Storage Media Life Expectancy: SSDs, HDDs & More!

You are one of the real gems of Youtube. No annoying background music or distracting jump cuts, just solid information backed with sources. Thank you.

Moral of the story? Back up your data in more than one format and in more than one place. And choose your storage medium based on the criticality of the data. Great video!

Suddenly, I feel the urgency to print out my pictures of happy gatherings, to be stored in good old-fashioned photo albums.

This channel never fails to bring me back to the early 2000s

Re HDD life. Im a DC engineer for a US bank and we have a couple of Compaq ML370 servers running on their original 9.1GB 15,000rpm drives. Now 22 years old !.

I guess two of the pyramids at Gizeh are for backup only.

I recently pulled out a batch of old 5.25" floppies from the eighties. I was shocked to find most of them still work.

I happened on ExplainingComputers while researching this very topic and I became an instant fan. The information is clearly transmitted and the sharp sense of humor was like watching a great video that not only informs but entertains too. Thanks for the updated video!

I worked at the Met Office in the late 90s, They were storing archived meteorological data on magnetic tape which could be retrieved by a robotic system called COSMOS. There is a salt mine in Cheshire where government departments and banks etc store their computer backups underground given the stable geology and high security available.

In the 2000s DVDs were amazing for data backup. You could get a 50 pack for a few bucks and each one had 4.7GB which was huge back then. Just imagine what a modern equivalent could hold if the capacity continued to scale

Excellent as usual. The data fade issue is there for tapes as well as oxide decay when the oxide layer no longer adheres to the mylar rendering the media unusable. Tape was also known for “print thru” where data one layer of the tape could affect the adjacent layer. Archive tapes used to be rewound once a year to prevent this problem.

Very useful, professional, and clear. Thank you. I work for more than 30 years now in my own little shop of computer repairs, and I can confirm, from my own experience, all you said here is based in reality. I will conclude, tough, we are still in the "Stone Age" of data preservation, and our tech do not evolved much in the last 30 -50 years, in this field. Like you said, we have much hope in the DNA data storing tech, yet we are light years away from this technology. Sad, we are a dumb race, with self-destruction instincts, spending 95% + of our resources and time, in creating weapons and perpetuating wars, to benefit a few dozens of "golden elites", interested in their own selfishness, and only that, than in our advances as human race. Data storage is fundamental for any advanced civilization, but we are not there, and I highly doubt we will ever be, with the current leadership and current tribal mentality.... We are closer to fusion than to genetic storage systems, yet we are a lot closer to self-destruction and/or absolute totalitarian regimes... Thank you for your efforts to share with us these very useful data, Sir.

In our constant search for true genius, stop here and look no further. Christopher Barnatt has mastered so many different aspects of modern computing, I honestly do not understand how he retains all of that information between his ears. ANOTHER BRILLIANT VIDEO, Christopher! So very valuable to all computer users!!

Good video. As far as data backup goes , I always subscribe to the 3-2-1 aproch :- Keep 3 copies On atleast 2 different types of media. 1. Of them stored off site. I guess you could count something like Google drive as the off site. As far as lifespan goes , i have VHS tapes that still viewable after 40+ years. the analogue nature of the data probably help. In that it dose not need to be bit perfect to still play.

And clay tablets last thousands of years.

Great video! I've been storing data on CDs, DVDs, and BR for decades (since the first 4X burners came out). I have a few tips for storage that you didn't mention: 1) I've found that it's important to store them in a dark place, or at least away from UV light, as it does degrade the plastic. It's much more noticeable on older discs, but it still has an effect on modern ones. This is a big one, and the easiest to counter, but I find a lot of people know stored them on a shelf where they got exposed to sunlight every day. None of theirs lasted. 2) High temperatures are also bad. Don't store them in the attic or anyplace where the sun really heats the room up. 3) It likely also helps to store them in a dry place. Everyone I know who lives in a humid environment had their optical discs fail when mine were fine. 4) I've read about a condition called "DVD rot" where the reflective layer develops spots or even holes. I haven't seen this happen to any of my discs myself, but I live in a mild climate and keep mine in an indoor closet. To protect against this, it can be helpful to store them inside a sealed Ziploc bag, or other superior airtight bag, or a vacuum seal bag. in other words, I would advice a consumer to store them in a box, in a closet or file cabinet, in a temperature controlled environment. That includes air conditioning if it gets warm. If it's a humid environment, or just a humid basement, then a dehumidifier may be in order, but that can be a pain.

Only 6k subscribers left until we reach the 1 million mark!!! 🥺

Thank you! My husband and I always enjoy your videos! (We were JUST talking about this subject last week! Great timing!) We wish you continued success with your YouTube channels. 👍

Very useful info on a subject which I've not seen all in on place before. I have about twenty HDD's some over twenty years old that have been dormant for many years. I am going to have to spin up, check and backup any thing of interest. Also a growing collection of SSD's, seven at the moment, which I do power up every six months, but I was unaware of the fact it's best to leave them powered up for an hour or so to do some house keeping. Thanks for another really slick video.

I have a considerable number of WD drives that are older than 5 years but it doesn't mean I completely trust them. That makes backups even more important.