I have backups on a backup hard drive and also synced to B2, but I am thinking about backing up to some format to put in the cupboard.

The issue I see is that if I don’t have a catastrophic failure and instead just accidentally delete some files one day while organising and don’t realise, at some point the oldest backup state is removed and the files are gone.

The other thing is if I get hit by a bus and no one can work out how to decrypt a backup or whatever.

So I’m thinking of a plain old unencrypted copy of photos etc that anyone could find and use. Bonus points if I can just do a new CD or whatever each year with additions.

I have about 700GB of photos and videos which is the main content I’m concerned about. Do people use DVDs for this or is there something bigger? I am adding 60GB or more each year, would be nice to do one annual addition or something like that.

  • LandedGentryEnglish
    1·
    14 hours ago

    If you follow proper 3-2-1 you are living the four nine’s dude. A “regular” spinning HDD can last a decade or more without fuss (define “regular” please…?)

    You will not lose all 3 backups at once. When one goes down, you replace it. There’s a reason this is industry standard for media production and beyond. “Irresponsible”? Please.

    • philpo@feddit.orgEnglish
      1·
      7 hours ago

      3-2-1 is the minimal consensus and not recommended anymore for everything you need to reliably have access to after a long time - the fact that some ransomware viruses intentionally have a very time they are laying low to decrypt old and rarely used files is one of the main reasons. Healthcare, finance, taxation, accounting, etc. are all sectors that heavily rely on WORM media and long term tape storage.

      You are right that a spinning disk often can work for 10 years - but there is a reason they are exchange earlier in a professional setting. Not all of them will. And you were talking about cold storage disks. This is something even the manufacturers do not recommend - for a reason.

      • LandedGentryEnglish
        1·
        1 hour ago

        Dude this isn’t healthcare this is a person’s home backups. Are you kidding me?

        And yes you swap them earlier, I am just saying what is possible. Not that you should buy 1 drive, sit around 10 years, and expect everything to be fine.

        You’re being very antagonistic here as well. I’m not sure what all the hostility is about. Either way I bet you if you follow 321 for your home backups you’ll never lose a single thing. Idk what you do at home and what you’re storing but for the vast majority of people that is more than enough.