What’s the Best Long Term Storage Media? Tips to Avoid Losing Data in Your Lifetime

⏱️ Choosing the right long term storage media is part of protecting your data from degradation or other forms of loss. But there's more to it than just media.

Common storage methods like CDs, DVDs, memory cards, and thumb drives are susceptible to wear and data loss over time. Even SSDs, a pricier flash memory option, aren't guaranteed to last for decades. The more reliable option seems to be traditional spinning hard drives, which have shown durability over extended periods. What's critical is to periodically transfer data from old storage mediums to newer technologies to prevent data loss. Also, consider the longevity of file formats. Ubiquitous formats like .docx and PDF are likely to remain accessible in the future, but obscure formats might become unreadable. Cloud storage is another useful solution but should be treated as an "additional" backup, given potential account hacks or service failures. Lastly, while paper retains data without tech interference, it's vulnerable to environmental damages. In essence, the key to long-term data preservation is redundancy and regular data migration.

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