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How reliable are USB drives in the long run?

JMapleton

JMapleton

Diamond Member
I have about two gigs of files on a secondary drive but I've had that thing for nearly years now and reading so many newegg reviews about drives failing, I'm afraid the same will happen to that hard drive.

I want to buy one to maybe even two small usb drives and duplicate these files onto them as a backup. How reliable are usb drives in the long run? They're not like floppies where they don't work a week later. Are they?

TIA
 
Originally posted by: JMapleton
They're not like floppies where they don't work a week later. Are they?
Click to expand...

I've never had a floppy fail after a week. In fact, about two years ago I went thru dozens of floppies I had stored away about 8 or 10 years earlier, to potentially back up any docs I'd forgotten about, and then discard the discs. Each one worked fine.

But I digress. NAND flash degrades over time. However, if you don't rewrite to the memory more than a couple-hundred times, the data might still be around for your grandchildren. If it's really important info, put copies on TY, your Gmail inbox, Skydrive, etc.

 
In the long run, I'd trust optical storage over any USB device.
As long as care is taken when storing them, high quality DVD+R disks will probably outlast the need for the data stored on them.

Besides that, USB devices are subject to EMP attack. :shocked:
 
Echo what Blain said. For "permanent" archiving of2 to 4 GB, use a DVDR. I have tens of thousands of photographs taken over the past 12 years - all are on DVDFs. But, for convenience, they are all on an external USB HDD. If that fails I can always rebuild it from the opticals.
 
USB drives are only considered reliable for roughly 10 years before bits change and that doesn't include damage that could come from temp variations or cosmic rays (store it in lead).
DVDR are good for much longer. Store them upright to prevent warping and make several copies of the same DVDR so that any bits that do fail on one can be recovered from the other. Store in a cool dry place.

Best of all is paper. Yeah its old school, but acid free paper last a very very long time 🙂


 
Everything fails eventually. The safest way to backup is through a chain of devices / media where you always have at least 2-3 copies and are adding new ones to the chain every year or two.

Extermal HD + DVD discs + USB flash drive = much safer than a single point of failure.

Also at least one your backups should be at a different location from the others, preferably in another state. Fire, flood, gas leak, theft, earthquakes, tornadoes can all take out your home and/or your local bank's safety deposit box.
 
Whatever you use just be sure to store it away from your home or office, or wherever your original source is. In case of a disaster like a flood or fire you won't want your backups in the same place as the original. A good off site storage would be a good move.
 
I had a 128mb flash drive fail on me just a little while ago. Fortunately, all it had was UBCD on it... I was wondering why it wouldn't boot to UBCD when I checked it in Windows and couldn't access it at all. No idea when I got it, but it was a free 128mb drive, so it can't have been that old.
 
Originally posted by: Blain
In the long run, I'd trust optical storage over any USB device.
As long as care is taken when storing them, high quality DVD+R disks will probably outlast the need for the data stored on them.

Besides that, USB devices are subject to EMP attack. :shocked:
Click to expand...

I thought home burned optical media degraded over time to the point of being unusable? I swear I remember CD-Rs that I burned way back in the day turning into coasters after a few years.
 
Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl
Originally posted by: Blain
In the long run, I'd trust optical storage over any USB device.
As long as care is taken when storing them, high quality DVD+R disks will probably outlast the need for the data stored on them.

Besides that, USB devices are subject to EMP attack. :shocked:
Click to expand...

I thought home burned optical media degraded over time to the point of being unusable? I swear I remember CD-Rs that I burned way back in the day turning into coasters after a few years.
Click to expand...
I guess you skipped over my qualifier...
"care is taken when storing"... "high quality DVD+R"
I was mistaken, I should have posted... "High Quality DVD-R"... 300 years should be enough for anyone. 😛

 
Originally posted by: Blain
Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl
Originally posted by: Blain
In the long run, I'd trust optical storage over any USB device.
As long as care is taken when storing them, high quality DVD+R disks will probably outlast the need for the data stored on them.

Besides that, USB devices are subject to EMP attack. :shocked:
Click to expand...

I thought home burned optical media degraded over time to the point of being unusable? I swear I remember CD-Rs that I burned way back in the day turning into coasters after a few years.
Click to expand...
I guess you skipped over my qualifier...
"care is taken when storing"... "high quality DVD+R"
I was mistaken, I should have posted... "High Quality DVD-R"... 300 years should be enough for anyone. 😛
Click to expand...

How do you take care in storing a DVD-R? Felt lined case, bubble wrap it, vacuum seal it? What's the secret? 😉
 
Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl
How do you take care in storing a DVD-R? Felt lined case, bubble wrap it, vacuum seal it? What's the secret? 😉
Click to expand...
"<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.mediasupply.com/mama.html">MAM-A?s testing has shown these discs can be stored for over 300 years without breakdown of dye material or reflective layer, ensuring your discs are here to stay.
Of course, anytime you archive disc you should keep them dry and out of the way of atmospheric light.</a>"

 
Another major caution is avoid heat. Don't leave them in cars. A relatively cool, dry place is good. Also, avoid gummed paper labels.
 
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