Re: [PLUG] How to Store Video Files for 25 Years?

["Eric H. Johnson" <ejohnson@camalytics.com>]

Casey,

This is a topic that comes up all the time among people doing genealogy. We had a presentation to the Genealogy club at the Swedish Museum (ASHM) in Philly. The quick summary is that there is no perfect solution, but "paper" has the advantage that it takes nothing to interpret it. This refers to records as well as multimedia. Video is of course the hardest since it cannot be committed to paper. I am not proposing any solution above what has already been suggested, only you might want to check in with groups like those for genealogy to see what they are doing.

Regards,
Eric



As a Christmas present to my wife, I'm converting old VHS home movies 
that we started filming in the early 1990's.  I bought a $35 USB gizmo 
that came with a Windows-only application.  I'm using an ancient laptop 
with Windows 10 (ugh!  I HATE Windows 10, and the the laptop is way 
under powered for it.)  But it seems to be working pretty well.  It 
creates mpg files which I will edit and burn to DVDs on my Linux 
machine.  My wife wants DVDs, but I'd like to also give copies of the 
videos to my 20-something kids.

I figure the videos will be most valuable to my kids in about 25 years.  
I'll be in the rest home (or worse), and their kids will be interested 
in their parents as infants.

How do I store the files so that they are secure and readable in 25 years?

My options:

1.  DVD.   Pros:  Media will survive intact in normal environments.   
Cons:  Bulky.  Will you be able to buy old DVD players at Goodwill in 25 
years?
2.  USB Hard Disk:  Pros:  Media will probably survive.  Good size (not 
too big, but not too small to lose)   Cons:  Will USB 3.0 still exist?
3.  USB SSD:   Pros: Small size.  Physically robust for storage. Cons:  
Will SSD data last 25 years?   Will USB 3.0 still exist?
4.  USB Thumb Drive:  Pros: Easy to mail to them.   Cons:  Small, so can 
get lost easily.  Will data last 25 years?  Will USB 3.0 exist?
5.  3.5 Floppy (Yes, I still have the drives!)  Pros:  None   Cons: 
Don't be silly


Any suggestions?


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