How Long Will Your Document Archive Media Last?

[TWP]

https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/digital_resource_lifespan.png

This is why having hardcopy makes more sense.

Having said that, I lack the storage space to use hardcopy for everything in my prepper archives.

So have duplicate copies, duplicate tools for reading your backup, EMP proof storage for those tools and for your backup copies.  Store duplicates in separate cached locations.  Have friends who will store a copy of your archives.

[Jerry D Young]

I may invest in a good high power magnifier, and a pair of strong mirrors, and start printing my electronic collection in micro print or with 16 pages per sheet, front and back. I just need to find some inexpensive archive paper.

It is the cheapest way I know to archive non-interactive digital information.

Just my opinion.

[Reasonable Rascal]

This is also a major reason why we - the authors of Survival and Austere Medicine - were and remain so keen on published paper copies though we distribute it as a free .pdf  The paper versions will be usable 100 years from now assuming decent treatment. Given the history of electronic media I doubt the same could be said regards such 50 years from now.

RR

[Clay]

I know that it's not the same, but storage devices are really cheap now. Having several hard drives, each with a copy of all your archives is pretty easy to do. I still recommend paper copies of as much as possible, but at least there is something.

[Jerry D Young]

Attached is a test print of a 30 page article on 8 1/2" x 11" paper, double sided, with 16 pages per side. I printed it, and then scanned it in as a .pdf so I could attach it here. I do not know if all printers have the option to print multiple pages per sheet. And certainly not all printers can automatically print on both sides. And it is a real pain to manually flip and print the other side.

But with the printers I have, it works quite well. I just need to find some inexpensive archive paper. And a good stand magnifying glass.

The original print is easy to read with a good magnifying glass. The scan to .pdf, of course, is not quite as clear, but the paper copy is the one that will archived, anyway.

Just an option for saving hard copies at a lower cost and much smaller volume.

Just my opinion.

[Clay]

That is a very smart idea Jerry!

Does anyone know what the life of standard printer ink is? How long before it fades away?

[owldancer]

Here is HP take on the matter

Dark storage: When documents are stored in folders, drawers, or file cabinets, they are not exposed to light. Documents and photos printed on HP photo papers with Original HP inks for the office can last for over 200 years.2
Fade-resistant: Preserve documents that maintain black text and color quality for decades when on display, resisting fading, with all-pigment Original HP inks for business printing.1View the fade resistance of specific ink cartridges on plain paper under UV filter

https://www8.hp.com/us/en/printers/print-permanence.html

[Jerry D Young]

I have decided to add a feature to my system, after talking to several people, and seeing some products at PrepperCon.


Since the printing is quite clear, just small, I had intended to use a Fresnel lens to read it, or a regular magnifying glass. But I got to talking to someone and mentioned the old portable non-electric/direct view microfiche systems that someone had for sale back in the early eighties. It used any type of background light to read the microfiche. Hundreds of sheets of microfiche of a whole multitude of books, magazines, charts, manuals, and the like, all suitable for prepping. Or survivalism at that time.


Seeing a large custom made fire starting Fresnel lens of 7-power, and with K7KBJ standing not too far away, it came to me that I can 3D print a reader similar to that simple fold up one used with the microfiche in that field kit.


I can make it easy to just slide the paper around to see each page, without having to hold a magnifying glass or small Fresnel lens. I can even make a smaller one that will work much better than holding a lens by hand. Something with a paper guide so everything lines up and my palsy will not be as much of a deterent.


I am going to star selectively printing some information now. It will still be somewhat expensive, but so much better than the way I am doing it now.


Just my opinion.

[TWP]

Jerry,  I'd be very interested in seeing what you can produce with a 3D printer.  That is a product which would fit in a post-event world where such items (micro-fiche viewer) would be in demand.

It is high-tech enough to need a good generator/inverter system, but the plastic will be available in dumps for many years to come.

[pengyou]

That is a good discussion of material that can be printed, but I have approaching a tb of info that is stored in videos and audio files.  have already decided to start buying duplicate storage media, loading the data and then sealing the media in an antistatic bag with silica gel.  I am not concerned about changes in OS and hardware because the system that I use to manage this stuff uses Linux - Linux does't have the nagware built into it to keep you updating until you are useless

[TWP]

pengyou;

LINUX - Yes!

I'm using the Linux Mint xfce and kde distros at the moment and have backup copies of the installation files (ISO's) for each.  In addition, I keep other distributions ISO's in case I run into other hardware.  My systems are all 32 bit, but I expect that will change to 64bit as my systems die.  So I have both 32 and 64 bit copies.

It is nice to not be told that my OS is no longer supported and that I "must" upgrade...

[pengyou]

pengyou;

LINUX - Yes!

I'm using the Linux Mint xfce and kde distros at the moment and have backup copies of the installation files (ISO's) for each.  In addition, I keep other distributions ISO's in case I run into other hardware.  My systems are all 32 bit, but I expect that will change to 64bit as my systems die.  So I have both 32 and 64 bit copies.

It is nice to not be told that my OS is no longer supported and that I "must" upgrade...

Amen to that!

[pengyou]

I may have missed something in reading yours and others posts.  If I buy a brand new hard drive - assume one of the better ones - and leave it in its anti static bag...use a seal a meal to vacuum seal it with the little bags of anti moisture stuff.  20 years from now, will that hard drive be "as good as new"?  What about thumb drives?  blank dvds?  I have read that data stored on these will degrade after time.  But what about the actual device?  If a hard drive will stay in brand new condition if treated as I described, can I just open a new one ever x years and copy my prior hd to the new one?  or burn a new DVD or M disc every 10 years to a "fresh" blank one?

[TWP]

Different media, different vulnerabilities and different lifetimes.

In 20 years, you may not be able to find a computer which will read your media.  The solution is to change media more frequently.  Make copies on whatever media is currently in vogue on the computer hardware that is available at that time.

A magnetic disk Hard Drive, if NOT bounced around and stored as you state, will last the longest.  They are subject to loss of magnetization of the media over time, but you will do a fresh format before coping your data.  Then put the new copy in archives and continue to use the original, making occasional overwrites to the archive copy,  to keep the information current.  Don't use the archive copy as a working hard drive until the original hard drive fails.

A "flash" drive, usually USB sticks, but also Solid State Drives (SSD) do not last as long and have both a lifetime maximum read/write cycles and a loss of data after a few years if/when they are not refreshed.  The media does not retain it's data very well and must be periodically refreshed.  Say a 5 to 8 year lifetime, with yearly or better refresh cycles.

Optical CD/DVD are stable if keep OUT OF DIRECT UV LIGHT.  They will lose data because the plastic will be damaged by the UV light.  I don't know a lifetime, even if they were kept in a temperature controlled black box.  You might make it 10 years, but I can not say for sure.  Plus you have to have the correct drives to read/write AND the software which recognizes that drive mechanism.

Overall, I think (opinion) that the best option is have spares of anything you use and keep your archive media in safe storage.  Update that archive copy whenever you need to take a snapshot of your data AND THEN put the archive media back into storage.  Have duplicates in archive.

A third option, which entails a LARGE trust factor, is to use online storage.  This is only as safe as the business which is running the backup server... Which I don't think is really very safe.  Not if you expect to need that data after some event which might kill the internet.  The business might fail due to bad management too.

Final option: learn to carve stone.  Slower, but probably will last longer. 

[owldancer]

Alright TWP I as a matter of fact do carve stone (soap and pipe)  and I can tell you I would never try to put that much information on stone.

God did put his commandments on stone, but I would never even try to put a short story of Jerry's on stone.  Way to much work!   However, your advise on keeping the information on several types of media is the best course of action.