Ask HN: If you had to preserve digital data for 100 years how would you do it?

I’d start by googling for Long term data preservation.

LTDP is a very big topic and the answer will depend on the type of data, type of access reauired, available resources etc.

Take a “simple” example, preserving digital text documents for the past 40 years. You’d need to be preserving word star and word perfect documents. You have two options (probably more); keep the original ones as well as the software and OSes to view them, or keep converting them to an always current format. This means the process might be lossy or require custom converters.

And that is just to make sure the data is actually useful. Dealing with the hardware from storage media to location will be a fun rabbit hole to go down in.

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What are you looking to preserve?

Get a stack of CDs, cover it in silicone about 4" thick, then cover it in concrete and bury it in the middle of the woods.

It wouldn't be my responsibility for 100 years. I'd keep it backed up reasonably by using multiple methods (physical storage stored in different locations, digital backups, etc) until it was my time to quit or retire. Then I would hand the backups off to the next person for them to track and maintain.

Recent discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31149427