Long-term storage for documents

Hi guys! How are you doing?

I need some help deciding this.

Currently I have 3 SSDs (2 m2 and 1 sata) and 2 HDD. I also have an external drive, but sice I've recently upgraded my ssds, I don't need it much.

Te question is: what is safer for long-term storage of documents, photos etc? - Safer in terms of lower chances of losing everything -.

Should I store them in my internal HDDs? In an external HDD? Can I store them in my SSDs?

What I'm doing is, I'm keeping my OS files in a partition, and the other partition I have my most used files in the moment. My photos and documents are stored in my older HDDs, which I don't access frequently.

Anyway, what do you guys say?

Thanks a lot!
 
This topic comes up a lot with my customers. I think you should keep 3 copies of everything you care about. The first copy is the one you use all the time. It can be on the computer on any drive. SSD drives have proven to be more reliable than an HDD.

The easiest way to make a 2nd local (local means the 2nd copy is nearby) copy is to use some synchronization software. This sees any file that has changed and then copies that over. This makes backup pretty fast since you are not backing up files you already have. I like Microsoft's Sync Toy. If you configure it "Contribute Mode" it is safe to use.

The third copy should be offsite. it's the only way to truly know your data is safe otherwise you could lose data for many many reasons like fire, theft, water damage, and a lightning strike. I usually throw in locusts to see if they are listening. =)

This offsite step is probably best done using a backup service. I usually use Carbonite and I get the cheapest 1-year plan they offer since it covers all internal drives and does not have a size limit.

If you are thinking archival then you could look at M-Disc. Supposedly these discs will last a super long time but I think the players to read them will give up first if we are talking about something that you want to be readable a long time from now.

 
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