Apple Lossless vs iTunes Plus

We think of CD's and spinning magnetic disks as standards but they'll be obsolete soon enough, just like the analog tape and Syquest and Jaz disks we used to rely on.

Ummm, maybe YOU think of CD's as spinning magnetic disks, but I think most folks would think of them as spinning optical discs. They do not record information magnetically like analog tape or Syquest or Jaz discs. They DO have a potential to eventually fail, especially cheaply made media like that sold at Office MaxDepotWarehouseMegaoutlet Inc. I've never had one fail yet in over ten years of using them to backup data, but allegedly they will.

I agree with the redundant backup strategy you mention. Have two drives that either mirror each other in a RAID configurations (there are plenty of very reasonably priced 2-slot RAID solutions out there that are easy to swop drives into), or do a weekly swop of two separate drives that mirror your original.

It is not a question of IF your hard drive will fail, it is simply a matter of when.

My hard drive became too cluttered with my iTunes library so I took my Apple G5 computer to the local shop to see about getting a second hard drive installed.

They noticed that the seagate hard drive that was still under warranty was "sounding a bit too noisy" so they suggested I replace it. Since my Time Machine had been installed for over a year, this replacement was simple and I had my 'old' computer up and running in no time with a second internal hard drive just for my music.

Moral of story: Backing up hard drive is good.

Moral of story: Backing up hard drive is good.

Amen. Another moral you are missing: Store your iTunes library separately on an external hard drive...NOT on your main boot drive, especially if it is a significant size library. You will save wear on your boot drive if you listen frequently, it is more portable if you want to move it from computer to computer. One other thing I learned using my G5 (2.7ghz dual-core) as a server - though it makes for a blazing fast server, it is a terrible power-hog. I plugged a watt-meter into my computer system when we noticed our electric bills had gone way up and determined that if left on as a server it uses as much power as my refrigerator! That's a whole lot of power! I'm looking into swapping over to a MacMini or a laptop since I really don't need the speed of a g5 as a server.

Jax2 - I said "CD's AND spinning magnetic disks," not, "CD's AS spinning magnetic disks." Yes, I understand the difference between optical discs and magnetic disks (notice the difference in spelling between "discs" and "disks"), my point was that either storage medium will eventually fail physically or be supplanted by a newer technology.

Sfar - Sorry, my bad having misread your post. Yes, either storage medium will definitely eventually fail, no doubt. Backup is the word to live by no matter how your store your data.