How do you keep 1.5TB of important information safe for generations ?

[Jetster]

I like the ballads idea, include some dance

 

[Fif23]

How would I start painting 1.5 TB, I'd have to learn some code

So what I think I'll do is this.
Upgrade the internals to 2x3TB WD Red server grade drives and have them mirror each other regularly.
Have one 3TB Drive at a different location in case the PSU burns all HD's like what happened to my brother.
Have a 100GB Blue ray recorded for the Extra-important stuff leaving stuff like movies, music etc out of the backup, and keep that protected.

Sounds good ?

 

[cdawall]

Cloud services.

 

[sno.lcn]

Cloud services.

This. You can get super cheap cloud storage for cold backups, compared to "hot" data that you need 24/7 access to.

If you want to DIY though, don't rely on a RAID mirror, since the RAID card adds another point of failure. RAID is great, but it's NOT a backup. For research purposes, at home I'm running two servers with identical RAID 10 ZFS pools, with GlusterFS handling replication and high availability (not really HA with only two servers), plus nightly external backups. But if a natural disaster takes my house out, all of that is worthless if there's not an offsite backup.

If you're worried about what happened to your brother happening to you, at the very least you could keep a networked backup in a different room of your house, on a different electrical circuit, and with surge protection so nothing's plugged directly into a wall outlet. Even better, get a small UPS.

 

[xkm1948]

I code them in ATCG genetic codes and then transform them into E.coli cells. As long as these cells live on my information will not perish.

 

[Athlonite]

You cannot operate HHD's in vacuum and shouldn't store them there either.

That used to be the case with drives that were open and required air to operate now a days HDD's come sealed with helium inside and can be used and stored in a complete vacuum without problem

 

[silkstone]

Amazon have a cheap long term storage solution.

You can add to it regularly, but retrieval is by request.

https://aws.amazon.com/glacier/&tag=tec06d-20

 

[Steevo]

That used to be the case with drives that were open and required air to operate now a days HDD's come sealed with helium inside and can be used and stored in a complete vacuum without problem

Not all, and actually very few. Only those listed as sealed, and even then, we are talking about data longevity, and exposing even a sealed drive to complete vacuum might break a seal which is the opposite of what OP is after. What you are suggesting is putting a gun filled with blanks to your head and claiming since there is no bullet, you will be fine.

Lastly, Helium filled drives are expensive, made for different operating conditions, and will wear just like all other drives, OP would be better off buying a pair of 2TB drives and swapping them out as I mentioned, then when/if more room is needed in a few years the drives can be replaced with cheaper larger drives, so that wear is never an issue.

 

[cornemuse]

Palimpsest??

 

[W1zzard]

Make multiple copies, on (relatively cheap) HDDs, different models, which you store at different physical locations.

Every 5 or 10 years copy them to the latest storage technology, and make sure the software to read the file still exists and will work on current generation systems, otherwise convert file formats.

 

[Sasqui]

Make multiple copies, on (relatively cheap) HDDs, different models, which you store at different physical locations.

Every 5 or 10 years copy them to the latest storage technology, and make sure the software to read the file still exists and will work on current generation systems, otherwise convert file formats.

Agreed. Cloud storage requires a subscription and is pretty much inaccessible with an EMP weapon, cyber attack or natural disaster. Not to say your HDD's aren't either.

Here's my backup system:

• 1st backup: NAS with 2 drives RAID 1
• 2nd Backup: WD Black HDD in primary system
• 3rd Backup: USB 3.0 Drive that I keep in a fireproof safe... I should store it off-site.

Redundancy is key.

 

[W1zzard]

RAID 1

Not criticizing you, just generally on RAID 1:

It won't protect you against accidentally deleting all files, or someone evil doing it, or some sort of script coding failure, or running "format" on the wrong drive.

 

[cdawall]

Not criticizing you, just generally on RAID 1:

It won't protect you against accidentally deleting all files, or someone evil doing it, or some sort of script coding failure, or running "format" on the wrong drive.

Or one PSU taking out both drives, or both drives failing at the same time, or the enclosure failing blanking/killing both drives.

 

[Sasqui]

Not criticizing you, just generally on RAID 1:

It won't protect you against accidentally deleting all files, or someone evil doing it, or some sort of script coding failure, or running "format" on the wrong drive.

Oh I agree... or a crypto virus with an open map to the NAS drive. Hence backups #2 and #3!

 

[Boatvan]

or a crypto virus with an open map to the NAS drive

Cautionary tale: At my work we lost an entire building share due to a Cryptowall variant. These building shares were basically dumping grounds for files to be accessed. We luckily restored from backup. Silver lining: we used that as an argument to nix these building shares. Currently read only. My point is it is possible (and probable if you have not too savvy users accessing this the NAS...) to contract a crypto malware and lose everything. Only map it when you need it.

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3033...age-is-etched-with-the-bible-magna-carta.html

 

[Sasqui]

Cautionary tale: At my work we lost an entire building share due to a Cryptowall variant. These building shares were basically dumping grounds for files to be accessed. We luckily restored from backup. Silver lining: we used that as an argument to nix these building shares. Currently read only. My point is it is possible (and probable if you have not too savvy users accessing this the NAS...) to contract a crypto malware and lose everything. Only map it when you need it.

And I specifically don't map to the NAS drive, it requires authentication to access it. Now that I think about it, mapping with read only rights might be helpful, as I don't add data to it very often.