<<Disc drives corrupt occasionally and one of my two 2T backup drives
did this a fortnight ago.>>
Yes, & they can do this while not in use. Just storing a hard drive in a closet
is no guarantee that it will work in a year's time. I have had drives fail
while not in use. As well as while in daily use.
<< I keep double backups with one drive kept somewhere else. The most secure
long term storage is CDs and DVDs, especially archive quality discs. Nobody
knows how long they will last
as it is in many years,>>
I have had spotty results with DVDs, some failing to mount in as little as a
few years from date of burning. Supposedly CDRs are more robust, but obviously
provide only a fraction of the storage space.
<< but the biggest long term risk seems to be technical redundancy. Anyone
still use Zip discs? :-)>>
An unfortunate transitional technology. DAT is another. I have archived all my
DATs but I have clients with enormous DAT libraries & they don't all play back
properly anymore. That one is a ticking time bomb since once the inherent
errors exceed the threshold of the error correction technology of the 1980s &
90s decks the tape is largely ruined.
Back up your work. Back up your work.
Scott Fraser
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