Whats the best way to store data?

I have more files than I can store on my PC

They are things I want to use regularly

I previously have used USB external hard drives, but in the last 6 months 2 have got corrupted. Is there any other better alternative that isnt overly expensive?

 

How much data needs to be stored? Do you need access to all of it frequently or is some of it for long term archive?

 

Of cause there are alternatives but a USB external HD is probable the cheapest solution. You might want to look into enclosures or NAS enclosures that have multiple drives inside for redundancy. I have had an external USB hd go corrupt on me but I have been able to format the drives again and continue to use them. This requires that there other copies of the files available somewhere else.

 

I use Mozy.com for my 128 GB of pictures (currently, RAW picture files bulk that up quickly when I am active with the camera). Works well for the purpose and it is nice knowing there are offsite copies.
My bigger question now is what to do when my new 1.5 TB drive gets to that 1/3 or 1/2 mark with the local copies of the previously mentioned pictures and especially lossless audio files that were my primary reason buy it.

 

About 1TB, and it is stuff I want to use regularly.

 

not the cheapest by any means but I my first thoughts with that much data are a file server with a good RAID setup.

 

It isn't a good time to need more storage. If you can afford a few bare drives, a pair of drives in RAID 1 backed up to at least 1 drive, preferably another RAID 1 pair, is the simplest, cheapest way to do it. Checking Newegg (not sure what the best place for parts in the UK is,) you're looking at $160 a piece for 1GB WD Caviar Green drives (slow, but that's not a big deal since you can set backups to run overnight.)

 

I have recently added a 2TB network drive that I use for pictures/videos. It sits beside my router and is available no matter what machine I'm on. It's easier than running a file server, but without the RAID protection that can provide. For files I take off line, I use DVDs for permanent storage as they are far less susceptible to degradation. A lot of my old 5 and 3.5 inch floppy disks are now unreadable (yes, I still have them, even though they've all been migrated... I just plugged in the drives to see if they were still usable and a number are not).

 

Keep in mind that the shelf life for consumer written DVDs and CDs is (much) less than initially expected. I would recommend that you verify important data regularly, maybe once a year. And prior to throwing away the setup that created the discs, I have had cd's that could only be read in the machine/drive that created them.

 

Here's a thought...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16859107052

 

I use a Synology DS411, pretty much the same thing, different brand. It's not a cheap solution; but I'm a bit anal about losing my data.

 

DVD-R discs will give you 5, maybe 10 years. I've had CD-Rs fade in a few months, after a year on the shelf I accidentally burned over a disc that I later noticed was labeled in highlighter. Magnetic tape is probably your best bet short of printing everything and shooting copies on slide film.

 

I'm certainly not an expert, but I understood that disc rot was far less of an issue with the newer dyes as these are designed to reduce the inter-layer reactions that caused rot in earlier discs. Probably the greatest cause of damage to discs is still the user, whether through smudging, scratching, or allowing prolonged exposure to sunlight. And items that I archive are stored in jewel cases in file boxes and aren't handled often, so that becomes less of a concern.

 

I would definitely go with the network accessible storage route, but best practice is always never only store information on one platform (even with RAID5 I've heard horror stories). I've never trusted disks though, I've had way too many of them lose information to do so.

 

http://www.iosafe.com/products-rugged-portable-overview

I will probably have to get one of these with a small pelican case and USB & Power Amphenol plugs.

It is much cheaper to back-up the data in the first place then to try and recover it.

My problem is that I have too many drive and they are all so disorganized, it would take me three to four weeks just to figure out what I have and where it is.

 

I have a Synology at work and installed on at a consulting clients office. I really want one for home now. Tons of RAIDed storage and if set up correctly, you can access it from anywhere. Great OS software. Not cheap, but it's a hell of a setup.

 

Came here to say what martian already did. For a conventional home user a raid 5 array will be your best tradeoff of reliability and ease of use without being esoteric or expensive. Periodically back up things to some high quality DVDs and store them off-site and you're probably fine, yes disc rot is a thing, but it's not like Papa Nurgle has a special love of discs.

The reason a lot of USB drives are flaky isn't usually the harddrives themselves, although that doesn't help, it's that a lot of external drive enclosures (in my experience, they may have finally started fixing this) will keep the drive spun up basically as long as it's on. A GOOD one will actually spin down the drives just like they were internal.

 

I still couldn't get behind DVD backup as an archival solution. Magnetic media is the only thing that's certain to last more than a few years, a hard drive in an anti-static bag in a safe deposit box will keep your data safe. It's not really a problem to mount 10-year-old drives with IDE-USB adapters, but it wouldn't hurt to drop a couple hundred dollars every 5 or so on a new drive or two that will hold all of your old backups plus your new stuff.