6 ms·
Everyone knows that physical media is a thing of the past.
by leshaw 10y ago
Everyone knows that physical media is a thing of the past.
- na85 10y agoAnd yet there's still no sane way to move data from my laptop to my desktop without physical media. As long as it is easier to send the data round trip to a datacentre in Kansas and back than it is to send it within my own lan, physical media will always be "a thing of the present"
- gpm 10y agoI transfer files like that all the time. Run sshd on your desktop (assuming your behind a NAT there are nearly 0 security issues with this), when you want to transfer files `rsync username@desktops_ip:remote_file local_file`. Alternatively use something like syncthing.
- ams6110 10y agoSomewhere > 100GB, (or less, depending on connection speeds) sending physical media is faster. I recently copied 2TB from one hard drive to another on the same computer and it took half a day. Trying to rsync that amount of data over the internet would take far longer than FedEx-ing a hard drive. Even locally, it can be faster to copy data to a thumb drive, move it to the other machine, and copy it back than to send it over the network.
- digi_owl 10y agoEven Amazon recognize this... https://aws.amazon.com/snowball/ https://aws.amazon.com/snowball/
- lsadam0 10y agoThey specify that snowball is a petabyte level solution. OP was discussing transferring files from his laptop. Does a laptop exist that can store petabytes? No.
- yellowapple 10y agoDepends on how big your lap is, I guess.
- Kubuxu 10y agoNot really true, 1Gib/s link is able to saturate HDD speed (if we are still talking local) and as you probably want to make a clone either way you might as well do it over network. 4x1Gib/s or 10Gib/s are more and more popular and in general local network latency is lower than HDD latency (surprising, isn't it). Sending over 1Gib/s network will be for sure faster than copying it on flash drive. Even if flash drive is able to do 128MiB/s speed, you have to first write it, swap machine, read it. Via network you do the write and read at the same time.
- lutusp 10y ago> And yet there's still no sane way to move data from my laptop to my desktop without physical media. If the laptop and desktop are connected to a network, then there's no reason to use physical media, in fact the medium can only be an additional failure mode. Try this instead: $ rsync -av (source path) (destination machine name):(destination path) On your LAN, use Zeroconf (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-configuration_networking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-configuration_networking) to resolve local machine names to IPs. > As long as it is easier to send the data round trip to a datacentre in Kansas and back than it is to send it within my own lan ... Yes, but the premise isn't correct, and it only adds to the list of possible failure modes.
- jlarocco 10y agoSorry to tease, but it's amusing to me that you are technically competent enough to upload files to a data center, but don't know how to do the easier task of networking two computers (presumably) in the same room. Seriously, though, if the computers are (or can be) on the same network, then there are dozens of ways to achieve this. The easiest is probably shared network directories, but there's also NFS, rsync, scp, FTP, etc. IF the machines are on different networks it can be a little more work, but still not hard.
- lsadam0 10y agoI'm curious as to why you think long distance transfer of your data is a better option than LAN? Do you not have control of your network? I transfer huge amounts of data over the LAN all the time. You're making me feel like we don't live in the same decade.
- yellowapple 10y agoAll of my desktops and laptops run Unix-like operating systems with sshd either already running or ready to run. I just need the IP address of one of the machines, and for both machines to be on the same network. With the advent of type-C USB, I expect things will become even simpler as long as at least one of the devices can expose itself as a mass-storage or MTP device.
- digi_owl 10y agoI can't shake the thinking that a properly stored CD or DVD will outlast any HDD or flash device.
- xyproto 10y agoCDs degrade over time, both flash and CDs are bad long-term choices.
- ReverseCold 10y agoFlash storage too? As in SSDs?
- lutusp 10y ago> Flash storage too? As in SSDs? All information storage media degrade over time, it ultimately comes down to differences in durability. Stone tablets outlast SSDs, but for both, the clock is ticking.
- detaro 10y agoSSDs have to hold electric charge to retain their data, so if they are unpowered they slowly discharge. The warmer they get, the worse it is: afaik common specifications only guarantee one year data retention at 30°C, but with lower temps it gets better.
- dragontamer 10y agoInk-based CD-Rs (or DVD-R or DVD+R) degrade over time (and due to exposure to the sun). There are some other technologies that seem like they'll last a long time (MDISC), but I'm not really sure if they're worth their cost... or if I should just go for a Hard Drive at that point.
- digi_owl 10y agoI just wish that HDDs didn't have all these layers between the data and the OS. Blow the controll board in some way and your sunk. Blow the mechanics and your sunk. with optical media at least you have this passive disc that just sits there.
- lutusp 10y ago> Everyone knows that physical media is [sic] a thing of the past. s/is/are/
- Thrillington 10y agoYou're being overly pedantic and on top of that you're plain wrong. Physical media here is a collective noun, so "is" is the correct word.
- ScottBurson 10y ago"Media is" sounds funny to me too, despite its ubiquity, but I wouldn't normally make an issue of it. I don't, however, agree that lutusp is "plain wrong".
- lutusp 10y ago> ... you're plain wrong. If I expressed a preference for blondes over brunettes, would you describe that as wrong also? Obviously thinking of "physical media" as a plural is a matter of opinion, as well as being consistent with widespread usage. If I say there are an infinity of primes, I've stated a fact, and one would be free to label it right or wrong. If instead I try to produce a concise, general definition of infinity, the result can only ever be an opinion, a judgment call. No one would have the right to call it wrong -- because it's language, not mathematics. > Physical media here is a collective noun ... The singular form is "physical medium." The plural form is "physical media." This is not rocket science. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_(communication) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_(communication) Quote: "Media (the singular form of which is medium)[1] is the collective communication outlets or tools that are used to store and deliver information or data." Again, it's language, not mathematics -- it's a matter of opinion and judgment.