Question regarding the transferring of VHS tapes to digital files for storage?

What c0rr0sive is talking about is Bit Rot, a.k.a. Data Decay: Data degradation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and Disc Rot: Disc rot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The only indication they give in the link to a time frame of storage is "Many Years" ...so how long should a cd/dvd disk last with proper storage?

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did some of my own googling, and results tend to be all over the place, from 5 years to as long as 100 years (as per manufactures specs). Most of what I researched tends to show the temperature, humidity and manufacturing quality play the most important roles in disk storage. The consensus I'm seeing is that under normal conditions and proper handling, 30 years can be expected
Few, if any, life expectancy reports for these discs have been published by independent laboratories. An accelerated aging study at NIST estimated the life expectancy of one type of DVD-R for authoring disc to be 30 years if stored at 25°C (77°F) and 50% relative humidity. This testing for R discs is in the preliminary stages, and much more needs to be done.

I will have to agree that hard drives might be the best type of long term storage but hard drives are prone to fail at any given time too
 
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The only indication they give in the link to a time frame of storage is "Many Years" ...so how long should a cd/dvd disk last with proper storage?

Edit:
did some of my own googling, and results tend to be all over the place, from 5 years to as long as 100 years (as per manufactures specs). Most of what I researched tends to show the temperature, humidity and manufacturing quality play the most important roles in disk storage. The consensus I'm seeing is that under normal conditions and proper handling, 30 years can be expected
Mostly depends on the quality of media used too. Using something like Verbatim will last longer and be less likely to be affected by data rot. Using cheaper media (which most people do), it will be more likely to be affected if stored improperly.

I will have to agree that hard drives might be the best type of long term storage but hard drives are prone to fail at any given time too

Only under mechanical use. If the drives are stored the parts won't move, and thus no stress on the drives. They should also be kept in the proper environment as well though too.
 
I agree....I store my drives in the shipping boxes that come with the anti-static bag and plastic drive supports designed to fit in the box
 
The reason I said an HDD would be preferable over burnable media is because when both are stored properly in the exact same environment and un-used, the HDD would (SHOULD more like it) outlast the burnable media.

In all honesty, if they made multi-TB flash drives, that would be the ultimate last-ditch backup solution considering you just have to keep them clean, dry, in a typical room, and they can last for ages un-used.


But Joe you are right, burnable media is all over the place, that's why it's not reliable as a backup method at all, ever. I have had disks last weeks, then I have a few older disks here that have lasted about 10 years. Pressed media such as your typical music CD though, can last FAR longer than a burned disk. Most of the issue comes down to manufacturing though. Can you see through the disk? If so, toss it. That is one thing I have learned.
 
Basically what I was telling the guy before about the external. Put your files on it then unplug it and store it. Should last theoretically forever if never touched in a suitable storing environment.
 
platter drives have a motor that spins up the platters, How long can it sit before it starts locking up from sitting too long? I suspect that not using it for long period of time(decades), might cause some kind of fail too
 
platter drives have a motor that spins up the platters, How long can it sit before it starts locking up from sitting too long? I suspect that not using it for long period of time(decades), might cause some kind of fail too

Considering the bearings are supposed to be sealed, and packed with lubricant, they should never seize up... Pretty sure the bearing casing, and bears are of the same metal, so they won't have to worry about the bearings seizing up. As far as the motor, it should never seize when not used.
 
So what's a solution for very long term storage of data?
Throughout history mankind had kept written documents for centuries and that information is still available even today. Now that we are in the digital age, How will we store this data for future generations?
Honestly, I do not see digital data as a viable long term type of storage, even with HDD's. This writers opinion at Life Hacker recommends SSD's for storage
How Long Can a Hard Drive Hold Data Without Power?

This person has the view that data will "flip" around 10 yrs
I conduct research on prototype hard drive media right now. The industry standard for bit lifetime is 10 years. That means that on average, a bit will take 10 years to randomly flip from a 0 to a 1. This is driven by random thermal fluctuations and can be modeled as an Arrhenius type equation.
What is the lifespan of data on a hard drive if the drive is rarely turned on? : askscience
 
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