longer

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Someone has to start sooner or later...

thegreek has the right idea, given the dropping cost of hard drives.

I just keep all backups on an extra hdd. When I run out of space, I buy another, transfer the data, wipe the old drive and use it for whatever may be needed.

hafa said:

thegreek has the right idea, given the dropping cost of hard drives.

I just keep all backups on an extra hdd. When I run out of space, I buy another, transfer the data, wipe the old drive and use it for whatever may be needed.

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make sure to get a SATA drive, as IDE is slowly fading into the background

The original question asks for passive storage mediums. Maybe you count putting info on hard drive then unplugging it and leaving it sit as passive but, generally people say it is active.

I have 8 floppies from windows 95 era that all still read and write perfect so maybe there is a problem with your floppy drive or something. O well, it is not like everyone gets the same results OCing as everyone else.

Tapes still look like one of the best options, but they cost a lot too.

dlavrenz said:

The original question asks for passive storage mediums. Maybe you count putting info on hard drive then unplugging it and leaving it sit as passive but, generally people say it is active.

I have 8 floppies from windows 95 era that all still read and write perfect so maybe there is a problem with your floppy drive or something. O well, it is not like everyone gets the same results OCing as everyone else.

Tapes still look like one of the best options, but they cost a lot too.

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I sure hope you dont think my "experiences" with floppy disks/drives were from one single instance on one single drive...

while an unplugged HDD isn't passive its still the best cost/lifespan offered so far Id say, unless you are ok with reburning whatever data you had every few years on CD/DVDs

ITs a pitty tapes were not more affordable, well the tapes are pretty cheap, even the good ones its the drives that make your wallet hide from you.

O, I was just confused because you said

heck ive had floppies last less than 5 minutes

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I this happened to you more then once.

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