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Need for “Exercising” Storage Hard Drives?
I have seen various posts on the need for “exercising” storage hard drives, and I do not do this (running 10 T storage in RAID 5 config, in case of a disc failure, which hasn’t happened yet!). Is the idea of such “exercising” a superstion, or is there either 1) definitive research on the topic, or 2) does anyone out there have experience in backing up with AND without it, with anecdotal (sp?) comments supporting the desirability/need for such exercising. ANY replies (please, no rants!) would be much appreciated.
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7 Replies
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Sure google for Sticktion. Hard drives not used for years can definitely fail. But then again hard drives are not ever advised for long-term archives. For that you want a dedicated medium such as LTO.
Noah
Unlock the secrets of 24p, HD and Final Cut Studio with Call Box Training. Featuring the Panasonic GH2 and Canon 7D.
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Thank you Noah for you informative and quick response!
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Good grief! Static adhesion – I had NO idea. I’ll be running mine frequently now. Thank you sooooooo much!
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Noah, might it be sensible to back up additionally the files on BD’s, following what you say. Many of us are reluctant to go the LTO tape route, the player/recorder is expensive and many production houses I’ve spoken to don’t like it anyway. I currently rely only on dedicated archive drives and run them frequently as you suggest. Do you see solid state non moving storage devices arriving soon?
Michael Slowe
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I’ve had LTO fail as well. Not only the retrieval, but the actual cartridge. Anything is subject to failure.
I currently do a project level back to two separate but identical hard drives. I store one in a vault and the other I keep in my office. I use airtight storage containers (Snapware) for the vault, which is in another building. When the project data is small, say below 50GB, I’ll go to BluRay as well.
I’ve got over 20TB of redundant drivespace (not all full)and no critical failures in the last five years. I do not “exercise” the drives in the vault, although it can’t hurt.
In my opinion, redundancy is the best back up plan.
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Yeah I’ve yet to see the perfect long term storage medium. LTO is best, if stored properly but way expensive.
Noah
Unlock the secrets of 24p, HD and Final Cut Studio with Call Box Training. Featuring the Panasonic GH2 and Canon 7D.
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Ultimately, multiple copies in different physical locations….in case of fire, theft, or other disaster.
Brent Dunn
Owner / Director / Editor
DunnRight Films
DunnRight Video.com
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with Final Cut StudioHP i7 Quad laptop
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