long term HD storage: vacuum bag?

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Electricide
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long term HD storage: vacuum bag?

Post by Electricide » Tue Oct 22, 2013 1:46 pm

I built a new silent rig, and I don't have use now for the 8MB/120 gig/sata 1 drive in my old PC. But it currently has all my in-progress recording projects on it, as well as photos and videos.

After I transfer over the audio stuff, well it doesn't make sense to get rid of the drive. but I don't want it spinning in my silent rig for no reason the next 6 years until it explodes. So I guess I'll keep it around as just a backup (the data is backed up to 2 other drives also).

short of throwing it in the box-o-crap in the closet, would it make sense to vacuum seal it? We have a food saver we never use. This would keep dust out, but removing the air also prevents moisture from condensing in the bag and should theoretically stablilize the temps. Would the force or stress of the sucking procedure compromise any interal components?

chorga1
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Post by chorga1 » Wed Oct 23, 2013 3:27 pm

Probably not, but might be overkill.


Don;t forget to throw in a few desiccant packets

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Marc Alan Goodman
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Post by Marc Alan Goodman » Sun Nov 03, 2013 7:06 pm

Let me know how it works! Hell of an interesting idea.

Electricide
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Post by Electricide » Mon Nov 04, 2013 9:10 am

although it occurs to me that my old pc was hella dusty. The HD is theoretically air tight anyway.

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Randyman...
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Post by Randyman... » Tue Nov 05, 2013 9:27 am

Electricide wrote:although it occurs to me that my old pc was hella dusty. The HD is theoretically air tight anyway.
AFAIK, they have to breathe to allow expansion and contraction of air as it heats and cools. Most have a hole that says "DO NOT COVER THIS HOLE" :) I believe someone is working on a SEALED drive that is filled with helium - but I don't believe they are on the market yet.

I'd just keep them in a climate controlled area away from major vibrations - I sometimes use the anti-static bag the HD's come in. I also use some plastic HD Cases to keep my bare 3.5" HD's in:

http://www.amazon.com/MUKii-Plastic-Har ... B0058OOW84

They are stack-able, and offer a bit more protection that having a bare drive on a shelf...

Then, you can install something like this in your PC's 5.25" Bay and have hot-swappable bare SATA drives for easy backup:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00126 ... UTF8&psc=1


I would strongly recommend firing up any stagnent drives a few times a year if possible, and run something like "SPINRITE" that will do a complete surface scan and reveal any sectors that might be loosing their ability to retain the data (the drive will then automatically re-locate these sectors to insure long-term readability). At the very least, spin them up to lube the bearings and head-pack once a year.

Lastly (as a friendly reminder for anyone reading, I see the OP already addressed this), a single drive on a shelf IS NOT A BACKUP! Important data needs to live in at least 3 different places - at least one should be "Offline" as not to be damaged by a catastrophic system failure or virus activity, and at least one should be OFFSITE to protect from physical damage like flooding or tornadoes, etc. This is the bare minimum - I go well beyond this for important data...

:cool:
Randy V.
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