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Related, does anyone have ideas or experience on backing up and preserving the digital artifacts of someone deceased? I’ve been meaning to do an “Ask HN” but th

Related, does anyone have ideas or experience on backing up and preserving the digital artifacts of someone deceased? I’ve been meaning to do an “Ask HN” but this post is in line. I’ve thought of putting the photos, videos, and document scans on archive.org. Also wondered about using IPFS or long-duration DVDs. And of course miniature archiving as in this post (But it sounds awfully expensive.)

teraflop 4y ago
IPFS is a content distribution system that doesn't really solve the problem of archiving and preserving data. It can only be relied on to "store" data as long as at least one node has the data pinned, so really it's just pushing the problem around.
downrightmike 4y ago
Offline high quality flash storage in a fireproof safe. Probably degrades the least.
- Dylan16807 4y ago
  Make sure it's a 125 degree fire safe. And I'd trust tape over flash, even brand new flash, if it's going to be offline for years. And since you need a second copy to be even close to safe, I'd try to prepay a historically reliable web host for many years of service. And/or get a safe deposit box.
  - downrightmike 4y ago
    You should know that safe deposits are no longer put into newly built banks anymore and aren't a profit center, so banks are closing their boxes and shipping contents to self storage places, often with items missing in the shuffle. Wells Fargo seems to be the worst for theft. But the bank can and will open your safe and move it to self storage if it saves them a cent.
- Tepix 4y ago
  According to wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_degradation#Secondary_storages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_degradation#Secondary_sto... you should copy solid state media every 10 years.
  - downrightmike 4y ago
    That isn't a bad deal, but makes sense.
adrianN 4y ago
Print everything onto acid-free paper and store the paper in a dark, dry, fireproof location: http://ronja.twibright.com/optar/ http://ronja.twibright.com/optar/ If you have the tools you can also use microfiche.
atoav 4y ago
Digital storage is something you definitly only should do if you have a plan (and the resoueces) to ensure the integrity of the data and the storage media. And think about the formats stored. Try opening a realplayer video file today and you know what I mean. Assuming you will be able to open that down the line is dangerous. As of now experience shows that the media that survives abandonement the best is physical. Paper (not every kind of paper tho), Film, Vinyl survives being in an attic for 100 years.
- actionfromafar 4y ago
  They do, but they don't survive being in the basement, if you know what I mean. (Humidity. Well, maybe vinyl survives, but not film, nor paper.)
  - atoav 4y ago
    As someone who teaches electronics and studied film (including the handling of the actual material) I am more confident that the roll of film I first shot will survive the next 200 years than I am in the survival of that prores mov I stored on two hard drives of my latest film. As far as I know film is what the National Archives have chosen for the archival of all relevant movies even if they have been shot digitally and I guess they know a thing or two about archiving. A computer that plays back a Prores file has so many more "moving" parts it is not even funny. You have the spinning rust that may or may not be faulty, then you have the read head that may or may not be faulty, then the spinning rust has a disk controller on it, that may or may not be faulty, then you have a connector on that drive that may or may not exist anymore, then you have a filesystem on that disk that may or may not be supported anymore, and then you get the container format, that may or may not be supported in that version anymore and you get the CODEC which may or may not be supported anymore. But from the outside it just looks like a hard drive. Unless someone really made good labels and they are readable, and you trust the label you won't even know what is on there and if it is worth all the hassle. Meanwhile with a roll of film or a photograph you just see the thing that is on there. It might have scratches, be half rotten, faded colors and all, but in many cases such things are still somewhat "readable" after a century of bad storage.
Razengan 4y ago
I came here to ask a similar question, but for one's own self: What's the best way to preserve the artifacts of your own life and ensure they're disseminated after you're dead, or at least available, especially if you're a solitary person with no foreseeable descendants? GitHub? Why isn't there a service like that? or is there? Something that makes your files public based on some condition.
- zelphirkalt 4y ago
  You could give them to the public via the Internet Archive and a license that makes them publicly available for everyone at no cost, only keeping authorship in place. Might be that solid writing skills are required, so that your written artifacts are seen as valuable for future generations.
  - Razengan 4y ago
    > Might be that solid writing skills are required, so that your written artifacts are seen as valuable That would be a barrier for many people, especially those with Impostor Syndrome who would never consider anything they do "valuable", but would still like to leave something behind. Basically a snapshot of your digital footprint at the time of your death.
    - jl6 4y ago
      Have friends and family, bequeath your stuff to them, and hope they value it enough to keep it.
      - Razengan 4y ago
        > Have friends and family You see the problem..
    - remram 4y ago
      Why would you want the world to hold on to your not-valuable artifacts forever once you're gone? That just sounds like pollution.

teraflop 4y ago

IPFS is a content distribution system that doesn't really solve the problem of archiving and preserving data. It can only be relied on to "store" data as long as at least one node has the data pinned, so really it's just pushing the problem around.

downrightmike 4y ago

Offline high quality flash storage in a fireproof safe. Probably degrades the least.

Dylan16807 4y ago
Make sure it's a 125 degree fire safe. And I'd trust tape over flash, even brand new flash, if it's going to be offline for years. And since you need a second copy to be even close to safe, I'd try to prepay a historically reliable web host for many years of service. And/or get a safe deposit box.
- downrightmike 4y ago
  You should know that safe deposits are no longer put into newly built banks anymore and aren't a profit center, so banks are closing their boxes and shipping contents to self storage places, often with items missing in the shuffle. Wells Fargo seems to be the worst for theft. But the bank can and will open your safe and move it to self storage if it saves them a cent.
Tepix 4y ago
According to wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_degradation#Secondary_storages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_degradation#Secondary_sto... you should copy solid state media every 10 years.
- downrightmike 4y ago
  That isn't a bad deal, but makes sense.

adrianN 4y ago

Print everything onto acid-free paper and store the paper in a dark, dry, fireproof location: http://ronja.twibright.com/optar/ http://ronja.twibright.com/optar/ If you have the tools you can also use microfiche.

atoav 4y ago

Digital storage is something you definitly only should do if you have a plan (and the resoueces) to ensure the integrity of the data and the storage media. And think about the formats stored. Try opening a realplayer video file today and you know what I mean. Assuming you will be able to open that down the line is dangerous. As of now experience shows that the media that survives abandonement the best is physical. Paper (not every kind of paper tho), Film, Vinyl survives being in an attic for 100 years.

actionfromafar 4y ago
They do, but they don't survive being in the basement, if you know what I mean. (Humidity. Well, maybe vinyl survives, but not film, nor paper.)
- atoav 4y ago
  As someone who teaches electronics and studied film (including the handling of the actual material) I am more confident that the roll of film I first shot will survive the next 200 years than I am in the survival of that prores mov I stored on two hard drives of my latest film. As far as I know film is what the National Archives have chosen for the archival of all relevant movies even if they have been shot digitally and I guess they know a thing or two about archiving. A computer that plays back a Prores file has so many more "moving" parts it is not even funny. You have the spinning rust that may or may not be faulty, then you have the read head that may or may not be faulty, then the spinning rust has a disk controller on it, that may or may not be faulty, then you have a connector on that drive that may or may not exist anymore, then you have a filesystem on that disk that may or may not be supported anymore, and then you get the container format, that may or may not be supported in that version anymore and you get the CODEC which may or may not be supported anymore. But from the outside it just looks like a hard drive. Unless someone really made good labels and they are readable, and you trust the label you won't even know what is on there and if it is worth all the hassle. Meanwhile with a roll of film or a photograph you just see the thing that is on there. It might have scratches, be half rotten, faded colors and all, but in many cases such things are still somewhat "readable" after a century of bad storage.

Razengan 4y ago

I came here to ask a similar question, but for one's own self: What's the best way to preserve the artifacts of your own life and ensure they're disseminated after you're dead, or at least available, especially if you're a solitary person with no foreseeable descendants? GitHub? Why isn't there a service like that? or is there? Something that makes your files public based on some condition.

zelphirkalt 4y ago
You could give them to the public via the Internet Archive and a license that makes them publicly available for everyone at no cost, only keeping authorship in place. Might be that solid writing skills are required, so that your written artifacts are seen as valuable for future generations.
- Razengan 4y ago
  > Might be that solid writing skills are required, so that your written artifacts are seen as valuable That would be a barrier for many people, especially those with Impostor Syndrome who would never consider anything they do "valuable", but would still like to leave something behind. Basically a snapshot of your digital footprint at the time of your death.
  - jl6 4y ago
    Have friends and family, bequeath your stuff to them, and hope they value it enough to keep it.
    - Razengan 4y ago
      > Have friends and family You see the problem..
  - remram 4y ago
    Why would you want the world to hold on to your not-valuable artifacts forever once you're gone? That just sounds like pollution.