On 28/02/2020 00:15, Martin Gregorie wrote:
> I don't trust Optical disks either: I've had several CDs written on PCs
> become unreadable after 3-4 years, so I no longer use them for storage: a
> CD RW is, after all only a dye layer that can be selectively changed by a
> bright light so, unlike a commercial, pressed and aluminised CD is
> guaranteed to deteriorate over time.
>
+1

> I tried DDS2 tape a while back but, though apparently reliable, was slow
> and relatively expensive. Plus, at a mere 4GB per cassette, their
> capacity is far too small for current use.
>
We used to use DDS2 tapes back in the day. Until we tried to restore
from one that had been overwritten every week.


> Now I'm using WD Essentials 1TG and 2TB USB drives which, so far, are
> proving to be fast and reliable.
>

I dont use USB drives. I have a server that backs one spinning rust disk
onto another every night. That's proofs me against drive failure. As one
disk gets full I reconfigure it and ad a bigger one


If I was really paranoid, I'd arrange a backup at a friends house as well.

Rsync is parsimonious with bandwidth for backups and works OK over
slowish internet connections.




--
Canada is all right really, though not for the whole weekend.

"Saki"

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