Memory card degradation?

[97'Scort]

I've spent the last month or so since moving out here to take pictures of everything I have, just in case something ever happens and I need to go through my home/car insurance for something. I planned to burn everything to a DVD (including a backup of finances, insurance policies, etc) and put it in a safety deposit box. The problem is, and I didn't know this going in, was that deposit box width is about 0.5 cm less than a DVD.

So my new plan is to put everything on a 4 gig SD card I had for my camera, and put that in there instead. I remember, though, from my days selling cameras that one of the reps told me that, left untouched, data on memory cards would gradually degrade and would be dead after about 10 years.

I can't seem to find anything online about this, so does anyone know much about it? I don't mind it eventually going dead, but as long as things will still all be there and not corruped after, say, 2 years, that's okay.

[AccentAE86]

I personally wouldn't use memory cards to archive. I don't think they were ever designed or meant to be archival. Also, I've gone through 5 CF cards that eventually went bad after a while (which were Sandisk Ultra II and ExtIII and Lexar Pro) They're not as rock solid as many tend to believe they are.

If you want to archive data, use discs. Buy something really high quality like Delkin Archival Gold DVD. This is what I burn on when I send clients their photos. It's rated to last over 100 years.

[topmade]

Use mini CD's or DVD's
Not sure if you can get these locally, but here's some on sale from Craigslist just posted yesterday.
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/emd/826058429.html

Edit: found them on Futureshop and memory express websites, you can also get them cheaper here:
http://www.blankdvdmedia.com/product...FQZlswodVFPYRA

[teggypimp95]

WHat about those usb memory sticks? That might work.

[97'Scort]

Originally posted by teggypimp95
WHat about those usb memory sticks? That might work.

That was my second choice, but they both use the same type of chip for storage, so I'd imagine they would suffer the same fate.

AccentAE86, I DID burn it to an archival DVD...which is too big to fit in the box. I'm going to keep it anyways, but I'd like something to store.

topmade, I'll check those out. I don't know whether my laptop can burn them though.

[clem24]

Well, you kind of need to understand how the various media works.

With flash cards, the device physically creates and destroys electrical connections. This is why they become unreliable. After a while of use, those connections will just refuse to go together. It is also expensive, especially if you go with brand name (and you always should). But the only thing I don't know about is retention. Can't seem to find any info out there, and there just probably isn't much research done on this since flash based memory is fairly new (i mean, how do you test how long data will stay on a flash card other than just let it sit there for years and years?). But for all intents and purposes, I say why not.

With optical media, DON'T SKIMP. The problem with the media is that the glue used to hold discs together deteriorate. Some faster than others. So literally, the top layer of the disc can separate. That's the theory anyway. And of course, you need to take good care of it (i.e. don't scratch the top of the disc where data is stored). And personally, the rated to last 100 years thing I think is BS. I don't even think the company is going to be around in 100 years. And how do they test it? They obviously test it in some controlled environment to "simulate" 100 years, but who knows.

As for the mini DVDs, as long as your laptop is not a slot load drive (i.e. Macbook and some of the new laptops), it'll work just fine.

My 2 cents.

[rage2]

I've been doing a lot of testing on SSD drives (I picked a few up to test for work). I haven't managed to break it yet, even with a month of continuous hard drive read/write testing on it. Flash memory's unrelibility is overblown IMO.

I've had a lot of problems with USB sticks, I actually lost a lot of data to a memory stick. The USB interface must've fucked up, because all the files I moved onto it were 00'd out on the drive. I thought the stick died, but did some tests on it and moved more files, and it was fine.

[97'Scort]

I grabbed a three-pack of archival mini DVD-R's from London Drugs for $10. I think that'll work best Thanks guys!

[Irae]

you could always just pay an extra $5-7 per year for a wider box

In the scheme of things, it's not that much more expensive

[analbumcover]

i just bought an 8gb memory stick from futureshop for $20

or there 2gb was $7

[lint]

Originally posted by Irae
you could always just pay an extra $5-7 per year for a wider box

In the scheme of things, it's not that much more expensive

It's typically not the cost, larger boxes have long waiting lists, people don't readily give them up, so you have to take what you can get.

What about a portable HD? How long do the platters last when they aren't accessed often?

EDIT: reread your first post. You could always just print off the photos and stick those in the safety deposit box. In the dark, the prints should last you plenty long enough.

[nonsane]

buy a harddrive. write everything to that. 40GB is going for around 30$ now i believe.

[97'Scort]

Originally posted by 97'Scort
I grabbed a three-pack of archival mini DVD-R's from London Drugs for $10. I think that'll work best Thanks guys!

These fit just fine. I had about 200 pictures, so printing them would be expensive. A harddrive would work, but this is just easier.

[JTI]

I have 4 x 500gb external drives that I use to archive.

[97'Scort]

Originally posted by hung_lo
I have 4 x 500gb external drives that I use to archive.

Yay? I have a terabyte on a RAID server here but if the house burns down it might not make it.

[The_Rural_Juror]

Costco has a 250GB WD Passport HD for $99. That will fit in your safety deposit box.

[3g4u]

I use 4X 500G external hard drives. 2 backing 2 up.