The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/Mishqueen1 on 2024-09-30 01:02:45.
Yes, this is about an aging parent. An aging autistic parent with OCD. Whom I love. Please bear with me and read carefully. I did a search in the group for this data management solution but didn't see anything that comprehensively amarres my questions. Or, I don't understand how to use Search more effectively (I'm new to making posts).
My dad used to work in a field with high confidentially and security requirements for their customer records. There are also requirements for him to keep customer files available to them if they ask for them, for a certain number of years after their services rendered. We are way past those numbers of years, but he wants them to be available until his death. He has kept every single hard drive he has ever used, and the customer files are co-mingled with his personal files in each computer or laptop.
He still consults in the field on occasion, and that's where this problem derails into a train wreck. He takes Every. Single. Hard drive. With him. While he drives all over the western US to these consultations. He used to take the COMPUTERS themselves, stacked up in his back seat! He is old and drives dangerously but cannot fly because he has 42+ flipping hard drives that he insists must come with him because he wants to be able to give the files to any customer who might call and ask for them. No one ever has, in the history of his business. This is not about the requirements, it is about OCD. His life (and the life of others on the road) is in danger every time he travels, and that is what we are trying to rectify.
I live 14 hours away from him but am going in for a one week visit. He has given me rare permission to take care of this problem for him, so he can carry all these files with him on an airplane without needing a shopping cart.
I have 6 hours per day, times only 6 days, to consolidate and reduce every single one of these drives. I need the easiest, fastest, and if at all possible, cheapest method to get this done.
I numbered these questions so you can skip straight to the answer you know in your response, without having to explain which one you're talking about.
The rundown:
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Is it faster to move them all onto the same location first, then eliminate duplicates? Or is it faster to eliminate duplicates over and over, separately on each drive, then combine them all last?
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He thinks SD cards are good enough for this project and likes the idea of carrying a single SD card wallet with him. I think every file will take a million years to move, !each!, so he should shell out for an ultra fast SSD drive. Is he right? Am I right? What's the cheapest way to do this? He honestly has nearly no money.
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Will a deduplication software be able to identify deletable files without having to open them? He will never let me open them for security reasons, even for a cursory glance to double check for duplicates.
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Is there a dedupe software that will let me enter parameters for what to delete and what to keep, rather than deciding manually for every batch of dupes? For example, "keep the newest version of every identical file".
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Is there a dedupe software that recognizes altered versions of the same file? For example, "keep the largest and newest version of every file with the same name" (or even better, if x% of the contents match).
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Do I need to have operating system versions to match compatibilities to the file? For example, do I need to set up dual boots or even more, to identify files from the 90s?
HALP! If you've never helped a desperate stranger on reddit before, please let this be the exception. Please don't rant about his autism or OCD; he is getting treated for both but I cannot fix either with internet advice. I CAN however fix the hard drive problem with internet advice. Please, and thank you in advance. ๐๐ป