# Another music storage thread



## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

What is your most up to date, safe and convenient method of storing mp3 and other data files? 

I went to a local office supply store over the weekend as my DVD/CD read-write drive is getting cranky and messes up the blank CDs more often than successfully burns them. To my surprise, they didn't have any external drives in stock, although they had plenty of blank CDs and DVDs. 

I could order a new drive from Amazon cheaper than a couple of paperbacks, but the office store not stocking them got me to wondering. I store my ripped and downloaded mp3s on CDs for permanent storage. Each MP3 CD holds about 8 Audio CDs worth of music. But is this too last century? Is everyone using some other permanent way of storing data files now such as zip (or thumb or flash) drives or on line cloud storage? 

I don't know how to stack zip drives on a shelf or how permanent they are. Does anyone know? Is this what people use now?

I'm also not real keen on paying for on line storage. I'm more comfortable with something physical I can hold in my hands. What if I forget to pay (which is very likely these days) and lose all my data?


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## Gilberto (Sep 12, 2013)

My music collection is 100% digital on external HDs. Except for a few cassettes I've yet to digitize. 

I inherited a ton of CDs with mp3 folders on them and copied to the HDs; now sitting in boxes in dry storage but I'm doubtful about how many years they will be reliable back-ups.

I look at this on-line cloud business like I do precious metals. Would you rather have coins in your hand or a piece of paper stating that they are "stored" somewhere safe. 

I don't know about "office stores" but my local Best Buy has externals stocked all the time.


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## lll (Oct 7, 2012)

Weston said:


> What is your most up to date, safe and convenient method of storing mp3


A year or two ago, i would've suggested an external hard drive, or NAS, etc. Now, i'd probably recommend a free service like Google Play Music. I'm not sure anymore how "free" it actually is, as i don't use it much, or for how long it will remain free (everything branded Google is still free, yes?)

Atm i use a NAS connected to the internet. The media content of the server is backed up on external HDDs. Basically, it's a private Play-like service; but still, the cost and hassle is probably not worth it in the long run...


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

I'm with you, Weston in that I have the mp3's that I want to keep burned to CD-ROMs. The CD's are happily sat at home here with me and I can access them whenever I want by simply popping them into the player; or play them in the car when I go out. If there's a fire or a flood or something then - oh well - just like all my other personal possessions, they will perish. However, disasters aside, as long as they work for the next 25 years or so then they should outlive me. What happens after that I really don't care.


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## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

whichever way you decide to go?
make sure you backup, backup & backup
Think of how gutted you would be to lose all that data


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## mstar (Aug 14, 2013)

Eyetoons. 

I don't even know what I'm editing anymore.


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## mchriste (Aug 16, 2013)

NAS
NAS
NAS
NAS

I would never, ever, ever entrust anything important to a cloud service.

Perhaps even more important than the physical storage is the software you use to organize it.
I have been using Mediamonkey for ages and am - overall - very happy with it.
But I don't use its "classical music" tagging system, instead I developed my own!


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## Centropolis (Jul 8, 2013)

I have audio CDs mostly (non-MP3s) that I have accumulated for 3 months now. Started out with no classical CDs and now about $400 later......I put them all on a cheap CD rack and the boxsets stacks beside it.

I do have a few things on MP3s which is stored on two separate external HDs.

Just wondering, what's the difference between a NAS and a simple external HD plugged into the USB port of a router and shared?


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

As to that, what the heck is NAS? Wkikpedia's explanation that it's a "Network Audio System" doesn't tell my diddly.


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## lll (Oct 7, 2012)

To put it simply, a NAS (network-attached storage) is typically some box with hard drives in it, hooked up to your network.

You can either get an already built "NAS" and some hard drives, or you can go DIY and assemble one with old computer parts, which would come together by installing an operating system like FreeNAS (based off FreeBSD, which is a unix-type server OS), for example.

I'm not sure if a USB HDD attached to a router is technically considered a NAS, as it lacks the appropriate hardware and features, but you get the same basic functionality of storage that is attached to your home network...


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Ah - I get it now. Thanks.


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