this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2025

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112

What do people use for a shelf-stable backup (lemmy.nz)

submitted 5 months ago by Dave@lemmy.nz to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world

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I have backups on a backup hard drive and also synced to B2, but I am thinking about backing up to some format to put in the cupboard.

The issue I see is that if I don't have a catastrophic failure and instead just accidentally delete some files one day while organising and don't realise, at some point the oldest backup state is removed and the files are gone.

The other thing is if I get hit by a bus and no one can work out how to decrypt a backup or whatever.

So I'm thinking of a plain old unencrypted copy of photos etc that anyone could find and use. Bonus points if I can just do a new CD or whatever each year with additions.

I have about 700GB of photos and videos which is the main content I'm concerned about. Do people use DVDs for this or is there something bigger? I am adding 60GB or more each year, would be nice to do one annual addition or something like that.

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[–] Marthirial@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Thinking about this, the only ancient information we are still able to access is painted or edged on stone or clay. How about some sort huge wall with thousands of QRcode like engravings?

[–] root@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago

Reminds me of project Silica. Media historically was more durable (stone/ ink and cloth paper, etc) but had a low data density. As density increased, so did fragility

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[–] killabeezio@lemm.ee 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

I decided instead to use ZFS. Better protection than just letting something sit there. Your backups are only as good as your restores. So, if you are not testing your restores, those backups may be useless anyway.

ZFS with snapshots, replicated to another ZFS box. The replicated data also stores the snapshots and they are read-only. I have snapshots running every hour.

I have full confidence that my data is safe and recoverable.

With that said, you could always use M-disk.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 2 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I have automated backups including to cloud, but I want a separated manual system that cannot get erased if I mess something up (accidentally sync a delete, lose encryption key, forget to pay cloud bill). I have 3 2 1 but it's all automated and backups are eventually replaced, if it's not a critical failure I won't necessarily know I've lost something.

Basically, I specifically want cold storage, and not cloud. I will only add, not delete from it. And I don't want it encrypted.

Based on other conversations I'm planning on using duel disks mirrored, zfs, annual updates and disk checks with disks rotated out every 5 years (unless failing/failed). Handling the need for layman retrival of data by including instructions with the hard drives.

[–] admin@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Basically, I specifically want cold storage, and not cloud. I will only add, not delete from it. And I don't want it encrypted.

I have a client with a photographic studio. To give you an estimate, his data is around 14TB of mostly camera pictures with approximately 20 years or history and the owner believe it or not, relies on multiple external hard drives for cold storage, he has a 2TB Seagate thats like 2011-2012 old which still works.

To put in a cupboard tho, M disc is your best bet.

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[–] fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Don't use them, but these seem right for you: https://lemm.ee/post/55012343

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Thanks, I missed that post! Looks like the comment section would have answered a lot of my question.

In the end I have pulled the trigger and bought an M-Disc capable burner and a stack of M-Discs, so I'm gonna give that a go and see how it works out.

[–] fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 2 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Sounds good. They do make 100GB MDisc but they are a shorter life span: https://a.co/d/dTOLvW8

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[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 months ago (3 children)

I'm thinking of using a HDD and keeping it at work, which is climate controlled. I'd bring it back every few months to sync the latest.

Since it's constantly being used, I'm pretty confident it'll be usable as a backup if my NAS fails, so it only needs to be "shelf stable" for a few months at a time. If you're retired or something, a safe deposit box at your local bank should do the trick.

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