Storing information was a very important point in the development of mankind. People are constantly faced with a situation where information storage devices become outdated along with its content. In the 2000s, humanity transferred video and audio materials from audio cassettes and VHS to CDs and flash cards. seemed an inviolable data archive. Only after a while it became clear that if the film on the cassette does not dry, this does not mean that the information will be preserved and will exist forever: some scratch disks, some lose flash drives, and hard drives generally dry out over time. Therefore, leading software developers around the world have taken up the task of secure and long-term storage of information.

It is worth noting that storing personal data on a third-party server, in virtual space, is always fraught with the risk that third parties will gain access to it over time

And if an archive of the necessary data is created on a hard drive, then access of third parties to this data depends solely on the owner of the media, on how reliable the storage location is chosen.

Popular storage options today

• . This storage option is suitable for those who do not have constant access to the network and those who are worried that the data will be securely hidden from third-party interference with the content. When choosing a reliable external archive for creating an archive of documents, photos or videos, you should not use a local scratch disk, since there is a possibility of failure of such a device - under constant load, the screw may not last long, the OS will crash or it will burn out. For long-term storage, it is better to use SSD USB drives, which have an impressive storage capacity and a well-thought-out algorithm for managing file recording cells. And they won’t take up much space in the safe.

Before sending a large portion of information for storage for a long time, it must be properly preserved.

Many utilities have been developed for this, the most common of which is WinRAR

This program creates archives for long-term data storage. Plus it contains a function for compressing the file structure. It makes it easy to organize files. This preparation is carried out regardless of what device the data is stored on. Even if you mean storing information on a remote server, then uploading one archive is much easier than uploading dozens of small or one impressively large file.

After archiving the data, you need to prepare a storage device on which the archive data will be placed. .

First of all, the hard drive needs to be formatted and defragmented.

Formatting is comparable to the situation when, putting things in a bag, you shake it out and clean it.

Formatting does the same thing, only with the hard drive. When formatting, you will be offered several options on how to structure the files. NTFS or FAT32. It is preferable to choose the second one (if there are no startup or OS files on the screw).

Defragmentation in the physical sense transfers filled memory cells to the beginning of the disk, thereby leaving room for overclocking the screw when reading information in the future.

• Flash drive. Flash drives are a convenient device for storing data. And, according to most, cheap. The advantages are that the use of FLASH is available on almost all modern devices - 90% of data processing equipment around the world is equipped with USB ports - from car radios to TVs.

The process of preparing archive files and the drive itself is no different from the preparation described in point 1.

The downside of this storage device is that it is small in size and can be easily lost. Such external information storage devices are convenient to transport or transfer from one user to another without the use of electronics. Types of flash drives differ in two main parameters - the presence of a shockproof shell and data transfer speed (2.0 or 3.0).

• CD and DVD. Long-term storage in a specially designated place where they are not at risk of mechanical damage is an acceptable option for storing information. Nothing will happen to the materials recorded on them over time. But in order to write data to this type of media, it is necessary to use utilities. In the latest developed operating systems, the recording function is implemented at the basic level.

New ways of storing information appear every year. And everyone can choose the one that is convenient for them. It is better to store photos electronically on the cloud - these are several interconnected servers that are specifically designed for this.

Cloud storage services are provided by most popular social networks and giant IT corporations. Storing photos on external media is not always convenient when you need constant access to them from different places.

Often, information storage facilities are provided remotely, such as by the Yandex company, whose service is called Yandex.Disk

There are many similar services, but each of them has its own disadvantages. Every developer or company in general needs to make money, so nothing is absolutely free.

The well-known DropBox service provides convenient access to the server around the clock upon user request, but at the same time limits the space that the user can use

Provided that the user of this service attracts third parties, his disk space increases many times over.

Modern means of information storage cannot provide comfortable access to the necessary data over a long period of time.

Anything can happen to sites and servers, so the idea of ​​storing data on external devices should not be abandoned and the choice of a hard drive or flash drive should be thoughtful and balanced

M-Disk

Storing information is a guarantee that future generations will change the current state of society for the better. To make the future better, you need to preserve the present. The developers of one of the projects created a fundamentally new medium that looks like an ordinary DVD disc. Its fundamental difference is that information can be stored on it for more than a thousand years. Even the most reliable hard drives cannot boast such a temporary warranty. Such a long period of time will ensure that the data can be analyzed over several centuries without loss of quality. It is practiced in modern society to create time capsules into which an M-disk is inserted. Now such discs are available for sale and the average price is three dollars. Not a single computer today can guarantee that the information recorded on it will last for ten centuries.

In conclusion, we can say that none of the methods guarantees the eternal safety of information, and justify hopes for an infinitely long use of devices, but science is moving and allows us to create more and more new developments in this area. Preserving history and passing on knowledge today to future generations, storing photos, paintings, songs or digital passwords – it doesn’t matter. The main thing is to store archives on such devices so that the information can be used in the future.

Final list of storage options

Let’s summarize so that you can make the right choice of device or method of storing information. Let's go through the points again:

1. HDD; — spacious, constant offline access is possible;
2. SSD; - durable, constant access, serious amount of information;
3. Flash drive; - durable, but fragile and there is a high risk of losing this device;
4. M-DISK; — serious amount of data, reasonable price, durable.
5. Of all the cloud storage services, the most popular are the following:
6. DropBox;
7. Yandex.Disk;
8. Radikal (for storing photos and graphics)
   Google (GDocuments is especially focused on storing text files and tables)

When choosing a device for long-term data storage, you need to determine the type of data. Recommendations on which files are best stored where.

1. It is better to store archives of family photos on disks that are not intended for rewriting, because there are often cases when, by pure accident, very necessary photos are erased. Every user has encountered this. It is not possible to recover data from a CD or DVD-RW. These are materials that under no circumstances can be restored - it is impossible to download photographs from the nineteenth century on the Internet, unless someone posted them there at the time of creation. It is better to keep such claims “under the pillow” or in the same place where photo albums are stored.
2. Documents are files that are much smaller in volume than media, so they are written to a flash card, which cannot be rewritten using auxiliary programs. Working from a flash drive is much more convenient than from an optical disk, regardless of its format. Just don’t forget about mechanical damage to the device, which can permanently destroy the information recorded on the media.
3. It is more convenient to store a collection of music or videos on a hard drive, since this is a file format that is accessed regularly. It is inconvenient to constantly connect an external device, but files on the screw are freely available around the clock.
4. It is better to store the materials that users use on the cloud so that they can be accessed online from access points located at a distance from each other. Please note that if you are disconnected from the network while editing files, a backup copy is regularly created, which is restored when the connection is resumed. For users, mandatory registration in such services becomes a negative argument. Few people like to leave contact information to use this or that service.

WATCH THE VIDEO

Now you know all the ways to store information. Ask questions to the experts.

A fundamentally new method of storing, recording and reading information is proposed. Instead of a plastic CD, a quartz disk is used. Information is applied by laser not to the surface, but into the volume of the disk in layers, and is also recorded using so-called nanogratings, due to which not one, but several (up to five) bits of data are recorded at one point. A fundamentally new method of recording information ensures its safety for millions and even billions of years.

Description:

Scientists have proposed a fundamentally new way of storing, recording and reading information. Instead of a plastic CD, a quartz disk is used.

A fundamentally new method of recording information ensures its safety for millions and even billions of years.

The method of recording on quartz differs from recording on a CD in that the information is applied laser not on the surface, but in the volume of the disk in layers, and is also recorded with so-called nanogratings, due to which in one point Not one, but several (up to five) bits of data are recorded.

This type of memory is called multi-level bulk memory. As a result, the volume of recorded data is several times larger. On such a disk it is possible to store information on the order of a terabyte of information (1 TB = 1024 GB). For example, on such a disc it will be possible to record about 500 films or more than 200,000 archival documents. Thus, the archive of the Gosfilmofond of Russia contains 70 thousand titles of films, which means they will all fit on 140 CDs instead of huge archival repositories with film.

In addition, the quartz disk is characterized by a high degree of resistance to high pressures (up to 4000 N) and temperatures (up to 900 0 C) - it is able to survive a fire without loss of information. He is also not afraid of electromagnetic radiation.

Modern storage media have a maximum lifespan of 10-20 years, after which the information must be rewritten to another storage medium. There is no need to rewrite information from quartz disks.

Imported analogues are limited in terms of life (up to 1000 years), cost and are not resistant to fires and high temperatures. pressures.

Principle of recording method:

Under the influence of femtosecond laser radiation in oxide stacks of quartz glass are formed highly stable structures– nanogratings that have the effect of light birefringence. Each nanolattice is an information pit—a point that carries data. Such points modify the reader radiation incident on them in several dimensions, which makes it possible to encode several bits of data at one point (5D format).

Advantages:

– eternal storage of information,

– resistance to high temperatures,

– resistance to high pressure,

– the ability to store a large amount of information (terabytes of information),

– resistance to electromagnetic radiation.

Application:

Long-term archival storage of data for:

– state archives,

– state library collections,

– medical institutions,

– defense industry organizations.

Storage of storage media

The concept of “storage” in our case largely corresponds to the term “safety”. Storage– the basis for ensuring safety. Definition " safety"(in accordance with Russian standard 7.50-90. Conservation of documents. General requirements) is interpreted as the state of the document, characterized by the degree of retention of operational properties. There is no doubt that any document is recorded on some specific medium. If a document is damaged, destroyed and may ultimately be lost, then it is pointless to raise issues of ensuring storage and safety. In information services, stored materials are placed in special storage facilities (stock storage facilities, film storage facilities, archives, etc.).

For example, the first sound repository is considered to be the laboratory of T.A., created in the USA in 1877. Edison, in Europe - the Vienna Phonogram Archive, created in 1899.

Data security primarily depends on the properties of storage media materials. Thus, photographic materials are afraid of high temperatures and their sharp fluctuations, light, dust, dampness and certain chemicals. Magnetic-coated media is susceptible to magnetic and electromagnetic fields. Although they are to a lesser extent than the previous ones, they depend on climatic storage conditions.

Records should be stored strictly vertically in sections of 35–40 pieces. Sound recordings are stored away from heat sources and direct sunlight. The optimal temperature in a sound recording storage should be about 15°C, relative air humidity – 50%.

Magnetic tapes should be protected from drying out and magnetic fields. It is recommended that they be placed in plastic bags and stored in a dust-free atmosphere, protected from direct access to sunlight, and not exposed to strong magnetic fields created by various electrical devices. Thus, the UK standard (1988) recommends maintaining the following environmental conditions: temperature 18–22° C, relative humidity 33–45% for long-term storage, which is defined as a period exceeding six months.

When information is stored on magnetic tape for a long time, its aging occurs, which consists of a change in the characteristics of the medium. For magnetic tapes made of polyethylene terephthalate, over 50 years the characteristics change by no more than 10%.

Magnetic tapes, sealed in plastic bags and placed in boxes at a distance of at least 80 mm from any possible source of magnetic fields, are stored on special shelves in a vertical position. Flexible disks (floppy disks) are placed in envelopes made of impregnated polymer film that does not accumulate electrostatic charges. The inside of the envelopes is lined with a soft material that ensures the cleanliness of the surface of the floppy disks.

To extend the life of magnetic tapes and disks, supply and exhaust ventilation is used in their storage rooms, and in storage rooms and rooms where work with documents is carried out, air conditioning is used to remove harmful impurities (sulfur compounds, nitrogen oxides, etc.), which accelerate the process natural aging of information layer components. Materials used to cover the floors, walls and ceilings of rooms in which magnetic tapes are used should not collect dust or be a source of dust. The dust content in the air should not exceed 10 dust particles per 1 square meter. cm (no more than 10 microns).

It is advisable to store microforms in fireproof cabinets, since they are destroyed faster than paper under the influence of water and fire during fires and other natural disasters. They are recommended to be stored at a temperature not exceeding 21°C and low relative humidity. For microforms for permanent storage, a temperature of no higher than 12°C is desirable, and for microforms for long-term storage – no higher than 15°C.

Cellulose-based films should be stored at 15-40% humidity, and polyester-based films should be stored at 30-40% humidity with a maximum of 55-60%. At relative humidity levels greater than 60%, mold appears, and at values ​​below 45%, the film may deform and become brittle.

When storing, roll microfilms should be placed in containers made of acid-free cardboard, format microfilms - in envelopes made of acid-free paper. Requirements for racks and cabinets for storing microforms and their location in storage rooms, as well as the requirements for the premises themselves, are determined by GOSTs.

In America, microforms intended for transmission to future generations are placed in sealed stainless steel capsules (with the films pre-conditioned at very low humidity) and stored underground in a mine at a temperature of 10 ° C. According to experts, such conditions ensure the safety of the insurance fund for 1000 years or more.

Roll microfilms are stored in aluminum boxes, microfiche - in separate paper envelopes or transparent film, which are placed in special metal cabinets located at a distance of at least 1 m from heating devices.

Microfilms for current storage should be stored at a temperature of no more than 20 ° C and a relative humidity of 50 ± 5%.

In general, microforms, like the originals, require careful monitoring of temperature and humidity conditions. Strictly follow this rule for negatives - inviolable copies stored in conditions of low temperature and relative humidity.

CD storage media are becoming increasingly popular. It was established by calculation that CD-R “discs” with a recording can be preserved for 75 years (cyanine dye), 100 years (phthalocyanine dye – “gold” discs) and 200 years (modified phthalocyanine dye – platinum discs). An unrecorded disc is stored for 5–10 years. On CD-RW There are no set storage periods. Companies usually guarantee the number of rewrite cycles.

There is an opinion among foreign experts that during long-term storage, machine-readable data is subject to external influences that can affect the reliability of the data. Machine-readable information may be distorted, damaged, or deleted as a result of careless handling or unauthorized access. However, it has been practically established that with strict adherence to technological processes for processing information, creating the necessary instructions, accompanying materials, etc. Machine-readable data can not only be stored for a long time, but also have full legal force.

Until now, we stored our most important files on hard drives and DVDs, which only had a shelf life of a few years. Thanks to the advent of new technologies, more reliable digital storage of information is now available. CHIP will tell you about them. By the end of 2012, humanity will have accumulated a total of 2,500,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes (2,500 exabytes) of information. Our mind is hardly capable of comprehending such a magnitude. It is even more difficult to accept the fact that the data stored on a hard drive will physically disappear after years - these drives have a short service life. Today, the most popular method of long-term data storage is DVD. However, about 43% of users save their files on media whose lifespan is even shorter than that of optical disks. This leads to a paradoxical result: important documents, photographs and videos are placed on media that obviously cannot be trusted. However, there are several relatively expensive solutions for long-term archiving of important files. We will present three such technologies in the article: two types of rewritable disks and a specially prepared flash drive. All of them guarantee the safety of your files for a period of 100 to 1000 years, and subject to certain conditions - even longer. In addition, we will briefly look at other methods that also promise to store files securely.

Expiration date of digital media

Hard drives are not protected from numerous external factors, such as dampness and heat. They also cannot tolerate vibration and shock. Solid-state hard drives do not have moving parts, but their memory cells are far from eternal. In everyday use, they can withstand, as a rule, no more than 10,000 rewrite cycles, after which the flash memory resource is exhausted. And even if you just wrote data to them once, these media will lose their charge in just a few years.

When choosing a hard drive for long-term archiving, there are other things to consider, including the possibility of corrosion on the contacts. In addition, the NTFS file system, which is almost universally used for data backup, was developed by Microsoft and is not an open standard. It is unlikely to survive the disappearance of the Windows operating system. And who can promise that this OS will work on our computers in the next ten years? The same can be applied to “cloud” technologies: no one guarantees us the prosperous existence of Google or Amazon in 20 years. In contrast to all of the above, storing information on “blanks” has the advantage that the procedure for writing and reading data is completely standardized. In case of emergency, your files can even be read using an electron microscope.

Do blank CDs and DVDs have a future as a means of long-term archiving? We can say with certainty: no, if they were purchased at the computer market or in a regular store. Often such media have the lowest possible level of quality due to many years of price struggle among manufacturers. But there is still a way out of this situation.

Why do DVDs last so long?

Three factors affect the lifespan of optical discs: sunlight attacks the organic dye, the metal layer oxidizes, and polycarbonate cannot withstand high temperatures.

Differences in quality

Testing carried out on behalf of French government authorities showed that even drives of the same brand do not fail equally quickly. The study was conducted according to ECMA-379 standards at a temperature of 80 °C and air humidity of 85%.

M-Disc: Stone disc - forever

M-Discs record information on a layer of mineral material, like stone. The manufacturer guarantees the safety of files for 1000 years. Millenniata's development is devoid of the biggest drawback of a conventional DVD disc. After all, its safety depends on the state of the organic layer on which the laser beam is recording, as well as the state of the metal in the reflective layer. The danger for standard media is the gradual oxidation of the reflective layer, which usually consists of aluminum or silver. Some manufacturers - for example, Verbatim - use gold or an alloy of silver and gold for long-term storage “blanks”. True, this allows us to solve only a very small part of the problem. When it comes to the influence of environmental conditions, it is the dye that turns out to be the most vulnerable point: bright sunlight, high humidity and temperature contribute to the dissolution of the dye layer, and with it the saved files disappear.

When recording on an M-Disc, information is burned not onto the dye, but onto a layer of inorganic substance consisting of a mixture of metals and semi-metals - oxides of silicon and carbon. For obvious reasons, the manufacturer does not provide more precise information about the composition of the material. Another difference from recorded DVDs is that M-Disc burning requires significantly higher laser power, and the maximum recording speed is 4x. In this case, the material at the points where the laser hits is melted. Thus, the laser burns microscopic holes in the information layer, making the reflective metal layer unnecessary.

M-Disc drive device. The data is contained in a layer of inorganic mineral material similar to rock. During the recording process, the laser burns depressions in this layer.

Low cost recording devices for private users

The best thing about Millenniata technology is its accessibility to ordinary users. A number of models from LG - for example, the GH22NS90-M, costing about 1,600 rubles - can record a new type of blanks. This is ensured by special firmware that recognizes M-Disc and increases laser power. These media can already be purchased in the Amazon online store for €35 (1,400 rubles) per pack of ten pieces. This is a very reasonable price for a new product.

We tested the storage reliability of M-Disc data in our test lab by placing the discs in an ultraviolet chamber. There they were exposed to intense ultraviolet radiation for 72 hours. They moved it with ease, just like the glass master disc (see below). Cheap Sony brand blanks placed in the same chamber became completely unreadable, and expensive Verbatim Archival Grade media showed an increase in the number of reading errors by almost 300%.

Endurance test: branded DVDs have no chance

The US Navy laboratory conducted comparative testing of DVD and M-Disc. For 24 hours, both types of media were kept at a temperature of 85 °C and air humidity of 85%. After this, DVD blanks were practically unreadable, although M-Disc also had reading errors.

Glass master: Etched on glass

All information is recorded on a special glass disc. He is able to preserve what is recorded for 1000 years, being not only on Earth, but also in space. Even more durable than the M-Disc with its mineral layer is the glass disc. The young German company Syylex offers glass master discs (GlassMasterDisc), which do not have the weak point of M-Disc format media - polycarbonate layers that protect the active layer. And although the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has specified a shelf life for M-Disc of 1000 years (the letter M in the name stands for Millenium, that is, millennium), polycarbonate can only withstand extreme temperature changes for a short period of time.

Resistance to high temperature and radiation

If you want to get a media that is not only durable, but also resistant to external influences (natural disasters, fires and radiation), you should choose a glass disk. Its characteristics are comparable to Duran borosilicate glass, which has chemical resistance superior to many other materials. Only liquid acids and caustic alkalis can dissolve it at temperatures above 100 °C. This glass remains strong up to 500 °C and softens only when heated above 850 °C. A disk made of such glass can withstand even the conditions of outer space, that is, temperatures close to absolute zero and solar radiation. Of course, you won’t be able to burn this type of media yourself - this can only be done with special equipment. The production time for an “eternal” disk for an ordinary user is from five to ten days from the moment the data is sent to Syylex, and this service costs about €150 (6,000 rubles) per media.

The first stages of Syylex disc production are similar to the creation of a master disc (see left). After this, a reflective layer is also applied so that the media is readable in a conventional optical drive. Finally, a second glass disk is attached using UV-curable adhesive. It provides mechanical strength to the carrier so that it cannot be broken.

The information layer itself consists of glass, in which recesses are etched. The reflective metal layer ensures that the disc can be played in any BD or DVD drive.

The French laboratory Laboratoire national de metrologie et d'essais tested the lifespan of glass storage devices. During testing, various types of disks were subjected to prolonged exposure to a temperature of 90 °C and an air humidity of 85%. Under such conditions, pressed DVD-ROMs became unreadable after 375 hours, and home-recorded discs failed much earlier. And only the glass disk passed the test with honor, which lasted 1500 hours.

Glass disc production

The manufacturing process is more like creating a microcircuit than the usual burning of a blank. Therefore, it is carried out in a clean room.

Memory Vault: Long-term protection

SanDisk provides a 100-year warranty on corrosion-resistant drives. The theoretically calculated data storage period is as much as 1,300 years. SanDisk offers users a Memory Vault drive, a flash memory-based device for long-term file storage. The built-in controller allows you to erase and write data, but after a certain number of cycles the media switches to read-only mode. When this happens, SanDisk specialists are silent, but the user will be able to notice the approach of such a moment by increasing the blinking frequency of the built-in LED. This protection mechanism prevents accelerated wear of memory cells, but over time they still undergo “natural aging.” The rate of such “aging” greatly depends on the temperature at which the drive is stored.

Coolness promotes long-term data retention

A flash memory cell is a transistor with an additional chip (floating gate) that stores electrons. The applied voltage allows electrons to either flow through the oxide film into the floating gate or exit during the data erase procedure. The number of electrons stored in this way determines the bit value of a particular flash memory cell. Whether electrons can penetrate the gate oxide film depends on their energy. In addition to electricity, the movement of electrons can be facilitated by high temperature, while the storage device itself may be in an inactive state.

To check the shelf life of memory cells in Memory Vault, SanDisk specialists increased the ambient temperature to 125 ° C and measured at what point the media begins to lose stored information. Under such external conditions, this process begins relatively quickly: the storage period of the recorded data was almost 350 hours. Based on the most unfavorable actual ambient temperature (about 40 °C), this means file integrity for approximately 105 years.

When a voltage is applied to the control electrode, electrons move from the channel to the floating gate and accumulate there. When a voltage with reverse polarity is applied, they come out.

SanDisk's official advertising guarantees just a 100-year data storage period, but if you lower the temperature to normal room temperature (20 °C), Memory Vault is capable of storing recorded data for 1300 years. However, over such a long period, other factors will also play a role - for example, corrosion of the drive board. To prevent corrosion, SanDisk covers the memory chip with a protective layer. All this is reflected in the price of the gadget: an eight-gigabyte drive costs about €40 (1,600 rubles), and a 16-gigabyte modification costs more than €60 (2,400 rubles).

Life time

Industry standard JESD22-A117B testing allows you to predict when a flash drive will fail. The technique is based on the fact that the lifespan of one cell, depending on the external temperature, decreases exponentially.

Other long-term storage technologies

Holographic memory: 4 TB disk

The specification for HVD (Holographic Versatile Disc) discs was ready at the end of 2004. The volume of such media was supposed to reach 3.9 TB, and the data transfer speed was 1 Gbit/s. The wonderful dream of a successor to the Blu-ray format, which would make even modern hard drives obsolete, was not destined to come true: the technical difficulties turned out to be too great. However, today General Electric continues to develop this technology. At the beginning of 2009, GE specialists first presented their holographic storage medium - a transparent disk the size of a regular DVD, on which up to 500 GB of data could be recorded. Due to the fact that information was written directly into the disk material and no additional dye layer was required, holographic technology was expected to provide significantly longer data storage times. Former competitors such as InPhase Technologies expected data retention of at least 50 years. In a GE disk, a single hologram measuring 0.3 x 5 micrometers represents one bit of information. All holograms are located in the same way as on modern Blu-ray or DVD discs, and the number of layers on a new format drive can be from 50 to 100. Therefore, the amount of information that fits on such a disc is much larger. This arrangement of recorded data is intended to make existing playback devices compatible with the types of drives that are available on the market today. Thus, GE aims to win both corporate and private customers.

Magnetic tape drives: shelf life - up to 30 years

The traditional means of data storage for professionals is magnetic tape. Hard magnetic drives have long overtaken them in terms of recording density, and the trend in server systems is increasingly in favor of fast SSD drives. Despite all this, magnetic tape still holds its position in the market for long-term archiving tools, since it is capable of providing reliable storage of information for 30 years. True, for this a number of conditions must be met: firstly, a regularly rewritable tape must be replaced after a few years, and secondly, long-term storage must occur under strict conditions (ideal parameters are humidity 30–40% and air temperature 15–25 °C).

At the same time, magnetic tape as a medium continues to improve: data storage density and recording speed are increasing. For almost a decade now, Linear Tape Open (LTO) recording technology has been around, a single recording specification for magnetic tapes and drives, to which major manufacturers such as HP and IBM have joined. The LTO consortium is focused on a project plan that provides for the creation of a new generation of solutions every two years, and the new generation must be compatible with the devices of the previous one.

Currently, the most modern LTO-5 magnetic tape drives have a maximum data transfer rate of up to 300 MB/s and can record up to 3 TB of data. Their most important feature is a file system called LTFS (Linear Tape File System), which allows you to connect drives to computers running Windows OS and simply drag and drop files to back up data.

LTO-6 devices will appear on the European market presumably in the second half of this year. They will have a capacity of up to 8 TB and a maximum data transfer speed of up to 525 MB/s. A magnetic tape drive allows you to record a larger amount of data compared to a conventional hard drive, and its throughput is within the limits of modern SSD media.

Write-protected SD-Card

For those who do not want to store data on short-lived disks, a flash drive is the best option. The only problem is that frequent rewriting shortens the life of such media. The SDCard Write Once model from Toshiba has built-in overwrite protection. Thanks to this, it is impossible to accidentally erase recorded files, and viruses will also be too tough for them. The only difference between this card and the Memory Vault described above is the lack of anti-corrosion protection. It is worth noting that SD-Card Write Once was conceived for use in highly specialized areas - for example, in the legal field, for preserving evidence or evidence.

"Toughie"

Flash memory cells are a perfectly acceptable storage medium, but they cannot be considered the optimal solution: they have high power consumption, and their service life leaves much to be desired. Of the technologies offered today, F-RAM is the most preferred due to its high reliability. It uses materials with ferroelectric properties, such as barium titanate, to record information. F-RAM technology is widely used today in RFID chips because it requires very little energy to write data to them. In addition, their memory cells can withstand radiation and even powerful gamma radiation. They are therefore suitable as identification tags for medical devices that are regularly sterilized using ionizing radiation.

How many happy moments life gives us: weddings, discharge from maternity hospital, anniversaries, last call, and simply every birthday of your child! Happy families, as the classic said, are all alike. Their home certainly has one attribute: a photo and video archive. Loving hearts cherish the baby's first step, the first lesson, the parents' wedding anniversary.

Scientific achievements have made it possible to store a colossal amount of information on various media. This is the solution! And we download all the photos and videos onto them. All your past, all your memories. Are we taking risks? A prudent person will not store money in one place, will not put it in one bank account, but will place it in several. How can we trust our memories to one device? Money is a gain, and happy moments of the past will not be repeated.

The most difficult thing we face when preserving our family memories on video is storing our video archive. Where should I store my videos? And how can this storage be made safe and durable?

Today, there are different media that allow you to store large amounts of information. But there are also those that have long been outdated, but still clutter up the space in some families.

Let's consider as much as possible all the options that may even be familiar to you.

1. Betakam

What is this: a box similar to a VHS cassette that records video on magnetic tape.

What are they: compact “S” (156×96×25 mm) and studio “L” (245×145×25 mm).

Usage: only in professional studios and on television.

Price: from 1100 rubles for one cassette.

Minuses: To view it you need special equipment, which costs from 3 million rubles.

Pros: These media are highly reliable and can be stored for decades.

For us: Not suitable for home use. If you found such tapes in your archives, it means you or one of the older family members was connected with television. Perhaps there is a television star or politician in your family?)

How to save: You won’t be able to watch such tapes, but don’t rush to throw them away. Now there are many companies that offer video digitization from any media. The cost of digitization from Betakama starts from 600 rubles per hour of video.

What is this: a well-known box that made a breakthrough in the USSR, giving the common man the opportunity to watch films at home. It was enough to buy a VCR to watch movies and home videos without leaving home.

What are they: vary in possible recording time up to 3 – 6 hours.

Usage: home use, video movie rentals, sale of movies for home viewing.

Price: about 200 rubles.

Minuses: the film tends to break down.

Pros: in the 90s it was accessible to almost anyone, easy to record and use. The ability to watch the recording immediately after shooting, if you had a video recorder.

For us: Of course, they are no longer needed. But many families still have such tapes.

3. Cinema and photo film

What is this: a perforated tape made of transparent and flexible material, which was used by Soviet-era users to take photographs and videos, and by professionals to make films. However, even now it is possible, but extremely expensive.

What are they: Available in widths of 8, 16, 35, 65 and 75 mm. It comes in color and black and white, negative, reversible and positive.

Usage: in cinema, on television and for ordinary users. You and I remember our film cameras, which we took to photo centers for development.

Price: prices for a new film camera start at 50,000 rubles, and film for 36 frames can be purchased for about 600 rubles

Minuses: Amateur film needs to be taken to special centers to be developed and wait several days for the results. Or, develop the film yourself, which is very interesting and for some is a hobby. Professional film can only be viewed using special equipment.

Pros: It’s difficult to talk about this. Everything once just began with film...what now becomes fashion and memories. For connoisseurs of film cinema and film photography, this is a value.

For us: no longer necessary if you are not a connoisseur of film photography. Today you can buy such a camera and develop photographs yourself. The picture quality is different.

What is this: a digital storage medium made in the form of a disk. At the end of the 90s. replaced VHS cassettes.

What are they: DVD discs are divided by volume:

• 4.5 GB - the standard, most common DVD disc; you can record video on it with a capacity of no more than 4.5 GB
• 8.5 GB – you can record videos of no more than 8.5 GB on it
• 25 GB – Blu-ray disc on which you can record 5,000 – 10,000 songs or 35 movies of average quality, as well as heavy files in very good quality.

Usage: use at home is very common today, despite the fact that disks have begun to replace flash media.

Price: very different and depends on the circulation. Let's say, a 4.5 GB DVD disc can cost 55 rubles, and if you buy a set of 10 discs, then 450 rubles for all 10. If the circulation is large, then the price per piece can be 6 rubles.

Minuses: as I wrote in my last article, each equipment (DVD player or drive) may not accept certain video codecs or formats in which the DVD was recorded. That is why, at the most inopportune moment, a DVD disc may not show your film. Another disadvantage is that discs tend to get scratched, and the more scratches there are, the less likely it is that the video will be shown without defects.

For us: the optimal solution for a gift. In addition, in some cafes and restaurants you can still watch a donated film only through a DVD disc. It turns out that this video recording medium is still popular.

5. Flash drives or USB drives

What is this: a storage device used to store videos, photos, documents and connects to any device with a USB interface and more.

What are they:

• Various volumes. Before purchasing a flash drive, you need to determine what it is for. Text files take up little space, while photos and videos take up much more. Sometimes even 8 GB of memory will not be enough to record video files. Since I work with video, I prefer to use flash drives with a large amount of memory: 16, 32, 64 GB, and most often hard drives of 1-2 TB.
• Reading speed. Many people do not pay much attention to this parameter, but it is quite important and represents an important function. Have you ever noticed that files from a flash drive are copied faster on one computer than on another? That's exactly what it is - reading speed. The flash drive connection interface can be of two types: USB 2.0 and USB 3.0. A USB 2.0 flash drive operates at a speed of no higher than 60 MB/s, and a USB 3.0 640 MB/s and is considered a high-speed drive.
• Different shapes. Flash drives can be of different shapes: round, square, sometimes even in the form of intricate shapes. The main thing is that the shape of the flash drive should not interfere with working with a computer. It happens that when using a round flash drive, it is not possible to insert another flash drive with additional information into the nearest USB input. It is better to use a standard simple form for work.
• Case material. Pay attention to what the flash drive is made of. It can be a rubberized surface, which makes the flash drive shock-resistant, a plastic one - less durable, and finally, a metal one - it is considered the most durable.

As you can see, there is a wide variety, you just need to determine for what purpose you need a flash drive. You can transfer temporary files on a flash drive made of plastic - it is lightweight. For archiving important documents, it is better to use a metal one. For trips and travels, especially in extreme conditions, a rubberized flash drive will be useful. But for beautiful storage of family videos, you can choose something extraordinary: made of wood or in the shape of your favorite symbol.

You will be surprised, but that's not all!

There are XD flash drives - this is a very old type, and usually does not exceed 2 GB of memory.

MMC flash drive – you’ve seen these cards in mobile phones and smartphones.

SD flash drive is the most common type of flash drive and is used for all modern cameras. It is very convenient to work with such media; just take the card out of your camera, insert it into your computer, and you will enjoy the videos or photos you have taken. If your computer does not have such a connector, it is enough to purchase a “card reader” - a device that connects to the computer via USB - a kind of adapter for your computer.

A micro SD flash drive is, in simple terms, the same as SD, only smaller. At the same time, it is not inferior in characteristics to SD.

Usage: Flash drives are used everywhere, including by professionals, from designers to office managers, as well as at home.

Price: the spread is large. A 1 GB flash drive can be bought for 300 rubles, and cheaper in bulk. But for 64 GB you will have to pay more than 1000 rubles.

Minuses: Like any equipment, they can break. Unfortunately, no one is immune from this. You need to come to terms with this and be alert.

Pros: Without a doubt, this is the most convenient and capacious way to store and transfer your photos, videos and documents.

How to save: try not to use a flash drive on a MAC if it was used in Windows and vice versa. Always remove the flash drive from the computer only after it has been properly disconnected. Do not throw the flash drive or abruptly remove it from the camera or computer. Don't let these media get full, always leave some free space.

Don’t store everything in a single copy, duplicate it on other media! Even if it just lies there, it can still let you down at the most important moment. Recovering data will be expensive, and sometimes even impossible.

6. Hard drives

What is this: the same as a flash drive, only bigger, stronger, more powerful and durable! The hard drive has a capacity of 100 GB. Now there are lightweight portable drives with a storage capacity of 2 TB. There are also more than 2 TB, but these are more suitable not for transferring information, but for storage at home or in the office on a computer desk as additional computer memory.

What are they: the most common ones in terms of memory capacity are 100 GB, 500 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB, as well as in the shape and material of the case. A hard drive, like a flash drive, can be made of metal, plastic, or have a rubberized surface. You know which one is better from the description of flash drives.

Usage: Like flash drives, hard drives are used by everyone, everywhere, and most of all by professionals. If you are a photographer, videographer, or designer, a hard drive is a must for you.

Price: the cost starts from 2,000 rubles and can exceed 10,000 rubles.

Minuses: like any technology, they can act up, break down, and suddenly not be read by your computer (especially if the disk is first used in a Windows system and then a Mac). There is a risk of losing important information from it.

Pros: Despite its high cost, a hard drive is by far the best way to collect and store your video library and pass it on to your loved ones for viewing. Hard drives are generally durable if you treat them well. They save you money: two or three good hard drives are much more convenient than 10 small flash drives scattered around the house.

I use a 2TB or larger hard drive that sits on my desktop as additional computer storage, as well as several portable hard drives for transport and remote work.

How to save: do not remove the disk without turning it off in the computer, do not drop it and carry it carefully. Do not pull it out of the USB by the wire. Try not to use a hard drive on Windows that has been in a MAC and vice versa. Don't fill their memory to capacity, leave some air in their space.

7. Cloud storage

What are they: There are many options to choose from to suit your taste. Just look for what the Internet offers today.

• Temporary. They allow you to transfer a particular file within a certain period of time. The downloaded information will be stored for free for 3, 7, 14 days (everyone has their own rules), and then, if you want to extend the storage, either pay or download again.
• Full storage. It's like iCloud. True, in addition to it, there are many other storage facilities that allow you to store your video library for a long time. It is enough to pay for a subscription for a year at the rate of the volume you have chosen and for the whole year upload your videos into them, distribute them into folders, sign, share with friends, allow loved ones to access the storage for editing and downloading or adding.

Price: Cloud file storage is not a cheap pleasure at first glance. But, if you compare the amount for a large number of purchased hard drives with the price for an annual cloud subscription, the second one will become much more economical. Plus it's really convenient.

All you have to do is find your benefit in the offered prices and, of course, determine for yourself all the conveniences in using this service of a particular cloud. For example, iCloud offers 5GB of storage space by default, while Dropbox only offers 2GB. However, iCloud will be most convenient for active Apple users, and Dropbox will be chosen by fans of other systems, however, it is extremely versatile!

Pros: extremely convenient to use. Allows you to access your files anywhere, from any computer, easily synchronizes with smartphones and allows you to upload videos, photos, documents to the cloud instantly from your phone. Allows you to actively and quickly share files with other users: create shared folders by topic, create groups. An indispensable business assistant for quickly exchanging heavy files, documents, videos and photos and for general access to all company employees. Reduces the number of wires under the table, on the table and rids the room of clutter.

Minuses: Despite all the ease of use, the cloud is not much superior to a hard drive in terms of storage reliability. Of course, the risk of losing files on your hard drive is greater than those stored in virtual space. However, we should not forget that the banks in which we store our funds can be closed, robbed, and in the end they can go bankrupt or explode. Today no one can give you guarantees of anything. That is why each of us remains responsible for our own property, despite the fact that one or another gives you even 1% out of 100 that something will go wrong with your data. I recommend duplicating important or valuable materials so as not to experience that small percentage, which, of course, if it happens, will certainly happen to you.

I hope I was able to help you understand or understand something new about storage media. But most importantly! Grab your VHS cassettes and films immediately. Digitize them. Upload to the cloud and burn to your hard drive. Protect your memories from destruction!