It's A Digital Disease!

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/EindhovenFI on 2025-03-29 12:51:51.

Seagate refers to them in the documentation under the Exos Recertified Drive folder.

Their transfer speed is significantly lower (>20%) than the other X24 drives. What’s uo with that?

Elsewhere, I’ve read these are HAMR drives, but that was not mentioned in the spec sheet.

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/ducksncandy on 2025-03-28 23:11:26.

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/jeffshead on 2025-03-29 12:21:04.

I have a few inexpensive Linux KVM VPS servers that I'd like to start backing up since they have become increasingly complex to setup as I've tweaked and added functionality over time. The VPS providers charge a lot for adding backup functionality so I want to be able to perform backups/restores over the Internet. Preferably, store the backups on a Windows file server or a Linux server VM on my LAN. I currently have a SFTP server running on my network so I could forward a port on the gateway or maybe use an inexpensive backup service like BorgBackUp or whatever, depending on the price.

I've been using Veeam, for years, in my home lab and it is awesome but I was never able to get it to work with backing up those remote VPS's. I believe the only way is to get a license for Veeam Cloud Connect but I can't afford that.

Being a tiny step above a Linux noob, I don't know what the best practice is for backing up and restoring remote Linux servers. I'm used to dealing with local machines where it's easier and less time consuming to just restore a VM image or perform a bare metal restore using a Veeam iso. However, I realize this may not be feasible with remote Linux VPS's.

In my use-case, what's the best approach? Is there a free or low-cost solution that works like Veeam? I would like to be able to have full and incidental backups so that I can easily restore the entire server or just restore some files. I tested UrBackup a couple of years ago but I encountered connection issues. Maybe I should install and test it again since it seems to be the closest thing to Veeam. What I'm trying to avoid, is having to manually reinstall and re-configure all of the packages and settings on these VPS's so I'm thinking full file system backups/restores or image backups/restores but maybe that's not possible over the Internet??? Also, it would be nice to be able to use a backup to migrate to a different VPS provider but I'm guessing the only reliable way is to manually provision the new server, configure and restore data only. I need advice :-)

Thanks in advance!

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/TransatlanticAB on 2025-03-29 11:52:30.

So every month or so i backup some of my laptops contents onto a external hdd for insurance, usually i just delete everything on the external and copy everything over from the laptop but i realise this isnt the best option for the external drives long term health, i change the folders around and add files to them on my laptop so i need software that can "update" my external so it mirrors my laptop without having to delete everything and copy over if that makes sense, im not too computer literate so any help would be much appreciated thanks.

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/Rare-Hunt143 on 2025-03-29 11:49:06.

Hi

Been a while since I looked into this topic, and when I last built my home NAS 5 years ago all my research said don't use SSD for NAS as constant read / write is bad, and capacity of SSD will degrade a lot over time.

My limited understanding is that SSD have improved, and especially if mainly reading from them that is very unlikely to degrade?

I want to use my NAS in RAID 1 (mirrored single config) so it is backed up. I thought that will also reduce the number of read / write to the SSD as not striped?

It will be connected via my switch 1000mbit to my Macstudio, Samsung TV and Apple laptop.

I want SSD as its quite and this will live in my office room next to my Macstudio

I want to use it for:

1. Backup of my Macstudio (I also back up to iCloud and another external hard disk which I store in a fireproof safe)

2. Hosting my Audiobooks, TV Shows and Movies on the LAN. Is it possible to do wireless hosting on modern NAS to an iPhone or iPad?

Kindly advice:

1. Should I go the SSD route or stick to HD. (The key factors for me are a) Noise and b) Reliability?

2. Which NAS should I get (my QNAP is very noisy e.g. fans even when HD not being accessed and when HD is being accessed it drives me nuts). Are there any quite but relaible brands of NAS compatible with SSD?

3. Which brand of SSD should I get?

4. Is there currently a price sweet spot on SSD size?

5. Is RAID 1 ok on SSD for backup and hosting, or should I go RAID 10 (I realise this will require 4 SSD instead of 2)? Will raid 10 reduce the life span of the SSD due to the striped nature?

Total size of storage depending on cost will be 4 to 8TB

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/lackadaisical37 on 2025-03-29 11:45:40.

If I use Staxrip and QTGMC medium, I get flickering on the smaller lines of the video; you can see this a bit better in motion but I hope it's clear enough here - but obviously I can't leave the MKV I get from the dvd ISO unencoded, because whatever program I put it into will interpret it differently- i think the default leads to the third image here. [The 'vlc with deinterlacing turned off' is the same as this]

Is there a better way to encode this than QTGMC medium?

https://imgur.com/a/rQ8Q086

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/TwilightFate on 2025-03-29 11:19:10.

In this moment, a large file transfer is running on my newly built PC. I am currently sitting on my old PC and doing other things in the meantime. In order to be aware of what went wrong (and when) (in case something goes wrong during the transfer), I have OBS set up to capture the screen.

The content is being copied from my phone's internal memory to the new M.2 NVMe SSD (4TB Samsung 990 Pro, my new PCs main storage) via USB Type-C cable.

Now my question: I don't know where on the SSD the capture is being saved, but the SSD is constantly being written to by the file transfer and by the capture. Does this result in a sort of alternating pattern in the file structure? Like, a few photos, then some MB of capture, then another photo or document, then some MB of capture, etc etc.? Something that would, once I delete the screen capture, make the transferred files be in an extremely unfavourable arrangement?

I do know it's an SSD and would likely not have trouble reading this, but I think that neat file arrangement in the SSD is still something good.

Or does the capture get written to some SLC cache on the SSD, before it then gets saved when I end the capture?

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/borsic on 2025-03-29 11:14:49.

23andMe lets you build a family tree — but there’s no built-in way to export it. I wanted to preserve mine offline and use it in genealogy tools like Gramps, so I wrote a Python scraper that: • Logs into your 23andMe account (with your permission) • Extracts your family tree + relatives data • Converts it to GEDCOM (an open standard for family history)

Totally local: runs in your browser, no data leaves your machine Saves JSON backups of all data Outputs a GEDCOM file you can import into anything (Gramps, Ancestry, etc.)

Source + instructions: https://github.com/borsic77/23andMeFamilyTreeScraper

Built this because I didn’t want my family history go down with 23andme, hope it can help you too!

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/KingPaddy0618 on 2025-03-29 11:13:44.

The same old question but search hasn't brought me yet (at least no recent) recommendation catered to my set of needs here.

I thinking heavily about splitting my hoarding stash actually to make maintenance of it easier. I backuped heavily some years ago a lot of YT-Videos (Lets Plays, Political Shows, Lore Videos, documentations and such a stuff, primarly for saving content before it may vanish (and some has already vanished), also old Minecraft Savegames who took a lot of space but necessary also for server maintenance (sudden discoveries of corrupted biomes make it good to a have a lot of rollback alternatives). As well general system backups who provide some redundancy about my personal data. And preperations for having a "off-grid" old media library (especially GOG Game Files in case they close the platform or changing their NO-DRM-Policy). All of them have in common they are mostly cold storage I have touched rarely the last couple of years, if even. But I like to have them around somewhere in case of need.

The same time a have developed quite a paranoia about dataloss so I thought about uploading them to a cloud provider to ease this and also to reduce the effort I need to put in physical backups (and shelf space) at least for this stuff. To focus more on the stuff I at least occasionally directly use.

The files I want to upload are already neatly packed in encrypted containers with each varying between 10 - 60 GB max in total it should be something between 16 - 20 TB. I don't think I will need to download one of them more than once per year even more rarely so I need no quick-access but the ability of having an overview of every single container I upload in the backend and also the option to gain access to a single one of them instead of having to download all of my data in an instant. And may also to add more occasionally.

The service should be reliable (no history of disappearing stuff, closing business out of nowhere and with no option to retrieve the data before like MEGAs predecessor had done) and as cheap as possible regarding no quick access needed to keep the maintanence cost preferably low.

Any recommendations for 2025?

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/kaptainkeel on 2025-03-29 02:58:51.

Up-front costs are easy to measure. Buying a drive, rack, other parts, etc. Ongoing costs such as routine drive replacement and electricity, not so much (and yes, I understand electricity can vary heavily depending on location and setup).

So I'm curious, for those of you with larger setups especially (let's say 200TB+), what kind of routine ongoing costs do you have? How do you minimize these or make your setup more efficient? Are there any ongoing costs you didn't expect?

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/navand on 2025-03-29 00:40:11.

Here's what I want:

• See a single drive (eg. E:) in Windows.
• Single drive is two (or three) internal HDDs automatically cloned/duplicated. They're not the system drive.
• No BitLocker or any encryption, so I can just unplug and reconnect elsewhere if I ever care to or have to (whatever needs 'secrecy' gets it through other means).
• Main concern is local redundancy against hard drive failure. This is for long-term storage of rarely-accessed things and single-drive SATA 3 read speeds are presumed enough.
• Secondary goal is user friendliness/simplicity.

Here's what I wish to avoid:

• Command line.
• Anything Linux/FreeBSD.
• File systems other than NTFS.
• Protection from deleting files by mistake (for the sake of the solution's simplicity).
• Having to learn skills and commands that I'll forget a year after setting things up.

If my technical skills are relevant, I can code and build a PC, but know little about networking. I understand the idea of RAID but have never done it. I am invariably mistrustful of and repulsed by cloud storage.

So, is Drivepool the ideal solution for a storage casual? Is there a better alternative? Have I missed something?

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/qqererer on 2025-03-29 00:09:39.

I 'collect' podcasts, and I have a back storage of the files off of my main drives due to space limitations. I annotate the file name with reference notes so I can recall them when needed.

I tried making a smaller quality mp3 file for a smaller sized library, but that didn't work.

Is there a way to copy all the filenames into a word or text document?

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/DevanteWeary on 2025-03-28 23:53:12.

Hey everyone.

I'm in need for at least four more ports to connect some drives.

I've seen discussions about LSI HBA cards on here many times over the years, but never really thought twice about them.

After some light research, I've landed on this

However, I see they have these PCI to SATA adapters for much cheaper and from what I read, less power usage.

Does that sound about right?

My question is why wouldn't I get the PCI to SATA adapter?

For reference, I'm running several 20TB drives on my home NAS which is for streaming and file storage/backups as well as my home automation.

Thanks for any info!

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/PricePerGig on 2025-03-28 20:59:35.

I'll be putting this on the website for future ref, but just so you guys know what's what at pricepergig.com for the CMR tags right now we have Western Digital and Seagate completed as per spec sheets and known model numbers.

PLEASE do correct any errors if you know, but this is as discussed earlier in the week and what was concluded, so fingers crossed, all is well.

Western Digital Drive Classifications

Western Digital's documentation is less consistent than Seagate's, but I've developed rules based on their product documentation and community research:

• WD Red Plus and Red Pro: All models use CMR
• WD Red (standard): Current models (except 2.5" drives) use SMR, although some older models were CMR. Using the EFAX suffix to identify SMR drives I tag them as SMR, and use the EFRX suffix to identify CMR drives and tag them as CMR. If I can't identify the model number I won't tag the drive. We can collectively blame Western Digital for this mess.
• WD Gold, Purple, Purple Pro: All models use CMR
• WD Blue: Varies by model - 2.5" drives typically use SMR; 3.5" 8TB models use CMR - if I'm unsure I don't tag the drive.
• WD_BLACK: All desktop (3.5") models use CMR
• Ultrastar DC HC620: All models use host-managed SMR (HM-SMR)
• Ultrastar DC HC550/560/570: All models use CMR (some with ePMR/EAMR technology)

Drives I Don't Tag (Uncertain Classifications)

I prioritise accuracy over completeness, so some drives remain untagged when I cannot confidently determine their recording technology:

• Older drive models with limited documentation
• Drives with inconsistent information across sources
• Enterprise drives with specialised configurations
• Certain Western Digital models:
  • WD Black 2.5" (various technologies based on capacity)
  • WD Blue 3.5" smaller than 2TB
  • Some Ultrastar models without clear documentation (DC HC510, HC520)
  • Models with conflicting information in different sources

Technical Implementation Details

For those interested in the technical details, here's how my tagging system works:

1. I first normalise drive brand names (e.g., "WD" becomes "Western Digital")
2. I identify the product line from the product name (e.g., "BarraCuda Pro", "WD Red Plus")
3. I extract the form factor (2.5" or 3.5") and capacity
4. I check for explicit technology mentions in the product name
5. I apply brand-specific rules based on product line, form factor, and capacity
6. I apply model number specific rules for certain drive models
7. I regularly update my rule set as new information becomes available

This multi-layered approach helps me provide the most accurate information possible while acknowledging the limitations of manufacturer documentation.

Western Digital Tagging Logic

For Western Digital drives, the tagging system follows these key rules:

• Checks model numbers first (e.g., EFAX suffix typically indicates SMR for WD Red drives)
• Applies product line rules (e.g., all WD Red Plus and Pro drives are CMR)
• Considers form factor and capacity combinations
• Uses special rules for Ultrastar enterprise drives

For example, a simplified decision flow might look like:

Resources and References

For those wanting to learn more about drive recording technologies, I recommend:

• Seagate's official CMR/SMR list
• Western Digital's recording technology guide

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/Rag-Tag1995 on 2025-03-28 19:49:18.

I am working on a movement in my area called save the data to raise awareness of what is being erased and where and to invite people to save and archive the data they are being told to delete before deleting. (Example someone the other day was concerned their superior instructed them to remove all mention of woman or women on a university page this included removing records a doctor and her scientific contributions because the study primarily focuses on women's health.) Particularly in schools, universities and local libraries. From some posts in the mega thread it looks like wayback and archive warrior does not want any non government info uploaded to their database right now. Is there a group already for local area and non government locations?

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/LaundryMan2008 on 2025-03-28 19:35:29.

This will be my last data storage mediums post for a while both because I’m going to Spain which is going to take up 10 days of my time which is going to take up one of my Fridays (unless I take a picture of a medium before I go to have them ready while in Spain if I do get one in the meantime) and because I have ran out of the backlog of mediums that I had built up in all of that time that I wasn’t posting which means that any new mediums that I get will be single ones so it probably won’t last me more than one week for the posts and if I do get more than one it’s probably related ones like a data tape and cleaning tape which wouldn’t make much sense to separate for the data storage mediums posts.

Anyways, for this post I dug out my dad’s old SSD that he put away when he upgraded to his newer one which was intended to go into my old slow laptop in an attempt to speed it up but it didn’t fit in the hard drive slot so it sat under my bed waiting for it’s chance to shine in one of my posts which it has the chance to today.

This 2.5” SATA Solid State Drive (SSD) format is intended to replace hard drives both in PCs and laptops and since most are 2.5”, they can be wiped and reused in both systems without any modifications to either, they come in lots of interfaces of which some more common ones are SATA, SAS and U.2/U.3, the higher storage ones can sometimes max out the interface making it a bottleneck when transfering lots of files at once.

Some of the earliest SSDs were 3.5” in form factor due to lower density flash storage back then and were used in volatile conditions where durability was required like a plane’s computer or in a rocket/satellite and they were very expensive to manufacture which adds to the rarity of obtaining one today, the only available 3.5” form factor SSD that you can buy now are in 50TB and 100TB sizes but are incredibly expensive (intended for datacenters) and if any broke, they would get destroyed which means that none of them would be left for us peasants to look at, these drives are usually under a contract so even if their policy didn’t require destruction, they would still have to destroy it due to the highly custom chipset used to control them so that no one else can reverse engineer and make one of their own or improve on it as a competing product.

From my research there wasn’t a 5.25” SSD ever released even back when flash storage wasn’t as dense but I’m happy to be corrected on that and make me add that to my list of white whale mediums that I’ll get at some point later in my collecting when all of the common cheaper stuff is collected, I know that there were some 3.5” SSDs made back then but I can’t pin any exact models down to hunt for which only leaves me with the 50TB and 100TB drives that are absolutely confirmed to have been made.

Thank you for reading this Friday‘s post and I hope you have a great day, if you have any queries, thoughts about the format, additional information or to point out a mistake, please put them in the comments :)

Link to previous post, post 19 (39th week):My data storage mediums, post 19 (38th week) : r/DataHoarder

Link to future post, (To be posted)

Picture of the SSD on my wall, it holds 60GB and uses the SATA II interface

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/ThisIsMyUsername163 on 2025-03-28 19:28:07.

I need a 4 tray sata hdd enclosure for some harddrives, I originally had a Sabrent one but it completely broke so I need suggestions on an actually good one

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/ShyGuyGaming76 on 2025-03-28 19:15:48.

it's something i tend to do with youtube videos, movies, music, games ect, which are all pretty to track down the date when they were released, but when it comes to more esoteric stuff like pics that have been reuploaded so many times i can't find the op, it obviously gets harder

do you guys have a personal policy when it comes to datekeeping with your data?

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/Specific-Judgment410 on 2025-03-28 18:13:03.

Original Title: Trying to download a niche wiki site for offline use, tried zimit but it takes far too long for simple sites, tried httrack but it struggles with modern sites, thinking of using CURL, how is everyone creating web archives of modern wiki sites?

What I'm trying to do is extract the content of a web site that has a wiki style format/layout. I dove into the source code and there is a lot of pointless code that I don't need. The content itself rests inside a frame/table with the necessary formatting information in the CSS file. Just wondering if there's a smarter way to create an offline archive thats browsable offline on my phone or the desktop?

Ultimatley I think I'll transpose everything into Obsidian MD (the note taking app that feels like it has wiki style features but with offline usage and uses the markup language to format everything).

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/UsedVegetable2332 on 2025-03-28 17:14:55.

Hello everyone,

I am looking for an external storage solution (SSD or HDD) with approximately 1TB capacity that meets the following requirements:

• Security & Encryption: AES-256 hardware encryption (preferably with an HSM).
• Backup Functionality: Automatic hardware-based backup without requiring additional software.
• Independence & Privacy: No subscriptions or internet connectivity required for full functionality.
• Durability: Robust physical protection against falls, dust, water splashes, and heat.

I would appreciate any recommendations for reliable products that fulfill these criteria. Thank you!

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/catdistributinsystem on 2025-03-28 14:47:02.

Especially things like their names, any information we may receive from news reports like known immigration status, where they were detained, where we last know they were sent, next of kin, etc… Asking because I worry that official data may get erased, making it more difficult for any organizations like the ACLU to assist these individuals in the future, and I have no idea how to even begin doing something like this.

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/wishlish on 2025-03-28 12:26:16.

On my Macbook Pro, I use Path Finder, a Finder replacement with dual listers (similar to Directory Opus on Mac). The latest update has the following note:

"• WARNING: removed quick file uploader to Google Drive! This is done due to Google's ridiculous "Cloud Application Security Assessment (CASA)" security review procedure, which caused many small independent macOS developer companies to abandon and remove Google Drive related functionality, even for products which sole purpose is cloud/remote files management. NOTE: with Google Drive macOS desktop application installed and running, users will still be able to access their remote files on Google Drive like local files in Path Finder (and Apple's Finder), just like they have been doing it before. Only the quick uploader to Google Drive was removed. We apologize about the inconvenience, but we were practically forced to remove this functionality, now that Path Finder's annual Google verification period has expired."

This isn't the only app I've seen that is removing Google Drive access. Panels, a comic book reader for iPadOS, has removed access to Google Drive.

I have a 2 TB GDrive account that I've enjoyed since the days of Amazon Drive. I'm sure I'm not the only one. Is it time to see what other cloud service will meet my needs?

(Not asking for tech support, but I'm curious what others have done.)

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/AlternativeNo1389 on 2025-03-28 08:12:19.

Hi, there is some interesting fast ticking HDD (I am using 2x WD Ultrastar HC520, 12TB) noise in Synology DS224+, and it is not a fan, even tho the fan make annoying noises on its own.

Here is archived post with the same exact problem, but no solutions.

And Here I made clear audio recording of the WD HC520, (Google drive link) where you can hear the HDD noise (as well as background fan noise)

Does anybody know, if this is normal noise for this kind of drive? Never heard of it, different drive made just normal seeking noises and the PWL noises.

S.M.A.R.T. tests are all good for both drives, also did the Synology extended test.

I appreciate any information. Thanks!

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/Anilusion on 2025-03-28 18:49:00.

I have finally decided to set up a proper system for backing up my data. I have a windows PC and an unraid server that I will be backing up. The windows system has around 300gb of backup data, and the unraid server has around 3gb (appdata and system shares). I have a backup share on the server that I am backing up both windows and unraid to using Kopia, but I would like to add cloud backups to this as well.

This is where I could use some advice on how to set things up. Ideally I want to use as little bandwidth as possible, so doing incremental backups would be nice. I also want the setup to be easily adjustable for adding more devices on the future. It would also be nice to have everything be uploaded from the unraid server, as that one is online 24/7 so the uploads can be scheduled during the night.

PC -> Unraid -> Cloud
Unraid ^

My first idea was to spin up a second instance of Kopia on unraid that backs up the entire backup share to the cloud. This is nice because the cloud backups are all managed in one location, and it will adapt to any additional devices I add to the backup share. I can see this having some issues though, as it will be backing up Kopia repositories into another Kopia repository, and as the repositories are both encrypted and compressed, I have a feeling incremental backups won't really work. It also makes recovery a bit more cumbersome, as I would have to recover this cloud repository first, unpack it, and then recover from the actual repositories inside (this is a minor issue though as this is an emergency backup that isn't expected to be used much (hopefully never).

PC -> Unraid
Unraid ^

PC -> Cloud
Unraid -> Cloud

Another idea is to have each system back up both to unraid and to the cloud on their own. This probably helps with incremental backups and makes recovery more straight forward. But it also means that I have to set up all the rules twice (once for unraid and once for the cloud), and if I want to tweak them in the future I have to remember to tweak them in both places. It also makes it impossible to schedule backups during the night, as the PC will be in sleep mode, so they would have to be scheduled during the hours I use the computer. It also doubles the amount of backup jobs running on the PC, and I would like to keep the performance impact to a minimum.

Is there any other program that would make this easier, or maybe there is something I am missing with Kopia that would help in this situation? Any advice is appreciated!

The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/Game-Lover44 on 2025-03-28 17:30:18.

I have alot of blank dvds (somehow) and im not sure what to do with them or what to put on them. I have a addiction to buying blank media when its really cheap.

what would you suggest, i want getting rid of them to be the very last resort.