On Terabytes (On Gigabytes, On Prancer, & Vixen)

[Ziggy C]

Just a comment on our digital times, wherein we maintain tremendous digital archives of audio and video. Some of us perhaps approaching petabyte territory.

Keeping it organized takes some commitment. How to name the folders. What convention to use for the date. How to name larger folders for easy reference.

We all fall into our own routines. I've found it helpful to name the folder starting with the full name of the band. As in, Rush, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, etc. Next comes the date (if it's a show) or simply the title of the bootleg, if it is not a live show, or if it is a compilation of recordings from that same band. The convention I use for the date is year-month-day. As in, 2023-09-10 if it were today. Or 1963-04-04 if it were then. I've found that no matter when the recording is, it falls into order so much more easily, and is therefore much easier to find when scanning a lengthy list. And for larger folders, I've fallen into the habit of making my mother folders for the bands either "music" or "music vids." And within that, I may label a subfolder "bootleg extravaganza" if it's a rather large collection. I've also used the names cloud drive and mother lode from time to time. These are words that stick out in my mind so that when I search my database, I can more easily find my stuff.

The database I have been using the past several years is a program called, "Neofinder." Everything is archived there and is very easily searched and located.

I told you all that to tell you this....

I opened Neofinder and was looking for my folder with all the concerts from the Stones 1981 tour of the US. I found the folder in Neofinder. But it had a size of 0.0kb and the folder was empty. Other folders along side it were empty as well, such as the rest of the Stones folder, The Who Mother Lode, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin (Overflowage,) Jethro Tull Concert Extravaganza, and more....all showing 0.0kb. Terabytes of stuff simply winked out of existence. Moreover, included in that horde is stuff I'd forgotten I had, which is now (blink blink) gone (blink blink.)

Anyone ever had that happen before? Thought not; this is the kind of calamity that would only befall yours truly.

Well, I pulled it together and began to scour the internet again to try and reclaim some of these treasures. And then, for kicks, I plugged in the hard drive which had formerly been home to this bullion. And lo,...everything is there as it should be. All the folders are intact and plentiful. This whole episode, luckily, turned out to be a database error. (Phew.) But it coulda been so much worse. It wasn't. But it coulda. So the lesson is the same one Douglas Adams imparted all those years ago (What, 42? NO! Not 42! That's but the answer to the great question of life, the universe, and everything. But what is the great question?)

Don't Panic. That's the lesson. Be methodical. Nothing just disappears.

And now to a nice shot of whiskey and some tunes from this hard drive to provide the soundtrack to the Chargers game on the TV.

[Kwai Chang]

Anyone ever had that happen before? Thought not; this is the kind of calamity that would only befall yours truly.

The very first Seagate(500GB) I ever owned was allowed to set-up with a quick-wizard and voila!
In two days I noticed there were duplicate files of EVERYTHING on the hard drive and by the time I was done, I deleted ALL SEAGATE application/set up/run crap-folder and spent much time just deleting duplicates. But, since that day...NO run-as...just blank empty real estate(storage).
I dropped a Toshiba 3T 24inches on carpet and it never worked again. THAT took a year to fill up and I was in such a state of shock that I thought it would lead to alcohol. But here I am and...about THE question...it's always the same question:
WHO am I and where is my car?
KC

[mojofilter]

I'm still recovering from the files I lost during the great crash of '17. A couple things worked to my advantage: Recuva (PRO), and multiple backups. I've been writing a database since 2009 in a now-defunct program called CATraxx. The author became ill and closed his company. But it still works, and my aim is to have most, if not all, of my sound files playable with one click. Over 80% of entries have a label or cover thumbnail stored in their entry. Besides that, I have identical folders but on separate drives for CD albums, Singles, RMW, mp3, 78. If a drive dies, I still have those files elsewhere. In the directories, they're all named alphabetically by artist and then by album title. I have been burned too many times in the past to ever buy anything with the Seagate name on it. I also invested in a sine wave UPS, and haven't suffered the aftermath of a power blackout in years and years. I have categories in the database to annotate live, mono, stereo, which version, country of origin, 24/96, and a lot of other fields, all related like branches of a tree. If I've entered the data, CATraxx will find the connection between them. I have about 2500 New Boots to add, and by the time that's finished, I'll have another 2500 New Boots. Besides which, I also have a directory for the .zip archives I download things from.

[Kwai Chang]

6 or 7 years ago, I lost an ASUS desktop when lightning struck...(NO DELAY in thunder). I have lived in Florida and the electrical storms there are intense! This was a freak weather occasion for California. This was the closest lightning strike I'd ever experienced... It wasn't prolonged or spreading across the sky. It was the loudest single BOOM and it was behind me...I saw my shadow on the ground in front of me. I felt the static electricity on my neck. I felt the concussion of the sound wave against my being as the light flashed. It was the only time indirect lighting has made me see trails like arcflash for a welder(I am a L.A. City Certified Welder)!. I saw all of my chickens run for the coop all in unison! And before I could start running towards the front door...my wife was on the porch "the power is out and the computer made a funny noise!".
A week's work of creative banking and transportation ensued immediately!
That computer was filled to the brim as well!
It was replaced with the only thing I could afford...an HP that isn't nearly what the ASUS had been!
And so, I'll take an mp3 of Teddy Boy over 3TB of HDTracks 24/192 that won't play!
Wait! Did I say Teddy Boy?
Thanks!
KC

[Ziggy C]

Lightning strikes.....

But first, I do have some redundancy built-in to my madness when it comes to storing stuff... Seagate, eh? I've had similar stories about Western Digital, which I will not buy again.

I have multiple portable drives that I bring into the entertainment room. And the robustness of the low-frequency response has meant that on that rare occasion, a drive hits the floor. In that respect, I have been VERY lucky so far.

And now to lightning....
Several years ago, my friend and I made the run to Vegas. He had some moxie and had us comped at Caesar's Place. But we had to get there first. The lightning storm was so intense that when we pulled over in the middle of the desert, due to, like, zero visibility to drive. We were witness to multiple (I mean tens to hundreds) lightning strikes all around us. It was awesome. And scary at the same time. We made it to Vegas eventually. But the Gods had spoken.

[alphabeatles]

I think there are as many filing systems here as there are members! I am "Alphabeatles" because some time ago, I was filing all Beatles music alphabetically, by song (with all the different types of files subfoldered underneath each separate song, such as Live, Demos, Sessions, Mixes, Remixes, etc.).

Now I use the UK LP release structure for the top level, and everything relating to songs from each album go there. All different official releases, all remixes, all isolations, etc. When some fan or boot label releases a set, I pick it apart and put the items where they belong. I don't care about boot or fan or even Apple titles, it's the songs that matter and where they originally came from in terms of release context.

Clarification: Live concerts are kept in their original context. It's studio material that gets reorganized.

So if I am fixated on Fixing A Hole one day, any official release, remix, demix, cover version, etc., etc. will be found under the Sgt. Pepper umbrella, because that's where it first appeared. So tidy.

Caveat: I spend more time filing than listening! For over 25 years! That's why the onslaught of rehash bothers me so much, it's like Atlas and his rock and the hill... George said to Beware of Darkness, I say beware of FAB, SGT, Superb, BEAT and the like, spitting our own posted items back at us with clever new artwork.

Anyway, no matter what you're doing collecting- and organization-wise, make backups all the time! Keep an up-to-date redundant drive or two offline (not plugged in and spun up) and have yet another copy somewhere else (like at work).

[Lord Reith]

I hate it when HDs go bad. And the more compact they get, the less reliable they get. Add to that having all your eggs in one basket. No frigging way I'd ever buy one of those 20tb drives given the unbelievably shoddy nature of manufacturing in 2023. Everything is just literally shit now, intended to fall apart after a year. A long way from the 70s/80s where you can still find equipment that still works perfectly well after 40 years.

[Megazeti]

I had a WD 1 tb USB HDD a year ago and barely 3 months old it carked it with nearly a TB on it most I eventually redownoaded what I could but neither Isobuster or a computer place could retrieve anything all I was able to was with Isobuster to type out what could still be be seen on the drive, eventually after a week it totally failed. From that experience I stayed with my Toshiba's with have lasted very well touch wood.

[Lord Reith]

I had a WD 1 tb USB HDD a year ago and barely 3 months old it carked it with nearly a TB on it most I eventually redownoaded what I could but neither Isobuster or a computer place could retrieve anything all I was able to was with Isobuster to type out what could still be be seen on the drive, eventually after a week it totally failed. From that experience I stayed with my Toshiba's with have lasted very well touch wood.

You probably won't be happy to hear then that I have had nothing but trouble with Toshiba.

[Megazeti]

compared to mine 5 years mine and not one problem with mine whatsoever.