Small Storage solution ?

Hello,

I want to have a reliable storage device to save my Photos and small movies of family, freinds. For time being it is 12GB only. I am always scared to let them on my HDD and also the DVD is nto much reliable as it get scratched etc..

These personal memories are very important. So i was thinking what is the best way to do ? what is most reliable and cheap.

THere are several options please help me choose one.

- USB Key (there are now upto 32 GB) , they see to ve warranty for life, is this mean that they never risk the failure ?
- External 2.5 HD : There days they are becoming cheap, but are they reliable ? arent they like any HD that can failure any time ?
- SSD HD : Heared a little baout it that you can have 2 million time read / write. According to review very reliable : But they are Expensive as hell.

So any one can advise or give any other solution (other then internat back up flickr etc.. I want somehitng offline)

Thanks in advance for your help

 

i'd use a multi pronged approach

backup to DVDs and store away (at a second location if possible)

and then choose an EXTERNAL HDD or USB KEY DRIVE which ever YOU think you might get the most use from (i'd go w/ a HDD)

then also keep the files on your PC/LAPTOP...

then you have 3 copies... what are the chances of 2 different HDDs failing and loosing the DVDs (kept off-site) due to a fire or act of nature?

that's what i'd do if i were really concerned about MY FILES

 

DVDs are cheap so you can afford to make more than one copy. I believe they are good for some years if stored somewhere cool and dark. Also, if they start to age, it will probably be progressive so you may first see some reading problems but can get to the rest of the content. Reading an optical disc is a matter of reading a pattern of dots and desktop burners tend to do a better job of burning and reading than notebook burners. Sensibly you get them out every few years and copy over to new media.

I would be a little cautious about flash storage. If the controller dies then you can't get to the rest of the contents. Life time warranty means nothing. Is that your life or the life of the device? And getting a replacement if the device dies isn't the same as getting at the content.

Hard drives sit between these two. While many of the failures are progressive, there is the risk of something between you and the disks going wrong, rather then the disks getting corrupted. I don't know if there is a risk of something getting stuck if the drive isn't used for a long time.

In conclusion, I would prefer the optical disk approach. The basic format should be good for a few years and there is nothing between the future optical drive and the data on the disc. TY (Taiyo Yuden) is said to be one of the best.

John

 

A backup approach wins. Use 2 of the 3 choice John just gave you.

 

Thanks for youre replies I dont like DVD backup, i am moving all my stuff from DVD's to large external HDD.

For my personal small storage i think the best solution will be to keep all my photos / movies on my Laptop (as it is not that big) and keep an other copy of it on UB Drive as they are cheap and easy to travel with. Al though the 2.5 HDD are not that big, but i dont need that much space. So it will be waste of money for the spacei wont use

 

online storage.

 

I dont like DVD at all, specilay for a data that will be update, there will be more photos, i will not continue doing updates etc.. have ing several DVDs, it is too much mess. I prefer a solution like USB or HDD liek this all data can be updated added and easy to carry and arrange.

 

Yeah, as people are saying - use DVD's. You can always make multiple copies on other storage devices (flash drives, hard drives, etc), but having a set or two of DVD's with your stuff on them is a really good way to make sure your data won't fail.

 

ok thansk alot for your advises

any recommandation for USB key brand, or type ?