Re: off-site backup

[rlharris@broadcaster.org (Russell L. Harris)]

dtutty@porchlight.ca writes:

> I'm reviewing/planning for new offsite backup media and am wondering
> what people are using now.  

For economy and longevity, a conventional hard drive is good; but it
requires careful handling.  Physical impact or even severe vibration can
kill it, as can strong external magnetic fields.  At the very least, a
drive requires the protection of a drive enclosure with some sort of
shock mounting.

At present, there appears to be no better solution for archival storage
than flash memory sticks.  Expected lifetime is five to ten years, and
the devices are extremely rugged with respect to impact, vibration, and
magnetic fields.  (And the devices can be protected against strong
electric fields with a metallic enclosure.)

Memory sticks now can be had readily up to 4 gigabytes.

RLH