On Wed, Nov 22, 2023 at 08:23:40PM +0100, i...@tutanota.com wrote: > > Once data is no longer "work in progress", archive it to write-only > > media and take it out of the regular backup loop. > > What kind of write-only media do you use/recommend?
It depends on quite a few factors including the quantity of data you need to backup, and how much you are prepared to spend on equipment and media. For a home or small office user, the most accessible in terms of cost, and useful in terms of capacity WORM device is probably a bluray disc recorder. There are certainly other options, including, (much), more expensive optical disc formats such as Archival Disc, and certain LTO tapes which are not really WORM in the strictest sense but for most purposes behave like it. But if you just want to "dip your toes" in to keeping physical copies of valuable data on a disc that can't be overwritten by software and isn't subject to the same hazards as magnetic media, then BD-R is probably the best way in to that. And speaking from experience, it's _much_ more reliable than DVD-R or CD-R as long as the discs are correctly written in the first place. If you search around the internet, you'll easily find a lot of negative commentary about BD-R from people who _don't use it_. In my experience it works quite well, and certainly can be used on OpenBSD machines with little difficulty. (BD-RW can even be written as a regular block device, and doesn't require special writing software, but that's not WORM media.) Oh, and punched aluminuimised tape is also quite a good choice for small files. That'll outlast practically anything else.
