Digital Dark Age

Thats not a valid statement, bout the difference in tech...
I used to save pictures on discs, then on cd´s, then on
dvd´s/blueray´s now on flashdrives and/or HDD´s so you grow
and adapt...

a reply to: Arbitrageur

If we are still using binary they will be easily readable.

Tip- don't use optical disks to store your precious data! Get an external hard drive, a good quality one, get two for a back up if it's the only place you will store your data. Only use it when transferring or viewing your data. Have it unplugged and carefully stored. There is no reason why your data won't stay safe if you do this. External hds should last longer than your pcs hd as they are not spinning every day and there will be less movement of the arm so less likely for the mechanical parts to fail. Transfer your data onto a newer hd every 5/10 years if you want to avoid mechanical failure.
Optical disks are dinosaurs in the computing storage world. They are very easily damaged and also store the data as pits not bits.

I hope all of the above explains why I love and buy books, especially at car boot/yard sales, secondhand shops, the only way to delete books is burn them, but there are more than one book in any subject/language. Thank heavens one of my three sons likes books, looks like his son is also learning to like them.
Anyone remember that thread about New Zealand being in the wrong place? (In ATS.com), well, the `1970's atlases I have show'd that country as being where it is in the guys post, books cannot be altered without a lot of work, that useually shows some where, plus I have more than one atlas, different year dates.

a reply to: pikestaff

I love old books, the smell, the feel of the soft aged leather covers, the foxed pages, the gilted gold edging... i would rather buy a second hand copy of a book than a new one, I tell people this so they don't buy me new books for birthdays etc. Amazon's used books are always on my hit list, plus its less offensive to trees I have 1000s of books and some are locked in a glass cabinet as they are so old. But I also love my technology and would never replace my books with kindle versions, but it is HUGELY useful to have back ups of these books in didigtal form. I worry that my precious books will fade or whither one day, or worse be lost in a fire, but at least we can preserve them in some form of binary. Clever use of preservation means all our info can be treasured for thousands of years.

originally posted by: daftpink
a reply to: Arbitrageur
Tip- don't use optical disks to store your precious data! Get an external hard drive, a good quality one, get two for a back up if it's the only place you will store your data. Only use it when transferring or viewing your data. Have it unplugged and carefully stored. There is no reason why your data won't stay safe if you do this.

Yes there is a reason why it's not safe. You said "only use it when transferring your data". That's what I was doing when both drives failed. Lost everything on both drives.

Best practice is to have three disks and always have one off-site, or at least in a fireproof safe. That way if two die in a transfer process there is still a third available. Companies do that with critical data, but most people don't go that far.

I agree that optical disks are poor technology, at least the writable type. the manufactured type should have better longevity, but that's a somewhat different technology than the writable type.

a reply to: Arbitrageur

Three would be ideal it depends how often you transfer your data and use the hd. Do you mean the hard disk in your computer failed same time as your external hd or two separate external hds failed at the same time? I'm pretty thorough when it comes to backing up. I'll have my data in 4 locations usually (usbs, external hds, cloud and pc hd) but all in the same house. Never had issues with failing external hds but i only transfer data maybe once a month and have it carefully stored. Just out of interest what make was your two hds that failed?

a reply to: daftpink
It had nothing to do with the make of the drives. There was a power surge. Not sure what caused that, could have been a transformer in the area failing. If you have it in 4 locations you're covered, but if there's a fire and they are all in your house then of course it's not certain if any of the 4 will survive the fire, which is one of the main reasons companies store offsite backups.

a reply to: Arbitrageur

Ah I see, yes could have been a solar flare, they're known for causing powers surges. it's funny to think that the sun can cause us to lose our family pics!

I know it's bad but if there was a fire and I had time, I would be grabbing my external HD over anythign else, it's in my bedroom, close to the door...but it holds my kids photos over the years, all my fiction over the years (I write novels and short stories) and that is precious to me. I should really have an off site location but then if they are int he cloud it's not so bad!

In saying that, I don't put a lot of personal info in the cloud...don't trust the hackers out there or the company's security systems (they're usually always inadequate). Nowhere is safe it seems! A fire-proof safe I think is the answer

originally posted by: daftpink
I should really have an off site location but then if they are int he cloud it's not so bad!

That's why I use the free version of ADrive, it gives us 50GB of online space, which is enough for me.

One important thing about backups, regardless of the type, is that they are tested from time to time to know if they are still usable.

More than 20 years ago I witnessed the result of making backups every day but having nothing to restore when it was needed. I worked on an accounting company, and they had an Unix computer with all the software and client's data, and they made backups every day, at the end of the day. 3 months after I started working on that company the computer had a disk failure, and they got a new disk and the backup tapes to get everything back, but when they tried to restore the data from the tapes they were empty. The responsible for the IT (it was someone not part of the company) analysed everything and found that the backup script he has created and that was run every day was not changed after the first test, so it was making the backups to the null device instead of the tape, so nothing was written on the tape and the company was left without any accounting data for that year for all its clients.

In that case, as the data was the result of the company's work it was recoverable (although it took us one month, with everybody working 10 or 12 hours each day, including weekends), but if it had been original data instead of values transcribed from the accounting documents things would be much worse.

So, backup to any device you want, but test the backup from time to time to see if it still works.