Long term PC for apocalyptic situation?

J

jhokie

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 23, 2005
Messages
262
Let's say you were building a PC for an end of the world as we know it scenario. The main goal of this PC would be to last you as long as possible. To store records, documents, books (survival guides, instructions, entertainment etc). You may play some light open source/indie games, but I don't think it would be practical to build this PC to use a modern powerful graphics card. You may also use it for communication over some sort of wireless network if other survivors also have the capability.

Requirements:
* Very low power consumption (if you have to ride a stationary bike to generate power, or find fuel you don't want to have a PC drawing 700W)
* Very high reliability
* 1,000$ seems like a good price to shoot for since most people may be able to afford it. Don't forget to include some spare parts.
* 30 years. Seems like a reasonable benchmark to shoot for in terms of longevity. We all know someone who has a PC working that's 10 years old or so, but 30 seems like a good challenge.

So what approach would you take to making this happen?

If I was actually trying to build a desktop PC, I think I would go with the lowest wattage Intel processor I could find, likely a dual core with on-die graphics. I would get a very efficient, quality power supply that would probably only be using a small amount of its rated output. I would make sure the entire case was well sealed with dust filters. A quality UPS would also be essential.

The motherboard is a very scary issue that I feel would be difficult to get right, since there's no way to verify the motherboard will be long lasting. I would just try to spend a little more and find a motherboard with high quality capacitors and other components, and hope for the best.

For storage, I would probably use small SSDs and just have several spares on hand. I would need at least 2 installed SSDs for redundancy, with 2 for spares. I know they don't have the long term track record of hard drives, but I think the lack of moving parts is also critical.

All that being said, buying a a few rasberry pis or similar devices sounds very appealing. It would be cheap, and you could have a pretty redundant setup. You could simply backup your data to a secondary rasberry pi daily. Of course you would give up a great deal in computing power.

I'd like to hear ALL the suggestions for this idea ;)
 
30 years? Uh...no. I see no evidence that parts based on current semiconductor processes will have any longevity beyond a decade. No, that guy you know with a functional IBM XT has no bearing on that.

Documents on dead trees. Wireless communication via morse code over shortwave. Grab a stockpile of cheap, off-lease Toughbooks if you want something to play Minesweeper on; but once they're gone, they're gone.
 
Redundant everything. Passively cooled. Multiple media storage options including flash, DVD, and hard drives. Removable storage to exchange information with other survivors.
Newegg wishlist:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=26227267

Edit: On second thought. If all you had was $1000 you'd be better off buying a good rifle and ammunition. Steal the components from distribution centers or stores afterwards. If you had a few thousand I'd go for 5x redundant components + rifle and ammo.
 
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I would make sure it had solid state caps and that you had a set of replacements for it.
 
You better hurry as you only have like a day and a half left.
 
I would buy 2 - 3 cheap laptops, all identical setups.

Key things about these setups would be.

Built in SDHC memory card reader, with plenty of spare SDHC cards to store valuable data on.
DVD-RW drive for burning to DVD/CD

A couple external DVD-RW drives for just in case.

External hard drives; though these wouldn't be ones that you buy already together. I'd get an external case and my own hdd to play in them; giving you more flexibility. Also I'd stick with laptop 2.5" hdd externals, so you could get data off a laptop should it stop working for whatever reason.

External monitor or two, cheap. Wouldn't use these at all unless all laptops are in a non display working state.

I would also have a couple spare batteries for the laptops and I would only use the batteries when necessary. Otherwise I would use whatever power source I have available to me.
 
Clay tablets

Seriously, notice as storage tech gets more advanced, the less it lasts?

Stone tablets last thousands of years

Paper lasts hundreds of years.... maybe

Cassette tape lasts a few decades

..... Harddrives are lucky to last more than 5 years.... that is IF they don't die within 1-2

At this rate we will be able to store the entire universe on a crystal the size of a sugar cube.... but it will only last 10 seconds.
 
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