{
  "id": 15876756,
  "title": "Old SATA hard drives are the best cold storage I own, and they cost me almost nothing",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/old-sata-hard-drives-are-the-best-cold-storage-i-own-and-they-cost-me",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-21T11:00:20.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "XDA Developers",
    "slug": "xda-developers",
    "url": "https://www.xda-developers.com/old-sata-hard-drives-are-the-best-cold-storage-i-own-and-they-cost-me-almost-nothing/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The author stores rarely accessed data on two old 1TB and 2TB SATA hard drives, which they purchased years ago for minimal cost. They cite the drives' cheap price, reliability when unplugged, and ease of reading data years later as reasons why they are well-suited for cold storage. While these drives have a limited capacity, they are sufficient for an archive of finished files and free up more expensive storage space for frequently used data. The author emphasizes that these drives are not part of their backup scheme following the 3-2-1 rule, but they do provide redundancy by using multiple copies of important data under a 3-2-1 backup strategy. Before using the drives for cold storage, they recommend running a SMART extended self-test and a full read of its surface to ensure the drive is functioning properly.",
  "summary": "2 old SATA drives now hold my archive, and they were drives I already had",
  "key_points": [
    "Old SATA hard drives used for cold storage due to low cost and reliability",
    "Two 1TB and 2TB drives purchased years ago for minimal expense",
    "Drives provide redundancy with multiple copies under 3-2-1 backup strategy"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Repurposing legacy SATA drives for archival purposes provides a cost-effective way to manage limited capacity while preserving expensive high-speed storage for active files.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}