Still using m-disc for family photo albums and having them in the bug out bag in case something goes wrong. Inexpensive and light. Such a shame the disk format is dying.

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thomassmith65 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I agree, but it's worse than a shame: it's an indictment of the tech industry!

We have the entire planet storing all sorts of important business and personal data digitally - and no longer a good, common way to ensure it lasts even a decade.

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UltraSane 3 hours ago | parent [-]

LTO tape exists and should last 30 to 50 years in good storage conditions.

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Spooky23 22 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

For individuals? No.

LTO is enterprise gear that is not suitable for people. If you want to waste alot of time with backups, curate your stuff and get it on optical media. Better yet, print the good stuff on archival papers and ink and stow them securely.

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VikingCoder 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I have a normal PC...

I'd love some kind of external tape drive that I can connect with USB-C, or USB-3...

But everything is SAS? And no way to convert SAS to SATA?

Recommendations?

	▲	8fingerlouie 2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		No recommendations, just brings back memories of the “good old days” with QIC-80 tapes and ZIP drives, both of which came with “desktop” in mind. I still have a ZIP drive around with a parallel port connector. I haven’t owned a computer with a parallel port in 20+ years. I probably also have a QIC-80 tape drive around somewhere. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter-inch_cartridge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zip_drive
	▲	aidenn0 an hour ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		No recommendations, but you can get a thunderbolt to SAS adapter; they aren't cheap though.
	▲	UltraSane 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		The cheapest option is to get a SAS pcie card and a new drive like https://www.ebay.com/itm/198052084090 or try a much cheaper used drive. LTO drives are expensive but they are very well designed and it is the most reliable portable storage format available. Full LTO tapes in a good fire rated safe really provide a fantastic sense of security. The cost of the drive is amortized over the total bytes you store.

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8fingerlouie 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Assuming you need to “get up and go”, like a refugee situation, what are the chances that you’ll find a drive that can read Blu-ray disks, versus the chances that you’ll find a LTO tape drive ?

	▲	aidenn0 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Blu-ray drives are fast becoming hard to find, so I'd pack a USB bluray drive with your discs. New computers don't have them and haven't for a few years. I purchased a drive recently and to get a quality drive, I had to go for a NOS pioneer drive, or get another LG, and the LG drives are kid-of shit.

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throwaway94275 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

For DVDs: Walmart still sells a USB reader/burner for $30. Also I'd bet something will be able to read recordable disks in the future even without drives. Maybe a super super high resolution (compared to now) picture can simply be used to get the data from it visually in 30-40 years.

	▲	aidenn0 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		I'm hoping a few years down the road we'll have a greaseweazel equivalent for optical drives.

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dehrmann 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> Such a shame the disk format is dying.

On one hand, yes, it's dying. On the other, a PS5 can play DVDs, so there's one class of popular, modern hardware where it's alive and well.

	▲	dmonitor 27 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		The disc reader on consoles is optional these days. Nowadays many are opting for digital only variants. It's likely those will be the only option in ~10 years, or they'll switch to flash key cards (like the Switch) just to appease retailers.