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I'm trying to backup fairly sensitive data.

Which of the three has the longest shelf life?

  • Hard Drives(Regular)
  • Thumbdrives
  • Dvds/Blurays

There are obvious cost and size differences.

Related

DVD RW: Are they still relevant for backups?

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William
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  • If you have a proper backup regime it shouldn't matter. 3 forms of backup. Different media. 1 of 3 offsite. – DavidPostill Jan 19 '17 at 23:10
  • @DavidPostill let's say I allow a failure rate but have tons of under 1gb files that I want to separate what then would be the best way? Hard drives require folders which would be annoying and I have never seen a proper thumb drive storage system although I am sure there is one. Cds are nice because you can right directly on them what they are. Although I do see your point. Just playing devils advocate. – William Jan 19 '17 at 23:12
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    "proper backup regime": you need to storage everything at least two copies and check each media regularly. if one of them fails you can create a new copy from the one which still works. Working period of each media is very variable, it's difficult to predict which last longer. There probably are differences between brands and types too, maybe even bigger then between media types. – Máté Juhász Jan 19 '17 at 23:19
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    Possible duplicate of [What medium should be used for long term, high volume, data storage (archival)?](http://superuser.com/questions/374609/what-medium-should-be-used-for-long-term-high-volume-data-storage-archival), [How to store and preserve lots of data?](https://superuser.com/questions/374386/how-to-store-and-preserve-lots-of-data), [Long-term storage reliability of various media](https://superuser.com/questions/454605/long-term-storage-reliability-of-various-media), [How much time until an unused hard drive loses its data?](https://superuser.com/questions/284427) – Bob Jan 19 '17 at 23:27
  • @Bob the second answer for the 1st question is relevant but a little confusing for me at least. Its funny cds may be the best option but have been phased out mostly on laptops anyways. – William Jan 19 '17 at 23:37

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I would have to say hard drives because CDs get scratched easy. I've seen data on USB sticks corrupt a few times. Usually that takes a while, but they are not as stable as hard drives. And as far as hardware that has been properly taken care of, I've only seen 1 hard drive die. (And that was an old one) EDIT: I'm just going off of what I've seen happen. And external hard drives are better for backing up data, but its not impossible to do with regular ones. If you use a regular one, just be careful about what you do so you don't break it.

that guy
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  • Do you have any data to back that up? Also portable or regular hard drives? – William Jan 19 '17 at 23:01
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    Anecdotal experience of one person isn't a good type of answer on a Q&A site. It becomes a poll, where everyone talks about their different experience. The appropriate type of answer is citing published research. – fixer1234 Jan 19 '17 at 23:09