Permanent Storage Media?

t1rhinot1rhino Toronto
edited February 2006 in Hardware
Well, my wife and I received our wedding video and it kicks ass! :)
Anyways, we have the unedited video of the day on VHS and the edited version on DVD w/ menus.
Since the life of a DVD is not that long, I am looking for a permanent storage solution that will last us a lifetime.
I have thought of ripping it to a DVD image and storing it on a hard drive.

What other options do I have?

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    VHS wears with age.
    HDDs go bad in time.
    DVDs die with age.
    CDs die with age.
    DAT tapes wear with age.

    Unfortunately, there is no medium that will last a lifetime. Your best bet is to keep it on DVD, and burn it every year to a newer disc. That's what I would do.
  • PirateNinjaPirateNinja Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Congradulations on getting married. I would not recomend storing something tha important on a magnetic drive. I would assume it would last longer on optical formats like DVD or CD. Id make a few DVD copies, and maybe just recopy them once eveyr year or so.

    My guess, the VHS will be the last to go if its kept right. Id throw that into a safe.

    edit//

    Flash backup?

    http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=property&DEPA=1
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited December 2003
    Uh, you realize that a VHS is magnetic storage, right?
  • LincLinc Owner Detroit Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    I always thought that a DVD would last longer than a hard drive (assuming you treat it well)... am I mistaken?

    In any case, I'd think you'd want to do something about the VHS first, since I'm nearly positive that that will last the shortest of the three (But even that should be good for 15 years minimally I think).
  • dak125dak125
    edited December 2003
    I bet in a couple of years you're going to be wondering how to get rid of it :wink:. I second (or third) burning it once a year. I'm sure over time there will be a new format that will be more reliable.
  • RWBRWB Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    I've always been told to rip things to DVD or even a HDD and simply store it in a bank or someplace if it is that important. Of course if it is that important, your best bet is multiple sources at one time.
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Of all available media film will last the longest.
    Don't rely on tape.
    Burn DVD's, and don't use re-writeable discs. Also mix brands of discs.
    By doing it every year you will also keep up with changes in technology.
    (does anyone else have stuff on punch cards or 8" floppies)
    You probably only need to do it every 2 or 3 years, but why dont you make it part of your aniv. then you won't go and forget it for ten years.
  • t1rhinot1rhino Toronto
    edited December 2003
    What should I back the VHS tape to? Should I convert it to a DVD?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    I would, yes.
  • PirateNinjaPirateNinja Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Geeky1 wrote:
    Uh, you realize that a VHS is magnetic storage, right?

    Yes, but it does not have as many mechanical defaults as a hard drive, is not used near as much, can be copied and put it many formats, etc etc.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited December 2003
    That's why you use a DVD. It has 0 moving parts :D
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    The dye that is used in recordable media will eventually fade. It's inevitable. However, optical is your best bet. Do what everyone else says, and re-copy it every year or two until some kick ass new gelatinous bacterial DNA storage comes out. Or the storage that teleports your data to be etched into stone on the moon. Or whatever.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    SM byte.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    okay :D
  • CammanCamman NEW! England Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    General Keebler wrote:
    I always thought that a DVD would last longer than a hard drive (assuming you treat it well)... am I mistaken?

    In any case, I'd think you'd want to do something about the VHS first, since I'm nearly positive that that will last the shortest of the three (But even that should be good for 15 years minimally I think).


    actually, I would definitly think a VHS tape would last much longer than *recordable* DVD or CD, why? Because a Recordable DVD/CD has the dye in it that will "go bad" or turn or whatever. I have many VHS tapes that are 25+ years old, some older, that are still fine. VHS tapes are more likely to wear with use rather than "age" as some have noted. Kinda like a trade off. VHS will wear the more you use it, recordable DVDs wont. However, a VHS tape wont have any dye that will "wear out" because its store magnetically.
  • CyrixInsteadCyrixInstead Stoke-on-Trent, England Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    I would imagine that solid-state media would eventually be a good bet. There's no moving parts, and nothing to wear out is there?

    How big would the video be in Mb/Gb??

    You can get CompactFlash card up to at least 4Gb, albeit at a price. It comes with a lifetime warranty.

    IMO I'd probably go with making a new DVD every year, perhaps as part of your anniversary time celebrations. DVD of course would have the bonus of being able to be watched straight on a DVD player.

    ~Cyrix
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    As I said in the other thread about backing up, why not Flash media? Resistant to bangs, doesn't wear with age, isn't magnetically sesitive (at least not as much as HDs), etc...
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    There's just something about flash media that I plain don't trust.

    Maybe it's the playstation memory card that I had for a couple of years that suddenly went bad. I lost all my games. Pure suckage.

    I don't know why, but I just don't trust flash media.
  • CyrixInsteadCyrixInstead Stoke-on-Trent, England Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Lol, was it a genuine PS memory card? I always thought they had a nearly 100% success ratio, but I knew of some cheaper cards that crapped out all the time.

    ~Cyrix
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Yes, it was 100% genuine sony. :(
  • CyrixInsteadCyrixInstead Stoke-on-Trent, England Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Damn, unlucky, hours of save games gone eh?

    Reminds me of the time I was saving my computing coursework onto floppy at school, when some snotty little kid came in and ripped the power out of the back of the machine. Lost the original and the version saving on the floppy.

    ~Cyrix
  • V-PV-P State College, PA Member
    edited February 2006
    CyrixInstead wrote:
    Damn, unlucky, hours of save games gone eh?

    Reminds me of the time I was saving my computing coursework onto floppy at school, when some snotty little kid came in and ripped the power out of the back of the machine. Lost the original and the version saving on the floppy.

    ~Cyrix

    sucks balls...
    i was more than half way through f.e.a.r and hl2 and i had to format, and forgot to backup to cd. :rockon: second time this happened. i have promised my self no to play half-liife 2 again till i find some saved games on the WORLD WIDE WEB .anyone know where i could find a saved game online for hl2.....or fear? if not could you email me yours?? Prime i no u have hl2
  • NightwolfNightwolf Afghanistan Member
    edited February 2006
    You could keep it stored on multible things...One of them will last.
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