Flash memory vs HDD

[drak3]

I have some data i d like to keep safe on the shelf, and I thought about a USB stick. HDDs if left to gather dust might get stuck?

Flash memory is made to last a couple of years on the shelf right?

Any specific brand/type you reccomend for reliability?

Edit: Also, what about Secure Digital cards? Are these extra reliable and made to last much longer? Speed is definately not the issue here. Reliability only.

thanks

 

[sparkey196]

Flash on its own is not really a good backup method for valuable data. What if the memory does not last as long as the manufacture claims or you lose it or it gets stolen?

Why not take the time to make a few copies? Hard drive, Optical, flash and online backup. It will be cheaper and much lower risk than putting all your eggs in once fancy usb basket. CD-ROM has the obvious advantage of being read-only so there is no chance of data being accidentally deleted/corrupted once committed to disk.

Many manufacturers offer 10 year or even lifetime warranties but will surely only replace the device and not offer any compensation for lost data. Secure Digital refers to encryption support and does not imply that the format is more reslient than other types of flash.

 

[Greenlizard0]

Yeap if it's truely valuable then back it up at various places and on different mediums.