Backup advice for iTunes library

Slydude

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SWMBO and I were having a discussion over dinner tonight when she mentioned having to re-download some of our Audible content thand had gotten borked due to some precious account issues. That reminded me of an issue I had a few years ago where some content puchased from the iTunes couldn't be re-downloaded when I needed to rebuild the library. Fortunately I had a backup.

That put me in mind of a question I'd like some input on.

I have a backup of my current iTunes library on two different spinning hard drives one of which is relatively new. That library is just shy of 170 GB. I also have approximately 2 TB of data / media files I'd like to have an addtional backup of in case the one I have dies. That data is approximately 2.5 TB till I have time to prune out things I don't need / have multiple copies of

What do you guys think of using an SSD for the iTunes backup so I could treat it almost as an archive? For cost reasons the 2+ TB of other stuff will likely end up on a spinning drive due to cost.

I also have a Blu Ray burner and could use that option.

What do you guys think is the best mix to get a good archive?
 

chscag

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I personally use DVDs to backup things like family photos and the recordings we make. I also have the same information backed up on two separate hard drives.

For very large libraries I probably would burn them to a Blu Ray disk which will long outlast any hard drive or SSD. I considered buying a Blu Ray burner at one time but most of our stuff fits nicely on DVDs which again will be alive after hard drives and SSDs go to the graveyard.
 
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Slydude

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That's my thinking as well. When my iTunes library went down a few years ago the saving grace was that much of it was archived on Blu Ray discs. I already have the burner, which was purchased shortly after I bought the iMac.

I don't use discs very much these days but this seems like just the task for it.

Right now I periodically back up the iTunes library to a second hard drive using CCC. Going forward I'm probably going to do the following:
1. Update the existing backup of my iTunes library. This backup should always be up-to-date as it would be the fastest way to reciver from a library disaster.
2. Archive the iTunes library on Blu Ray.
3. Prune unneeded files from the other 2+ TB and back that up. Some of this material is backed up by Time Machine already.

I've seen some decent deals on SSDs recently and I'm wondering if any part of this process is appropriate for SSDs. Obviously I won't be putting 2 TB of data on SSDs unless someone else is paying.

How many hats do I have to trade for 2 TB worth of SSDs?:smile
 

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