Cloud storage good or bad for long-term storage?
 

Cloud storage is good or bad to keep my files saved in the long run (many years and decades)? What is the best and most reliable free cloud storage service?

It's bad.

Cloud companies can go bust, change policies, etc. It has nothing to do with the media in use.
For long-term, it needs to be something in your possession.

At most, for short-term duplicate backups. With data, never trust what you can't see or hold in your hand.

I need to save some OS firmware files so what would be the best long term storage option if these files have very few KB?

save in flash usb device or flash memory card for long term storage?

Long-term storage (decades) files is more reliable CD, DVD, MDisc DVD, HDD, USB Flash Drive or microSD flash memory card?

I'd go optical disc or spinning drive, not cell-based (flash/thumb/ssd).

What is the problem with the usb flash drive or sd card? Do they seem safe to me?

it is true that to keep the files on flash memory chips it is necessary to power them from time to time

You need to do some reading on Wikipedia. Solid memory is not archival. Just no.

I'm going to burn a few KB files on a 4.7GB MDisc, it's possible to configure my ImgBurn for I can put more files on the disk in future? please help configuration

If it's very important data, it's a good idea to put backups on multiple types of media and storage locations. Every type of media has it's advantages and disadvantages.

Is it reliable and secure long term storage I use 2 discs mdisc verbatim dvd inside black case boxes?

In your opinion, which cloud services are the most reliable and secure for long-term storage my files? services that hold for longer do not delete my files?

I work as computer system administrator.
I do not trust cloud storage, at least for the cheaper one. You have to pay and if you miss, they will erase your data.

I started with CDs, in 2001-2003 I bought a CD writer and wrote my files on CDs.
Then I bought a DVD writer and I burnt my data on DVDs.
DVDs and CDs lack of durability. So I did one more copy of my data.

Then, hard drives became cheaper and I put a copy on them, I also maintain DVDs as backup because they are read-only media. Read-only drives are useful when viruses or ransomware hit you.
I chose hard discs with a USB case because I expect that USB will be available in ten years. I formatted them with NTFS filesystem (mountable on Linux as well) and put my videos, docs and pictures along with some software.

My suggestions to storage data are:
Every ten years, I do at least one copy.
Store data in plastic dark boxes avoiding heating and high humidity.
Use different kind of media (optical, magnetic...) and also different brands.
Choose most common standard formats (to get interoperability).
Prevent storing the media on the floor but put them at least a cut above (avoiding flood).
If you can, store a copy on a different place too.

A 1 TB hard disc does not cost very much today.

Is it reliable and secure long term storage I use 2 discs mdisc verbatim dvd inside black case boxes?

In your opinion, which cloud services are the most reliable and secure for long-term storage my files? services that hold for longer do not delete my files?

As much as I wish I could say Google Drive, I don't trust Google to not knee-jerk change their product offering at a whim. That has happened so many times over the past decade.

Dropbox is just as bad.

You have things like Backblaze or AWS (Amazon).

The tip is to find something convenient. For example, I'd probably never daily clone my local files. But for a server, it's be as close to live-clone as possible. So it really depends on preference, as well as something like your net connection speed.

It's not as easy as marketing makes it out to be.

Disaster-proof archival storage uses a 3-2-1 backup system.
3 Copies
2 Local
1 Off-site

So, store your collection on a computer Internal or External drive. Maintain a backup copy of your collection using a second dedicated backup drive, and, sync your collection with either a cloud service or a third drive stored off-site. Like at work or in a safe deposit box.

In this scenario, Cloud storage is actually the more secure method since in the event of a major disaster (say flooding or wild fire) it is possible for your off-site location to suffer the same fate as your home. It's less likely the Cloud service AND both of your storage drives would become compromised simultaneously. Also, Cloud backup is easier to maintain than an drive stored off-site.

There is, however, no way to protect against a total global EMP. I suppose you could make a story board.

Don't overlook hackers breaching the security of the cloud. Even AWS and Google have hacking incidents.

And don't overlook that internet speeds determine how well it can be used. With some internet connections, and some services, it'd take months of 24/7 uploading to truly back yourself up.

In theory, it's a good option, but in practical terms, it may not be.

Some genealogy services incorporate Cloud storage with the family historian in mind. Forever, Mylio and BackBlaze are all solid Cloud storage services. Adobe Creative Cloud, Apple iCloud and Google Drive are all acceptable sync services, but should not be considered a dedicated backup.

What is your opinion of the best online storage?

The 3-2-1 method overlooks nothing. The question is not the security of the service but the security of your data. Sure, stuff can happen to a Cloud service that is beyond your control, same goes for your physical possessions. That's why you back it up. The key to ensuring that irreplaceable family memories such as photos and videos will survive the test of time is redundancy. I also discourage people from tossing their original media after having digitized it, and encourage proper archival storage methods. Some listen, some don't.

Well, I view online backup services as being out of your control, and you are trusting them for security and maintenance of that backup. The question was about "long-term", and I consider long-term to be at least 10 years. For many reasons, be it the company dissolving, or breaches over the decade-long period, it's honestly not long-term. Those companies simply are not trustworthy over that period of time.

It's short-term, backups that you retain for a year or less.

It can still fit into a 3-2-1, but 3-2-1 also isn't nuanced enough. You can retain daily, weekly, monthly, and annual backups. The 3-2-1 somewhat overlooks that, and trying to 3-2-1 on every backup cycle (daily especially) often isn't feasible.

Tossing old media, videotapes especially, is something we also heavily discourage at this site.

you can't use it on a sunny day.

What is the most reliable and secure free cloud service to store 50GB? they do not delete my files