Long-term data/document storage

[ollie989898]

Its tough one , in a paper file in you house your stuffed if you have a fire so realistically if you get sent a paper copy keep it in a file , plus a digital copy I have trusted MS one drive to keep PDF copies of all invoices and what ever else I think is relevant on the basis I can back up one drive to a computer or removable disc if I wanted to I figure I am committed to MS for word ,excel, outlook etc anyway and one drive is part of that package and PDF docs are so widely used I figure there will always be reader available for them .

For businesses you can pay a company to scan in and securely store digital copies of documents which they then dispose of securely. There is utterly no need to have large amounts of paperwork, past invoices and other stuff stored physically any longer. The cost of doing this for many businesses must be substantial. Cloud based storage is a LOT more reliable than the vast majority of methods available to the average homeowner.

 

[Yale]

Guy I know retired as a government auditor and they had done a study on keeping adoption documents.

They looked at every method of keeping records and came back to paper as it is the most resilient if being stored correctly.

Obviously keeping electronic copies makes searching easier however paper is apparently the long term answer.

 

[Swarfmonkey]

The cost of doing this for many businesses must be substantial

It certainly is, and not just businesses either. I know of one document storage facility used by a certain government department that costs them more than a quarter of a million quid in fees every year.

As to cloud based storage, crack on. Encrypt your files (AxCrypt works well) then bung 'em up on Dropbox or Google Cloud. Another plus is that you won't run the risk of losing them when your hard drive decides to sh!t itself.

 

[yellow belly]

Whatever system is used it needs to be updated regularly
the libraries in timbuckto last for a long time till some one in the toreg decided to try and destroy them
even paper and filing needs storing properly
data on any system can get lost
paper can be put in the ring file and lost
on a computer system cloud or hard drive if it is lost it can be searched for by the computer
a paper system can also be searched but that take time an some one willing to check every file
I would sooner have every thing on digital on a computer
when I get a new computer i transfer all my file to the new one
they are all filed in a file marked documents rateher than the default that windows uses

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

I was horrified that the EA implemented a "Data retention strategy" before I left as it was costing too much to keep upgrading servers. Amongst the space saving methods they used was to delete the plans and drawings for all Land Drainage Consents over 3 years old and just keep the decision sheet and application.

When I questioned whether a land owner had complied with their consent in how they built a structure it was not possible to prove as the decision said it must be built "as per the attached plans and drawings" which no longer existed.

Be VERY careful what you throw away.

 

[TripleSix]

I was told you want it stored in 7 places.

I know someone with the office computer backed up to 2 different clouds, a hard drive in the house loft and a hard drive in an outbuilding.

 

[Exfarmer]

It certainly is, and not just businesses either. I know of one document storage facility used by a certain government department that costs them more than a quarter of a million quid in fees every year.

As to cloud based storage, crack on. Encrypt your files (AxCrypt works well) then bung 'em up on Dropbox or Google Cloud. Another plus is that you won't run the risk of losing them when your hard drive decides to sh!t itself.

Works well until you forget your password, then you are completely fu*****
my storage system will never be hacked, it is on paper and anyone following will never have to worry about keys etc.
it is backed up in the cloud, but I know which one I go for every time.

 

[Swarfmonkey]

I scan, encrypt, and upload everything to the cloud these days having seen a friend lose every bit of important paperwork he owned to a house fire.

 

[TheTallGuy]

Most of the Doomsday book can still be read, the language is a bit difficult but if you know French you can get the Gist
In thew 90's the BBC did a new Doomsday book, perhaps some of you were at school and participated. It was done in digital format to ensure it would be there forever, sadly nobody can read it today

The BBC Doomsday Project was 1986 & yes I did participate. Actually it can be read today - the whole shebang was on the Web a while ago & I viewed my own lamentable contribution. That said, it took a large effort to transform the data from a proprietary system to something more accessible in the modern era. With modern file formats and cloud hosting it's far easier to maintain readability of data - data in the form of jpg, pdf, txt & htm is going to be readable for many years to come & if trends move away from those formats then you can guarantee that there will be utilities to either directly read them or convert the files to newer formats.

 

[Exfarmer]

The BBC Doomsday Project was 1986 & yes I did participate. Actually it can be read today - the whole shebang was on the Web a while ago & I viewed my own lamentable contribution. That said, it took a large effort to transform the data from a proprietary system to something more accessible in the modern era. With modern file formats and cloud hosting it's far easier to maintain readability of data - data in the form of jpg, pdf, txt & htm is going to be readable for many years to come & if trends move away from those formats then you can guarantee that there will be utilities to either directly read them or convert the files to newer formats.

parts of it have been interpreted at huge cost I am not convinced that a huge amount of material created in those times will ever be seen again as a lot requires quite literally doing it by hand!
this is so common for so many things and require at the very least a techie or a very expensive programme to change the Format. I found too late that my latest cameras default file format is not widely recognised. per haps it may be the new preferred in a few years , perhaps not

 

[Highland Mule]

I found too late that my latest cameras default file format is not widely recognised.

What’s it producing? Surely only .jpg or .raw are needed these days?

 

[ollie989898]

I was horrified that the EA implemented a "Data retention strategy" before I left as it was costing too much to keep upgrading servers. Amongst the space saving methods they used was to delete the plans and drawings for all Land Drainage Consents over 3 years old and just keep the decision sheet and application.

When I questioned whether a land owner had complied with their consent in how they built a structure it was not possible to prove as the decision said it must be built "as per the attached plans and drawings" which no longer existed.

Be VERY careful what you throw away.

The EA of course are complete muppets who don't know the value of anything so your story does not surprise me in the slightest.


Regarding cloud storage, here is minimal danger of 'losing/forgetting a password' and even if you did most of the systems available have alternative ways of logging in i.e. via security questions, PIN numbers or the like. Providers know that passwords can be lost.

 

[Exfarmer]

What’s it producing? Surely only .jpg or .raw are needed these days?

Its neither of those but i will have to look into it as I think I can set the default to Jpeg but one of those jobs put aside for a wet day

 

[TheTallGuy]

Its neither of those but i will have to look into it as I think I can set the default to Jpeg but one of those jobs put aside for a wet day

What camera is it?

 

[Exfarmer]

What camera is it?

Sony

 

[Formatted]

Scan it in, save it as a PDF and put it into google drive. Its 2020 already