Longterm storage of backup HDD : Waterproof container?

[Sebastian Cohen]

So, I am doing an archival backup of EVERYTHING. This will be the "Doomsday Vault Backup" and it won't get backed up further or connected. It is going on a 3.5" HDD, no case. FYI, I will still be doing my regular backup routine with my other drives as normal.

Lately I have been thinking about how I store my backup drives, in general. I know they are airtight so air moisture variations shouldn't really be an issue. Problem is, they usually end up all over the place. Drawers, bottom of, cardboard boxes, usually bottom of.

So I've been thinking of sticking them into one of those plastic IKEA airtight refrigerator boxes. The type has this rubber seal which would also make them waterproof. It is an added protection AND it will be easier to find. I can also put in a note with what/where etc so I don't have to connect it if I don't remember. Sounds like I have a ton of discs, but you would be surprised how confused you can get with just a couple when you find one 4 years later.

SO, long question short. I will be creating a permanent "environment" in that box and I am wondering if or how that can be negative for the drive when the outside fluxtuates?

I am planning on throwing in one or two of those silica gel pouches as well, should negate any negative variations?

This will prob just lie there for 3-4 years.

I am aware of that the lubrication might dry out in the bearings, but this has not been an issue so far.

 

[romphotog]

"Millenniata, Inc. officially went bankrupt in December 2016."

Me thinks not using them!

Neither any optical disc media as I am sure in 25+ years drive wont exist to read them. Look what Happened to JAZZ, ZIP, QDrive, LS-120, CD-Rs, DVDs, BDs, etc.

 

[kelpdiver]

"Millenniata, Inc. officially went bankrupt in December 2016."

Me thinks not using them!

Neither any optical disc media as I am sure in 25+ years drive wont exist to read them. Look what Happened to JAZZ, ZIP, QDrive, LS-120, CD-Rs, DVDs, BDs, etc.

what happened to make CDs/DVDs/BDs not readable?

I, like many, have ~1000 movies on disc form and I will be able to read them in 25 years, without a doubt.

Don't confuse that group with the low end consumer storage formats like zip or LS-120.

 

[CAcreeks]

"Millenniata, Inc. officially went bankrupt in December 2016."

Patents were taken over by Yours.co so M-Disc burners and blanks are widely available.

Neither any optical disc media as I am sure in 25+ years drive wont exist to read them. Look what Happened to JAZZ, ZIP, QDrive, LS-120, CD-Rs, DVDs, BDs, etc.

what happened to make CDs/DVDs/BDs not readable? I, like many, have ~1000 movies on disc form and I will be able to read them in 25 years, without a doubt.

Still backward compatible. Recently I read some CD-R discs on our M-Disc compatible BluRay burner and they are still good after 25 years.

Don't confuse that group with the low end consumer storage formats like zip or LS-120.

Ain't that the truth!

We had an Iomega Jaz (one Z) drive that was never able to save and restore without data loss. I suspect the cable was defective.

By the way, M-Disk is waterproof. I'm not sure why this discussion started with that issue.

 

[Chris Noble]

"Millenniata, Inc. officially went bankrupt in December 2016."

Me thinks not using them!

Neither any optical disc media as I am sure in 25+ years drive wont exist to read them. Look what Happened to JAZZ, ZIP, QDrive, LS-120, CD-Rs, DVDs, BDs, etc.

what happened to make CDs/DVDs/BDs not readable?

I, like many, have ~1000 movies on disc form and I will be able to read them in 25 years, without a doubt.

Don't confuse that group with the low end consumer storage formats like zip or LS-120.

Video media can have many errors before the errors become objectionably visible. None of that media can stand up to digital data storage requirements. It was never designed for data storage, and is only used for such purposes by consumers; never in the corporate world.

 

[Philip Eihuyar]

"Millenniata, Inc. officially went bankrupt in December 2016."

Me thinks not using them!

Neither any optical disc media as I am sure in 25+ years drive wont exist to read them. Look what Happened to JAZZ, ZIP, QDrive, LS-120, CD-Rs, DVDs, BDs, etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-DISC

I would argue that if a SSD drive or HD drive is stored in a bank vault with data that is unique and important, after 60 years, the data will not be able to be retrieved because of the magnetic zeroing out of the recording media of the drive. An optical disk utilizing 'M' disk technology, will be able to be retrieved for 60 years and well beyond that. For that reason alone, the technology (DVD/Blu-Ray players) that can retrieve that data will be available as well. There may (probably will be) improvements on archival storage but SSDs and HDs are not on that list. Truely archival media is.

BUT, for non-archival use, yes, SSDs/HDs and their future versions will be most often used. Definition of 'archival' is longer that 20 years in non powered on storage .

 

[Chris Noble]

Neither any optical disc media as I am sure in 25+ years drive wont exist to read them. Look what Happened to JAZZ, ZIP, QDrive, LS-120, CD-Rs, DVDs, BDs, etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-DISC

I would argue that if a SSD drive or HD drive is stored in a bank vault with data that is unique and important, after 60 years, the data will not be able to be retrieved because of the magnetic zeroing out of the recording media of the drive. An optical disk utilizing 'M' disk technology, will be able to be retrieved for 60 years and well beyond that.

No digital media is archival; neither optical nor magnetic.

BUT, for non-archival use, yes, SSDs/HDs and their future versions will be most often used. Definition of 'archival' is longer that 20 years in non powered on storage .

HDDs are the best option right now. Very easy and fast to copy, so can be refreshed every few years. That's also protection against media-type obsolescence. Optical is slow and a pain in the ass to copy (who wants to shuffled all those disks?).

 

[kelpdiver]

"Millenniata, Inc. officially went bankrupt in December 2016."

Me thinks not using them!

Neither any optical disc media as I am sure in 25+ years drive wont exist to read them. Look what Happened to JAZZ, ZIP, QDrive, LS-120, CD-Rs, DVDs, BDs, etc.

what happened to make CDs/DVDs/BDs not readable?

I, like many, have ~1000 movies on disc form and I will be able to read them in 25 years, without a doubt.

Don't confuse that group with the low end consumer storage formats like zip or LS-120.

Video media can have many errors before the errors become objectionably visible. None of that media can stand up to digital data storage requirements. It was never designed for data storage, and is only used for such purposes by consumers; never in the corporate world.

and yet up until just a few years back, we routinely delivered software on this media, and somehow programs with millions of lines of code successfully deployed. That video media has error handling in the codecs is completely irrelevant. And the OP's comment was about not having a reader at all, which is obviously false.

A DVD player is just a chassis frame with a tiny processor running a mini Linux + a dvd drive, the same ones we used to stick in all of our computers, and can still buy for $20. I have LG superdrives that will read Blus, HD-DVDs (rip), dvds of all types, CDs. It cost slightly more. And now you can get UHDs that add that format on top.

 

[Chris Noble]

"Millenniata, Inc. officially went bankrupt in December 2016."

Me thinks not using them!

Neither any optical disc media as I am sure in 25+ years drive wont exist to read them. Look what Happened to JAZZ, ZIP, QDrive, LS-120, CD-Rs, DVDs, BDs, etc.

what happened to make CDs/DVDs/BDs not readable?

I, like many, have ~1000 movies on disc form and I will be able to read them in 25 years, without a doubt.

Don't confuse that group with the low end consumer storage formats like zip or LS-120.

Video media can have many errors before the errors become objectionably visible. None of that media can stand up to digital data storage requirements. It was never designed for data storage, and is only used for such purposes by consumers; never in the corporate world.

and yet up until just a few years back, we routinely delivered software on this media,

No. Software was delivered on CD, not CD-R, or even worse, DVD-R. Three very different media. And for SW distribution, not archiving.

 

[Philip Eihuyar]

Neither any optical disc media as I am sure in 25+ years drive wont exist to read them. Look what Happened to JAZZ, ZIP, QDrive, LS-120, CD-Rs, DVDs, BDs, etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-DISC

I would argue that if a SSD drive or HD drive is stored in a bank vault with data that is unique and important, after 60 years, the data will not be able to be retrieved because of the magnetic zeroing out of the recording media of the drive. An optical disk utilizing 'M' disk technology, will be able to be retrieved for 60 years and well beyond that.

No digital media is archival; neither optical nor magnetic.

I am fairly sure your strong opinion on this is based on your not actually looking at the details of the differences in the two optical disk technologies nor the testing done. One type of optical media is dye based and is not archival but the other type of optical media is. The estimate from real testing is close to 1000 years. One 4.5 GB optical disk can contain all the text of all the books in any modern library of the world. If the data stored on an 'M' disk , it will preserve it for several centuries.

In contrast, recent testing of the most reliable Hard Drives show an average failure rate at 6 years for 50% of the most reliable brand (Seagate 6 TB Drive) of HDs.

https://platinumdatarecovery.com/blog/most-reliable-brand

Backblaze found that the specific model of the Seagate 6 TB as the most reliable. https://www.extremetech.com/computing/170748-how-long-do-hard-drives-actually-live-for

BUT, for non-archival use, yes, SSDs/HDs and their future versions will be most often used. Definition of 'archival' is longer that 20 years in non powered on storage .

HDDs are the best option right now. Very easy and fast to copy, so can be refreshed every few years. That's also protection against media-type obsolescence. Optical is slow and a pain in the ass to copy (who wants to shuffled all those disks?).

You are right that HDs and SSDs are convenient and fast. Optical disks are a way slower way to store data -but they are actually archival.

 

[Chris Noble]

You are right that HDs and SSDs are convenient and fast. Optical disks are a way slower way to store data -but they are actually archival.

Good luck! But don't blame me when you find out your stack of obsolete, "archival" optical disks are slow and unreadable.

Meanwhile, I'll continue refreshing my one big HDD periodically and quickly.