[Atomic-S (OP)]

I  have a new computer. I am planning to back up certain files on removable media. There is the option of CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-RW and certain others. With the CD-RW I have had past poor experience in that these disks would not uncommonly fail after a while (multiple writings were required on them).  I have not much experience with anything else. Any suggestions?

[evan_au]

An increasing number of new computers do not have room for a CD-sized drive (the trend is towards thin, and the volume is more usable for other things). So that is probably not a good option.

I suggest you use the very cheap and very small 1+ Terabyte external hard disks - equivalent to 2000+ CDs, with a USB interface. A USB interface takes up little space inside the computer, and so is likely to be around for a while (and retain some backward compatibility...).

The main idea is that it should be kept in a different physical location from your main computer, preferably in an air-conditioned environment. Provided you don't plug it in too often, it should be pretty reliable. But don't expect it to last more than 5 or 10 years.

Whatever medium you choose, make sure you back it up onto a newer medium before it becomes old and unreliable or obsolete and unreadable.

[chris]

Simple "bronze" solution - an external USB HDD: but risks loss of the backup if this one copy corrupts

More elegant "silver" solution - install a "NAS" - network attached storage - configured as a RAID array (at least RAID 5) that keeps multiple copies of your content across multiple drives. Use a backup application that incrementally and automatically backs up your content whenever you change a file. Downside: it's not "off site", so if your house burns down the backup goes too.

"Gold" standard solution - Buy / rent / use a free a cloud backup solution and upload your data to a cloud server; this shifts the responsibility for storing and protecting your data onto the supplier. The downsides are the bandwidth consumed initially as the backup is first established. Also, security might be a risk in some situations.

[alancalverd]

Practically every shot fired by US forces in Vietnam was recorded on magnetic tape, but the hardware has been scrapped and the software lost. However if you want a detailed record of a historic battle, any practising Jew and most priests can read the Dead Sea Scrolls.

If it isn't worth the effort of pen and ink, it isn't worth preserving.

[chris]

Practically every shot fired by US forces in Vietnam was recorded on magnetic tape, but the hardware has been scrapped and the software lost. However if you want a detailed record of a historic battle, any practising Jew and most priests can read the Dead Sea Scrolls.

If it isn't worth the effort of pen and ink, it isn't worth preserving.

It's ironic isn't it. The same example surfaced with the doomsday project of the 1980s. Vast amounts of data were captured about peoples lives to archive for posterity on a series of giant laser discs; this was a nod to the original Doomsday book from 1000 years earlier.

Those, and other older manuscritps and original records remain readable despite the passage of a thousand years. The laser discs, however, can no longer be decoded because the digital players needed to read them are a) broken, b) old technology and c) impractical...

It's basically what you have said Alan.

We made a programme about these issues a few years ago:

https://www.thenakedscientists.com/podcasts/naked-scientists/future-digital-storage

This interview with Leo Enticknap from Leeds University is very informative:
https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/interviews/problems-digital-data-storage

[Atomic-S (OP)]

Thanks for this informative information. (is that a redundancy?) I guess what we should be using is a 3-D printer to create clay tablets.

[evan_au]

this was a nod to the original Doomsday book from 1000 years earlier.

Since the original survey was a tax assessment without an appeal mechanism, many residents would feel that it was Doomsday.

But the the original spelling was "Domesday".
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesday_Book
http://opendomesday.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Domesday_Project

[omneter2]

I  have a new computer. I am planning to back up certain files on removable media. There is the option of CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-RW and certain others. With the CD-RW I have had past poor experience in that these disks would not uncommonly fail after a while (multiple writings were required on them).  I have not much experience with anything else. Any suggestions?

Cant you write it on usb hard drive?

[chris]

this was a nod to the original Doomsday book from 1000 years earlier.

Since the original survey was a tax assessment without an appeal mechanism, many residents would feel that it was Doomsday.

But the the original spelling was "Domesday".
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesday_Book
http://opendomesday.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Domesday_Project

Much like the present tax system then, as far as I can tell

[chris]

I  have a new computer. I am planning to back up certain files on removable media. There is the option of CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-RW and certain others. With the CD-RW I have had past poor experience in that these disks would not uncommonly fail after a while (multiple writings were required on them).  I have not much experience with anything else. Any suggestions?

Cant you write it on usb hard drive?

But what format is he going to use to ensure long-term compatibility? And writing to just one magnetic-based medium is risky...