CF Card, SD Card, MicroSD Card Long Term Storage

[aplmak]

So been reading more and more about this. Varying factors matter between read and write speeds, etc. And typically 5-10 years. So let's say you restore a compact Mac for example and SE/30. You recap the main logic board, recap the power supply, analog board. And finally swap out the failing magnetic HDD's with let's say a SCSI2SD unit. I was glad I was able to grab a few of Artmix's PowerMonster CF SCSI adapter before he stopped making them. I even used one in a SCSI based voicemail system. It had the Quantum 120MB drives that the rubber internally converts to goo and no longer work.

But anyway my main question here is what kind of drive or storage device could you theoretically slap into an SE/30 and store it away for 10-15 years and and power it back on and have faith it still works? I have to say there were some magnetic hard drives that were quite reliable that have lasted over 30 years and I have a bunch. I've even got some Lisa widget's that work fine. Which leads me to the CF card solution in the Lisa.. same idea it's flash memory technology. Obviously in all of these old devices you cannot throw a SATA Enterprise SSD which probably could last quite a while (high quality). So what would you use personally if you were to do this and plan to store a machine away for quite a bit.. out of nostalgia purposes.

Personally I keep my data on magnetic, flash, and CD media and multiple drives.. I have many multiple copies. But back to my question about a solution for an SE/30 and a storage drive? Perhaps maybe a magnetic media Ultra Wide SCSI drive partitioned with an Ultra Wide adapter? Seeing how the reliability seems to be better on hard drives that are newer today and more refined? I don't know??

I'm sure there may already be a post about this.. so my apologies if I am redundant with my question.

 

[LaPorta]

I am sure that in a humidity-controlled, air-conditioned, protected environment, an SD card would last just fine. I have USB flash drives that are 15 years old and been through the washing machine...still work.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

I am sure that in a humidity-controlled, air-conditioned, protected environment, an SD card would last just fine. I have USB flash drives that are 15 years old and been through the washing machine...still work.

I've probably sent flash drives and microSD cards through the washing machine (and dryer) over a dozen times through the years... I never once had that kill one either. I even sent an old Android phone once many many years ago by mistake, but it was noticed before the dryer. Still works to this day, but it did kill the camera.

 

[Byrd]

What data would you have that's important: if not touched for 10 - 15 years apart from a few apps and games? Personally I'd not bother, SSD/SD/CF cards are not for archival use, perhaps set up something like a NAS which stores it all.