Source
r/DataHoarder•
AnyInsurance2

Safe place to store Pirate Library

Question/Advice

Hey there ! I guess this request is kind of strange but I've been thinking about downloading the whole pirate library (most books from Zlib and Libgen) mirror to have a local copy of almost every books I can think of (around 30TB). I have a safe where I put HDDs with some accounting records and for that matter it has work for years. I know that it isn't the best way to store data that I don't need to access often so what would the alternative be ? Can I put data on Hard Drives and let them unused for years ? Thanks !

Posted Dec 15, 2022, 10:09 PM UTC · edited

513
basicallybasshead•

Another plus for keeping it offline. Get yourelf a NAS or build one.

You could turn pretty much any PC packed with disks into a NAS. Solutions to consider (sorry I just will re-post from my recent comments)

  1. openmediavault (https://www.openmediavault.org/) - Debian. Web GUI. Nice solution to start with.
  2. Ubuntu Server https://linuxpip.org/ubuntu-nas/.
  3. StarWind SAN and NAS (https://www.starwindsoftware.com/san-and-nas) - Ubuntu-based. Seems to be actively developed. Nice GUI. iSCSI and file shares capabilities.
  4. unraid (unraid.net/) - guess many will recommend to stick with it.
  5. TrueNAS Core (https://www.truenas.com/truenas-core/) - FreeBSD, open-Source.

Luckily r/DataHoarder is a right place to ask :) also, consider asking the r/selfhosted folks.

Readout for inspiration:

  1. https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/vknmo1/setting_up_old_pc_nas/
  2. https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeServer/comments/wo2yah/complete_beginner_can_i_build_a_nas_with_an_old_pc/
  3. https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/m65ebn/nas_old_pc_vs_premade/

Alternatively, if you do not want to keep your collection at your fingertips 24/7, you could just get multiple HDDs and fill them with data. Manageability and keeping track of such a system might be a pain though.

10
LongRangeRecce•

Commenting to save

2
GoodOmenBadOmen•

There's already a save button in the three-dot menu next to the Reply button for future reference.

4
Jokey66555TB•

or there's a save button just below the post if you're on old reddit

6
LongRangeRecce•

Oh wow, thank you.

3
basicallybasshead•

You are always welcome :)

3
EspritFort•

Hey there ! I guess this request is kind of strange but I've been thinking about downloading the whole pirate library (most books from Zlib and Libgen) mirror to have a local copy of almost every books I can think of (around 30TB). I have a safe where I put HDDs with some accounting records and for that matter it has work for years. I know that it isn't the best way to store data that I don't need to access often so what would the alternative be ? Thanks !

I'm not really sure what your threat model is. Safe from what? It's not like the data itself can be stolen from you. There is no point in any physical safety measures if you simply encrypt your system. Or are you worried about your actual physical hard drives being stolen during a burglary? In that case it doesn't really matter what data is on them. And whatever was on them would be protected by an off-site backup.

3
AnyInsurance2OP•

It's just to keep an offline copy of those books if the mirror ever goes down / if internet goes down

7
Alucard205118TB•

Do you use those records for business? I would be very hesitant to mix piracy and anything you use as a primary source of income

3
AnyInsurance2OP•

Yes I never really use the copy of my records, it's in case my cloud backup fails or something

2
snatch1e•

Can I put data on Hard Drives and let them unused for years ?

You can go this way, but, be sure, to power those drives on time to time and check for data consistency. There are few things that can go wrong if you just put them somewhere for a few years, like humidity can kill drives, mechanical parts can be broken and etc. Also, you can consider using any other backup storage media. If these books are critical to save for you, look at 3-2-1 backup rule to keep your data safe.

3
lemmeanon45 TB•

i think it is recommended to spin up the drives every 6 months. and maybe do a checksum check while you are at it

2
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1