Long term storage of data

I have been asking myself for some time how can we archive data long term.  Long enough so that in the event of a nuclear war, pandemic or something similar we can still retrieve the means to survive and move on to kick start the rebuild of our civilisation.

Looking at the past we didn’t have much data, it was stored on stone and even that has not survived.   What has survived has been subject to continual misunderstandings and mistranslations.  Hell, look at all the discussions about the second amendment to the US constitution and that is written in English only 250 years ago.   So what chance do we have translating some long dead language?  Now consider that that language is also written by humans and there are certain base understandings we have and we still can’t be sure what it means.

I’ve come to the conclusion that there is currently only one way we can do this.  No removeable media we currently have will last beyond 15 years unless stored correctly.  DVDs are rated at 10 years and CDs at 15.  Hard disks however vary between 4 and 40 depending on what magnetic fields are around.  Word is going on to make a system which will last 1000 years.   I would imagine it would be a while before we have that system at home.

Basically, that means we are on our own now.   We need to take what is available now.  Keep that as simple as possible and prepare as best you can. In our case it is unlikely to be perfect but you can only do what you can do.

What I  have done :
For critical data, instructions etc. print them out. Buy books.
For all data store on DVD (several copies), Removable hard drives (several copies), and try USB and SSD and the main ones stored on your computer. (USB and SSD are getting larger by the week. We already have 500Gb USB sticks) Don’t encrypt or be smart with anything. Basic files like TXT or PDF. Something with no licensing to expire.
Store everything safely away from water etc. in a shielded metal container.
Store a small working laptop, loaded with all the necessary software and a DVD drive with a solar power capability in the container as well.

Then while life is good keep refreshing the data, making regular full and incremental backups to USB drives and storing somewhere safe.   Arrange with a friend to store your data and you store theirs. Then every 5 years replace the media with brand new versions, update the computer and make sure everything works before you seal the package.  If you have the room keep the old one as well.   This version will make the old one look like something from the Ark.

That will keep your short, medium and long term storage going.

Now looking to the future what chance do we have of archiving data enough so that a future civilisation or another species entirely can pick up and read the collected works of our civilisation, our planet even?  How would they interpret the hardware?    The only way we could do this is if we left a working system that could process the data.   We are not at that level of technology yet.   Then when they could read the words how do they translate it.   Physics, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry etc. being sciences should be relatively easy to translate but how do you think Aliens would interpret fiction like, err, Alien or the Mills and Boon pulp fiction.