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View Full Version : Backing up my music collection



intense.ego
March 2nd, 2008, 11:28 PM
I have a large music collection (105GB, 16,000 mp3s +) that is stored and played from on my external hard drive. I know that I should back it all up to avoid a headache in case anything goes wrong (what are the rates of external hard drive failure? just curious) and would like to know what the best way to do this is.

I have many empty DVDs at home so I thought this would be the best solution. My idea was to create an archive of the whole folder (like a RAR archive or whatever you think is best) and restrict each part to about 4.3GB. I would then simply burn each part of the archive onto a DVD. This sounded like a good idea but I was unsure whether or not losing one of the DVDs would prevent me from getting all the songs or only the ones on that DVD (I do not know how archives work).

PS: The best solution would be to buy another external hd drive, but that would be more expensive and I don't want to have an external drive that I would just keep in storage.

koleoptero
March 3rd, 2008, 12:23 AM
Don't archive them cause if you lose a dvd you lose a lot more, plus it won't save you space so it's useless. I used to have two music folders. One with backed-up and one with not-backed-up files. Whenever the not-backed-up folder would fill up a dvd I would burn the files to a dvd and move them to the backed-up folder. That way you know what you can delete if in some case you need some space.

intense.ego
March 3rd, 2008, 12:26 AM
Ok, then I won't archive them.

I was going to do what you suggested and simply have one folder for backed up files and one for those that aren't. Thank you for your help.

fedex1993
March 3rd, 2008, 12:51 AM
also with the dvds they only last about 7 years if you burn to them i read this about a year ago so they may have updated it

beercz
March 3rd, 2008, 12:54 AM
rsnapshot (http://rsnapshot.org)?

hessiess
March 3rd, 2008, 01:13 AM
buy a second HDD would be the easist option.


also with the dvds they only last about 7 years

HDD's often last about 7 years aswell

nalmeth
March 3rd, 2008, 01:21 AM
I would suggest the hard disk. No medium is permanent or everlasting, but a hard disk is much easier to deal with than multiple DVDs.

They both have a limited lifespan, but DVDs can be damaged more easily, or accidentally than an HD.
I use rsync to backup my media files to an external HD.
Rsync watches which files have been added or modified, and only copies those new files. Its easy to use, and you don't need to reorganize your collection just make backups.

Anyway, thats how I do it. Maybe you are more careful with DVD's than I am. :)

intense.ego
March 3rd, 2008, 09:19 PM
I would suggest the hard disk. No medium is permanent or everlasting, but a hard disk is much easier to deal with than multiple DVDs.

They both have a limited lifespan, but DVDs can be damaged more easily, or accidentally than an HD.
I use rsync to backup my media files to an external HD.
Rsync watches which files have been added or modified, and only copies those new files. Its easy to use, and you don't need to reorganize your collection just make backups.

Anyway, thats how I do it. Maybe you are more careful with DVD's than I am. :)

The thing is I already have many DVDs and I don't want to have to buy a new HDD just for this. Does anyone know if storing an external HDD in a closet for example is bad for it (because of dust, etc)?

koleoptero
March 3rd, 2008, 09:27 PM
An external HDD is hardly safer than dvd backups. I've already lost all my files twice from hard drive problems. One was a hardware problem, but the other was cause of power outage when I was copying some files to the drive, which resulted in a ruined filesystem.

I have CDs full of mp3s that are exactly 7 years old, they work fine. It's not like I use them frequently, they're just backups, in their cases, in a dry cool place, so I don't expect anything to happen to them. DVD backups are a very good option. Just make sure to write on their cover what they contain or else you will be searching for hours. There are also programs that catalogue your dvds and their contents so that you can search more easily.

intense.ego
March 3rd, 2008, 09:59 PM
An external HDD is hardly safer than dvd backups. I've already lost all my files twice from hard drive problems. One was a hardware problem, but the other was cause of power outage when I was copying some files to the drive, which resulted in a ruined filesystem.

I have CDs full of mp3s that are exactly 7 years old, they work fine. It's not like I use them frequently, they're just backups, in their cases, in a dry cool place, so I don't expect anything to happen to them. DVD backups are a very good option. Just make sure to write on their cover what they contain or else you will be searching for hours. There are also programs that catalogue your dvds and their contents so that you can search more easily.

Do you know the names of any of these programs off the top of your head?

nalmeth
March 3rd, 2008, 10:01 PM
The thing is I already have many DVDs and I don't want to have to buy a new HDD just for this. Does anyone know if storing an external HDD in a closet for example is bad for it (because of dust, etc)?
I hear you, its hard to justify buying new hardware when you already have DVDs. For my purposes it is just easier to have a dedicated HD backup. I also have a bunch of DVD's, but I prefer to use them for backing up video DVD's.

My current backup HD is a Maxtor One-touch, enclosed in a case. Dust isn't much of a concern for me because it is enclosed.


An external HDD is hardly safer than dvd backups. I've already lost all my files twice from hard drive problems. One was a hardware problem, but the other was cause of power outage when I was copying some files to the drive, which resulted in a ruined filesystem.
And I have lost large collections of music on CD due to disc damage.
Your power outage problem could affect you regardless of what medium you're using.

I have had one HD crash on me with all my media, but thankfully I had the entire collection backed up on my external HD.

Anyway, its just a personal preference. If you have a very large collection, keeping track of many many DVD's/CD's can be difficult unless you're extremely organized.

No medium is invincible, just use what best lets you sleep at night.