Data degradation is the gradual corruption of computer data due to an accumulation of non-critical failures in a data storage device. It is also referred to as data decay, data rot or bit rot.[1] This results in a decline in data quality over time, even when the data is not being utilized. The concept of data degradation involves progressively minimizing data in interconnected processes, where data is used for multiple purposes at different levels of detail. At specific points in the process chain, data is irreversibly reduced to a level that remains sufficient for the successful completion of the following steps[2]
Data degradation in dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) can occur when the electric charge of a bit in DRAM disperses, possibly altering program code or stored data. DRAM may be altered by cosmic rays[3] or other high-energy particles. Such data degradation is known as a soft error.[4]ECC memory can be used to mitigate this type of data degradation.[5]
Secondary storages
Data degradation results from the gradual decay of storage media over the course of years or longer. Causes vary by medium.
Solid-state media
EPROMs, flash memory and other solid-state drive store data using electrical charges, which can slowly leak away due to imperfect insulation. Modern flash controller chips account for this leak by trying several lower threshold voltages (until ECC passes), prolonging the age of data. Multi-level cells with much lower distance between voltage levels cannot be considered stable without this functionality.[6]
The chip itself is not affected by this, so reprogramming it approximately once per decade prevents decay. An undamaged copy of the master data is required for the reprogramming. A checksum can be used to assure that the on-chip data is not yet damaged and ready for reprogramming.
The typical SD card, USB stick and M.2 NVMe all have a limited endurance. Power on can usually recover data[citation needed] but error rates will eventually degrade the media to illegibility. Writing zeros to a degraded NAND device can revive the storage to close to new condition for further use.[citation needed] Refresh cycles should be no longer than 6 months to be sure the device is legible.
Magnetic media
Magnetic media, such as hard disk drives, floppy disks and magnetic tapes, may experience data decay as bits lose their magnetic orientation. Higher temperature speeds up the rate of magnetic loss. As with solid-state media, re-writing is useful as long as the medium itself is not damaged (see below).[7] Modern hard drives use Giant magnetoresistance and have a higher magnetic lifespan on the order of decades. They also automatically correct any errors detected by ECC through rewriting. The reliance on a factory servo track can complicate data recovery if it becomes unrecoverable, however.
Floppy disks and tapes are poorly protected against ambient air. In warm/humid conditions, they are prone to the physical decomposition of the storage medium.[8][7]
Optical media
Optical media such as CD-R, DVD-R and BD-R, may experience data decay from the breakdown of the storage medium. This can be mitigated by storing discs in a dark, cool, low humidity location. "Archival quality" discs are available with an extended lifetime, but are still not permanent. However, data integrity scanning that measures the rates of various types of errors is able to predict data decay on optical media well ahead of uncorrectable data loss occurring.[9]
Both the disc dye and the disc backing layer are potentially susceptible to breakdown. Early cyanine-based dyes used in CD-R were notorious for their lack of UV stability. Early CDs also suffered from CD bronzing, and is related to a combination of bad lacquer material and failure of the aluminum reflection layer.[10] Later discs use more stable dyes or forgo them for an inorganic mixture. The aluminum layer is also commonly swapped out for gold or silver alloy.
Data degradation in streaming media acquisition modules, as addressed by the repair algorithms, reflects real-time data quality issues caused by device limitations. However, a more general form of data degradation refers to the gradual decay of storage media over extended periods, influenced by factors like physical wear, environmental conditions, or technological obsolescence. Causes of such degradation can vary depending on the medium, such as magnetic fields in hard drives, moisture or temperature for tape storage, or electronic failure over time.[13]
Example
One manifestation of data degradation is when one or a few bits are randomly flipped over a long period of time.[14] This is illustrated by several digital images below, all consisting of 326,272 bits. The original photo is displayed first. In the next image, a single bit was changed from 0 to 1. In the next two images, two and three bits were flipped. On Linux systems, the binary difference between files can be revealed using the cmp command (e.g. cmp -b bitrot-original.jpg bitrot-1bit-changed.jpg).
0 bits flipped
1 bit flipped
2 bits flipped
3 bits flipped
Causes
This deterioration can be caused by a variety of factors that impact the reliability and integrity of digital information, including physical factors, software errors, security breaches, human error, obsolete technology, and unauthorized access incidents.[15][16][17][18]
Most disk, disk controller and higher-level systems are subject to a slight chance of unrecoverable failure. With ever-growing disk capacities, file sizes, and increases in the amount of data stored on a disk, the likelihood of the occurrence of data decay and other forms of uncorrected and undetected data corruption increases.[19]
Higher-level software systems may be employed to mitigate the risk of such underlying failures by increasing redundancy and implementing integrity checking, error correction codes and self-repairing algorithms.[21] The ZFSfile system was designed to address many of these data corruption issues.[22] The Btrfs file system also includes data protection and recovery mechanisms,[23][bettersourceneeded] as does ReFS.[24]
Mitigation
There is no solution that completely eliminates the threat of data degradation,[25] but various measures exist that can stave it off. One of these is to replicate the data as backups. Both the original and backed data are then audited for any faults due to storage media errors by checksumming the data or comparing it with that of other copies. This is the only way to detect latent faults proactively,[26] which might otherwise go unnoticed until the data is actually accessed.[27] Current storage systems such as those based on RAID already employ such measures internally.[28] Ideally, and especially for data that must be preserved digitally, the replicas should be distributed across multiple administrative sites that function autonomously and deploy various hardware and software, increasing resistance to failure, as well as human error and cyberattacks.[29]
↑ O'Gorman, T. J.; Ross, J. M.; Taber, A. H.; Ziegler, J. F.; Muhlfeld, H. P.; Montrose, C. J.; Curtis, H. W.; Walsh, J. L. (January 1996). "Field testing for cosmic ray soft errors in semiconductor memories". IBM Journal of Research and Development. 40 (1): 41–50. doi:10.1147/rd.401.0041.
1 2 "Preserving magnetic media". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 3 November 2020. High temperature and humidity and fluctuations may cause the magnetic and base layers in a reel of tape to separate, or cause adjacent loops to block together. High temperatures may also weaken the magnetic signal, and ultimately de-magnetise the magnetic layer.
↑ Riss, Dan (July 1993). "Conserve O Gram (number 19/8) Preservation Of Magnetic Media"(PDF). nps.gov. Harpers Ferry, West Virginia: National Park Service / Department of the Interior (US). p.2. The longevity of magnetic media is most seriously affected by processes that attack the binder resin. Moisture from the air is absorbed by the binder and reacts with the resin. The result is a gummy residue that can deposit on tape heads and cause tape layers to stick together. Reaction with moisture also can result in breaks in the long molecular chains of the binder. This weakens the physical properties of the binder and can result in a lack of adhesion to the backing. These reactions are greatly accelerated by the presence of acids. Typical sources would be the usual pollutant gases in the air, such as sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrous oxides (NOx), which react with moist air to form acids. Though acid inhibitors are usually built into the binder layer, over time they can lose their effectiveness.
↑ Baker et al. 2006, p.224: "While many faults are detected at the time an error causes them, some occur silently. These are called 'latent faults.' There are many sources of latent faults, but media errors are the best known. While a head crash would be detectable, bit rot might not be uncovered until the affected faulty data are actually accessed and audited. As another example, a sector on a disk might become unreadable; this would not be detected until the next read of that sector. Further, a sector might be readable but contain incorrect information due to a previous misplaced sector write."
Baker, Mary; Shah, Mehul; Rosenthal, David S. H.; Roussopoulos, Mema; Maniatis, Petros; Giuli, TJ; Bungale, Prashanth (18 April 2006). A fresh look at the reliability of long-term digital storage. EuroSys '06: Proceedings of the 1st ACM SIGOPS/EuroSys European Conference on Computer Systems 2006. Association for Computing Machinery. pp.221–234. doi:10.1145/1217935.1217957.
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