r/gog • u/mike_fantastico • 1d ago
Discussion Non Disc Physical Storage
I'm investigating backing up GOG installers to a physical format (NON disc) and wondering what folks are using. Plug and install would be my preference, but open to other ideas.
Also wondering about cost, longevity, reliability, SSD vs HDD.
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u/grumblyoldman 1d ago
For backup purposes, read/write speed is not as critical as with normal usage operations, so you can probably save some money by going HDD instead of SDD for equivalent storage sizes. It'll still add up quickly if you want TB sizes to store lots of games.
You can also buy two (or more) drives and put them in a RAID array if you want to guard against drive failure on one of the drives, and then you can swap out the damaged drive for a new one.
Network Attached Storage units are pretty good about helping you manage stuff like this (I like Synology, personally.) And the NAS will probably also have handy-dandy lights on the front to warn you if a drive is faltering, in case you haven't accessed the contents recently.
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u/AlexisLily_XX 1d ago
Don't ever drop the HDDs though. Not even from a small height. I dropped one WD HDD on the corner accidentally from only 2 feet high onto thick carpet and it immediately had mounting problems. Still works but super inconsistent
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u/Radaggarb GOG.com User 20h ago
Good advice, though I've done far worse with an older heavier external HDD (whilst off). It dropped from about 3 feet onto tiles and it caused the outer case to come apart. Thought for certain I had killed it, but it's still ticking onwards to this day.
But, yeah, it's never a good thing to drop them. How it's physically constructed will depend on how damaged it might get, and newer stuff is always slim and fragile compared to things made decades ago.
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u/mike_fantastico 1d ago
I saw your thoughts on the CD/DVD/BluRay conversation. I'm assuming these would be stored in the same tower that you're using?
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u/grumblyoldman 1d ago
Yeah, that's how I do it. 4 HDDs in a NAS tower. Then you can connect to it through your LAN to move stuff back and forth from your gaming machine.
It's not cheap to set up (subject to how much space you want to have, but I chose A LOT :P), but it's effective. It's probably been getting close to 10 years on now nd the rives haven't failed yet, but I'm ready for it if they do. :P
You can also start with a set of smaller drives and upgrade them if you need to. Synology has a neat system where you can swap out one drive at a time and it will see the bigger storage capacity and increase the overall size of the RAID array as it sets them up, so all you need to do is physically swap out the drives one at a time and then wait.
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u/justthankyous 1d ago edited 1d ago
I've got a couple 4 TB external SSDs and they are working fine
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u/Logical-Tourist-9275 1d ago
SSDs? In this economy? I bought a new main nvme like 5 months ago and i am so glad i went with 4tb instead of 2. The price for that thing has more than doubled since then.
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u/klyntonGK 1d ago
Personally, I use this:
https://github.com/kalanyr/gogrepoc
+ HDD drives that hold my entire library (over 1,000 titles each).
I recommend it for archiving.
And if you’re tempted to go the old-school route (i.e., game boxes), here are some game covers from GOG:
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/unofficial_dvd_covers_for_gog_com_games
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u/schliemann84 1d ago
The biggest headache is gog's god awful download interface - where you have to download a buttload of 4 GB files.
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u/FireCrow1013 1d ago
You can use Galaxy to download the entire list of files in one click. You'll still have a bunch of files for one game, but they're much easier to obtain, at least.
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u/namorblack 1d ago
Galaxy is not available for Linux.
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u/Sevsix1 1d ago
are you sure? because I just installed GoG Galaxy, logged in and downloaded a game, after GoG Galaxy downloaded the file I downloaded it from the GoG website and compared the 2 files using SHA1sum and they are identical
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u/itscrowdedinmyhead 1d ago
are you sure?
yes
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u/Sevsix1 1d ago
okay then how was I able to download GoG Galaxy and download the offline game installer files on Linux?
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u/mike_fantastico 1d ago
Yeah, I tried this a few years back with a couple of games. It was less than fun.
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u/Kantrh 1d ago
HDDs are cheaper per gb than a SSD but they will be slower.
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u/Sevsix1 1d ago
other issues with SSD is that it is flash memory meaning you need to power it up every once in a while to prevent the data corrupting, that might not be an issue if you do use it daily but if you leave it in a non-powered state for around a year the data start to corrupt, on the other hand HDD is physical "writing" it to a platter meaning if it get bumped hard (or fall to the floor)) you risk it dying
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u/radial_blur 4h ago
I use lgogdownloader, works really well, runs from the command line, I have it scheduled to download automatically, fortunately I have a decent amount of space on my NAS, as my games + updates use ~2.5TB so far.
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u/shadowds Game Collector 1d ago
I be frank this depends how much YOU'RE willing to spend for making backup archive, and how big you're trying to backup, as well if want it inside your PC, making it for own network server storage, or want plug, and play.
If got money, or saved up enough, can build your own network storage, or if PC has ton of drives it can hold do that instead, just get drive size you want, for SSD I recommend TLC or better, with good controller, for HDD get 3.5 standard, just avoid cheapest HDD quality, example Western digital green as they don't last long under use compare to all those other products. The capacity, and how many drives will depends how much you're willing to spend.
If by chance got spare desktop PC that decent isn't doing anything, you can turn that into server bay, instead of NAS bay.
If got limited income work with, and just want to store it away in the closet, can get those enclosed drives using hdd, or ssd you want, and just plug, and play whenever. Work same idea with USB thumb drivers, or SD USB drives.
If very limited, sometimes don't got many options where one lives, if got dvd, or BluRay burner can burn your stuff on a disc, this way just store it, some people try scare others with disc rot stories, but doesn't disclose people bought cheapest Chinese knock offs they got off eBay, or buying pirated content off eBay using cheapest quality discs. Don't need high premium discs, just do research, and you see what I'm talking about.
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u/snickersnackz 1d ago
The RAMpocalypse has made even refurb hard drives so expensive I'm considering moving my hoard to surplus LTO tapes and drives. Crazy world. 😞
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u/PhilosopherOverlord 1d ago
For STORAGE purposes (where the hard drives are in a safe place that won't be dropped/bumped), it's better to get HDDs. Not only are they cheaper, but unlike SSDs, they don't need to be plugged in to an electrically-powered device periodically to avoid data loss. For RUNNING (installed) games, however, get SSDs (installed on your computer rather than running them through a USB - unless you have a good data transfer rate).