In my last article, A Long Essay on the “Shortgevity” of Computer Media, I explored the shelf lives for various computer media and the best options for long-term data storage. No matter what kind of data medium you’re using, here are additional tips to help your data archives last longer with relatively few worries.

1. Use fault-tolerant storage mechanisms: When compressing data, consider the algorithm’s ability to resist corruption in the long term. From this standpoint, RAR is a better compression tool than ZIP or gzip because it comes with built-in redundancy. That is, if any one part of the data in your RAR archive is corrupted, you should still be able to recover the data if the problem isn’t too widespread. With other archives, this isn’t possible to the same extent.
2. Use open standards for data formatting: If saving files for the long term, save a copy in HTML, XML, RTF and/or other plain ASCII formats. Then you won’t have to worry if Microsoft Word is still going to be around in 50 years. Sticking to plain vanilla data formats rather than program-specific ones will help ensure that your data will still be readable the next time you want it. Consider saving it in both formats for dual benefits: ease of access now, plus continued access later. (See, for example, Convert Many Word Documents to ASCII At Once.)
3. Take care of your media: Buy new stuff. Optimal shelf life is only good if you first get your hands on the disc, USB drive, etc. when it’s still at the beginning of its life cycle. Also make sure to store your media properly: in cool, dry, and dark areas and containers.
4. Make a plan for back-ups: Whether it’s daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly, make sure you have a schedule for backing up your files. Maybe then you’ll actually remember to do it. (Wishful thinking, huh?)
5. Refresh your archives: Copy your data to new discs or other storage media every so often. This is great to back things up and also help make sure you won’t have disintegrated media woes.
   
6. Lossy Compression Awareness: One of the most prevalent photo file formats is JPG. JPG files are small because they are compressed. They use what’s called “lossy compression”, which means that they sacrifice some image quality for the sake of space. It’s not a bad thing, just something to be aware of. In the previous tip, I recommended refreshing your data every once in a while by copying it elsewhere. If you copy a JPG file by opening it in an image editor and then doing a Save-As, you may be inadvertently compressing it further, subjecting it to yet more image-quality loss.
7. Use a Version Control System: In my previous article I mentioned that an external hard disk drive is probably your best “first line of defense” storage medium. One way to take advantage of that is to set it up as a version control repository. See Version Control - A Developer’s Best Friend — although version-control isn’t just for developers. Non-developers might need help setting up a VCS repository, but thanks to easy-to-use tools like TortoiseSVN, which extends the Windows Explorer, storing data into, and retrieving data out of, a VCS repository is just a matter of right-clicking.

Related articles:

• A Long Essay on the “Shortgevity” of Computer Media
• Convert Many Word Documents to ASCII At Once
• Rotating Backups

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