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Question about Hard Drive and data storage
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caj1120
Newbie
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10. August 2006 @ 08:12 |
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I am a little concerned lately, since I found out that the discs I have been usind to back up all my dvds can only be expected to last 2-5 years. Like many other people probably did, I assumed they were a permanent storage. I have been doing some research lately trying to find a better way to stare data. Supposedly, the 24k gold dvds last over 100yrs, but are pretty spendy, and who knows if their claims are true. I have thought about buying a large external hard drive, but from what I have read, their longevity isn't any better that the discs. My question is whether the hard drives longevity is related to it's use. If I were to purchase a hard drive, fill it with data, then just store it, could I expect it to be functional and have no data loss 5 or ten years down the road? I have read a lot that leads me to believe, hard drive can last a long time, but shouldn't be relied of for more than a couple years. I'm just wondering if their detioration is related to use or to other factors.
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Member
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10. August 2006 @ 13:15 |
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Hi,
Well...first off iv never had a DVD or CD simply fail due to age (and iv got some old discs). First time iv heard that one to be honest and i wouldnt overly worry about it. You could always back up the dvd's again in a year or two if you felt the need.
As for your question about hard drives - yes the useage would affect the time the disc lasted for...but your talking years before a standard drive will fail. With the rate drive technolgy advances theres a very small chance you would have the same drive in ten years time - if you think of a drive from 1996 holding under 20 gigs compared to the huge drives available now. You must expect the same advancements in the next few years.
Haim
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caj1120
Newbie
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10. August 2006 @ 14:01 |
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I also have some very old cd's that work fine and some that don't, most of my dvd's are all rather new, but friends that have been burning dvd's longer, say that they are only good for a couple years, and if you look around a bit, you'll find a lot to back this up. I'm not saying that all discs fail in 2-5 years, just that it is possible/probable, you can't rely on them any longer than that. The metal inside the discs naturally corrodes or deteriorates over time and cannot be read. Factors such as exposure to light and humidity have an affect on it, and It does make a big difference, I understand, the brand of disc you use, some are much better than others. There have been a lot of tests and studies done on the longeveity of discs though that show you can't trust them more than a couple years. That is why people are willing to spend money on the 24k gold discs, because they don't corrode. I realize that I will no doubt go through several drives in the next ten years, but I am talking about getting one just for storage. I don't want to transfer my entire library of data, to each new hard drive I buy, I would like to have one just for storage. And obviously, it would seem like common sense that the life of a hard drive would be directly linked to the amount of use, but in the case of discs, the amount of use has very little affect on the deterioration process, the main factor with discs is just time. That's why I was wondering if anyone with a knowledge of hard drive technology could answer that question....will a hard drive deteriorate, to the extent that it will fail, over time(less than 10 years) if it is not in use?
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caj1120
Newbie
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10. August 2006 @ 14:09 |
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Oh, and as far as having old cd's that still work fine, I'm sure everyone does, from my understanding the problem only applies to burned dvds, not purchased ones (and no doubt cds although haven't seen anything on that.)
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caj1120
Newbie
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10. August 2006 @ 14:13 |
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And the current average life span of today's hard drives is 3-5 years, which means to me, you shouldn't trust on not to lose data for more than 2 or 3 years.
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Senior Member
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10. August 2006 @ 21:50 |
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Yes, hard drives will fail even when not in use. Magnetic media degrades too. Probably a bigger worry is the heating and cooling of normal storage may evenually cause small wires, especially those connecting IC pins to their silicon wafers, to snap if exposed to enough heating and cooling cycles. Also, there is the concern about compatibility: In 10 years, will there be anythlng left that can recognize a modern SATA or IDE drive?
While it's not that uncommon for drives to last 7-10 years, I wouldn't bet on it.
Of course, if you're willing to buy a new drive every 4-5 years and do a bulk transfer, then this method isn't too bad. I'd still like to have a copy on optical media though.
-Do you believe you own your computer and shouldn't be told what you can run and do? Then say *NO* to Microsoft Vista!
-Since half the questions here involve media problems, here ya go: Only use Verbatim or Taiyo-Yuden discs (get your TYs from Rima.com, not Supermediastore or meritline). Forget the rest, no matter what "brand" they sell under. Always burn at 4x speed regardless of the speed rating of this discs or your drive. If you have burn problems with these then you have to update your drive's firmware. For double-layer discs, only use Verbatim DVD+R DL and burn them at 2.4x speed.
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caj1120
Newbie
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11. August 2006 @ 07:33 |
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Reply. Yeah, that is my plan. I would keep all my discs of course, but also have all the data on a large hard drive, so instead of reburning all the discs every couple years, I could just reburn them from the drive as they fail. It just seems like they could come out with a media source that lasts longer, I wonder if they purposely don't. I may be wrong, but from my understanding, the cds and dvds that you buy from the music/movie store last forever as long as they aren't scratched, so why can't they use the same technology to make a blank media?
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_MIKE_
Newbie
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24. August 2006 @ 09:26 |
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Hi, I am also interested in this topic. Thank You for posting this
question (caj1120).
I have nearly 500 GB of information stored on DVD and would also
welcome advice from other members here on these topics:
QUESTIONS:
1. What methods do you use to store / back-up date ?
2. What would you recommend between DVD or External Hard Drive
(price is not an option for me - I'm willing to pay for good storage)
3. If I do connect an external hard drive to my computer, how fast
can I access the material on it ? Will it be the same as accessing
my current hard drive ?
4. I would appreciate any links showing the advantages of storing
data on External hard drives - or links showing their WEIGHTS &
dimensions etc.
I'm aware that someone has replied to the original poster with
some information regarding this post but I'd like to see more input
if anyone is willing to share their knowledge : )
I am concerned about my back up DVD's degrading over the next
2-5 years also and would happily switch to a back up hard drive if
it is better.
Also, it's a bit of a challenge keeping a working & updated list
of the contents on every DVD * And the time it can take to access
4 GB or more of data from multiple discs.
I'd really appreciate any helpful input from the members here.
THANKS!
_ mike _
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Senior Member
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24. August 2006 @ 21:39 |
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Quote:
QUESTIONS:
Quote:
1. What methods do you use to store / back-up date ?
DVD and tape (for my customers). But most tape methods are too expensive for consumers.
Quote:
2. What would you recommend between DVD or External Hard Drive
(price is not an option for me - I'm willing to pay for good storage)
Personally, I would prefer internal SATA-II for performance reasons. But fireware and USB will be around for awhile as well and having a hard drive in an external enclosure has some advantages insofar as storage. I am concerned about the attachment method simply because these things change.
Quote:
3. If I do connect an external hard drive to my computer, how fast
can I access the material on it ? Will it be the same as accessing
my current hard drive ?
No, the connection is a bit slower with external devices, though not a lot.
Quote:
4. I would appreciate any links showing the advantages of storing
data on External hard drives - or links showing their WEIGHTS &
dimensions etc.
Go to seagate.com or westerndigital.com. Alternatively, lots of places sell external drive enclosures (be it for firewire, USB, or external SATA). You just install the drive.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/search.asp?ke...
I'm aware that someone has replied to the original poster with
some information regarding this post but I'd like to see more input
if anyone is willing to share their knowledge : )
I am concerned about my back up DVD's degrading over the next
2-5 years also and would happily switch to a back up hard drive if
it is better.
Also, it's a bit of a challenge keeping a working & updated list
of the contents on every DVD * And the time it can take to access
4 GB or more of data from multiple discs.
I'd really appreciate any helpful input from the members here.
THANKS!
_ mike _
-Do you believe you own your computer and shouldn't be told what you can run and do? Then say *NO* to Microsoft Vista!
-Since half the questions here involve media problems, here ya go: Only use Verbatim or Taiyo-Yuden discs (get your TYs from Rima.com, not Supermediastore or meritline). Forget the rest, no matter what "brand" they sell under. Always burn at 4x speed regardless of the speed rating of this discs or your drive. If you have burn problems with these then you have to update your drive's firmware. For double-layer discs, only use Verbatim DVD+R DL and burn them at 2.4x speed.
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_MIKE_
Newbie
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27. August 2006 @ 01:19 |
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THANK YOU very much DUNKER for the helpful information : )
I appreciate the information and the links.
Thanks again !
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