Unknown damaged files in backups scares me at night, is there a solution? (alien.top)

submitted 10 months ago by mediamystery@alien.top to c/datahoarder@selfhosted.forum

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I recently had an indicdent where I discovered that some image folders on the drive that I did a backup of were damaged which resulted in an incomplete/broken backup. Fortunately I managed to recover the damaged pictures from an old computer.

old computer and other devices (no damaged files ) --> backup (had some damaged files) --> backup of backup (also got the damaged files)

I know that the drive shouldn't had been used the state where files got damaged in the first place, but I'd like to know if there's a tool that can scan for inconsistencies among the files and identify if there are any damaged ones? Preferably without having to compare with the original files.

I discovered the broken images by pure luck (it was only a couple of folders), and the thought of not doing this and continuing to backup broken files scares me at night when I try to sleep.

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[-] StarNHSolar@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Just use cloud back up services. You won't really need to worry about your files once there in the cloud as the service provider looks after them for you.

[-] cvrseduwu@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

I wouldn't use the drive anymore to be honest.
Had a similiar case when browsing through family photos on my Samsung SSD drive and discovered a couple corrupted images / videos.

The next day that changed to corrupted folders but thankfully I had everything mirrored on various other drives.

Coincidentally this started after plugging the SSD into a new USB-C enclosure - it was in a USB 3.0 enclosure before. After all that it reported a wear leveling count of 3 but apart from that SMART seems fine. Still not using it for anything important.

[-] mayo551@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

I have personally moved to ZFS which can self-repair based on generated checksums and parity data on the fly.

If you are not using ZFS or another filesystem that has built in bitrot protection then you will want to use par2. You can also use rar which has recovery/parity data options available.

this post was submitted on 12 Nov 2023

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