I'm just over 16,000 images and I need to figure out a way to efficiently back them up. Right now, I store everything on a 1TB external hard drive which is great, but if something happens to the drive, poof! There go all my photos dating back to 2003. Does anyone use a RAID array or an external hosting service like Google for their backups? I used to back up to CD/DVD, but that just became a nightmare, and that's before I was shooting every day. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
I have a 1 TB external as well and I worry about the same thing. I'm thinking I'm going to back them up to my laptop too.
Unfortunately with places like facebook and myspace, they do not save your full version. I also shoot in RAW so I can't upload those anywhere and they take up a ton of space.
I'm thinking on getting another 1 or 2 TB and backing everything up again on there.
I have all mine on my computer hard drive and also (with all my other documents) on an external hard drive. I also run a Windows backup programme every so often, which I think keeps a compressed version of everything so they take up less space. The way I understand it, if anything goes wrong, I can run the backup and it'll all be there where I left it. Should really back up more often now though.
i backup all my originals to DVD - yes nightmare, but its a MUST, and a good habit to get into...then after i delete and edit, i back up again to DVD - and everything as well to external.
I am now going to be backing them up on the computer hard drive, an external hard drive, usb drives, cd disc and online storage. I just spent the last week stressing because our external hard drive crashed. We got most of them back but I lost some. I had most on back ups already but not all of them. :(
So I suggest backing them up on anything and everything you can get your hands on. You will regret it later if you lose any of it.
Photobucket is another good free option. I probably wouldnt upload all the originals tho.
I have backups of my backups lol.
i store everything on a 1T drive, originals plus edits. Photos and video.
I also have 2 small wallet size external drives. On one I keep edited photos, music, video and other odds and ends I might want on me like programs ect. and a few videos incase me and the child get stuck somewhere and I can find a computer to occupy him.
I then have another small external drive that (when i remember) I use as a mirror for the little drive I take with me everywhere incase something happens to it knocking around my handbag..
Sounds like alot.. but ive been in that place where you lose everything and just want to cry and scream ...
But... photobucket is a good option and you can access them anywhere
all of my shots are in my 1.5TB external and most of them like personal life events and happenings copied as well on dvd's and uploaded everywhere. photobucket, flickr, facebook, multiply, wordpress and forums.
i recently had an instance where my external hard disk went *pow* and I was in the middle of transferring data between my laptops. I'd got to a place where the data in the external Hard disk when it went. Luckily i was able to retrieve it otherwise i'd have been in tears.
I think realistically you shouldnt back up everywhere... its too hard to keep track of what you have / what you dont have in the various versions running around the place. Also realistically you only need to go back to the previous anyway. For a household solution I think its more manageable to go external hard disk with RAID 1 and then an online backup solution.
Keep in mind you're also trying to protect yourself from "worst case scenario" which includes your house catching on fire. so if you spend an eternity creating DvD backups only to stash them in your house, they go up in a fire too.
Again I just use the TWO external hard drive option. One I use constantly, and is my 'working' picture drive. The other I just use to back up the first drive. My idea is if one drive dies, then I have the second backup still. If both die, then I'm in big trouble, but I think the odds of that happening are very low.
I store mine in various locations. As well, I'm going to soon be purchasing networked storage. You can buy a decent 2-drive storage unit for about $200 (plus the hard drives you put in it). It will automagically mirror one drive to the other so if one fails your photos are safe still on the other. You just need to replace the dead one and they'll mirror back up and you're right as rain.
I have a copy of my current captures on my laptop. All of my older photos are on another external hard drive. I'm also running a 2 bay NAS ( http://www.readynas.com/?cat=3 ) with 2TB capacity. This networked device has a raid 1 array, so there is some protection from hardware failure. It also holds a copy of all of my photos, which are available to all users on my home network.
I use NTI Shadow to automatically copy new photos from my laptop to my NAS as soon as they are downloaded from the camera. In time, I will be setting up a 2nd NAS as a backup to the first.
The key thing is to have at least 2 copies of your photos (3 would be even better and easily achievable with the cost of storage these days). Another tip is to never edit the original file from your camera, but to save any edits as a new file. That way you can always go back to the original.
No matter what solution you choose, I have to be strict on yourself to ensure that you consistently follow your plan.
I recommend doing a main backup on a hard drive but also gradually using DVDs and posting some of them online as well. Deviantart works surprisingly well for backing up individual files because it saves the full size image. It's not great for a whole bunch of images but definitely your favourites. Plus it's a great way to share them.
I think another major point with backing up is organisation...
Initially I was just dumping everything onto drives. When I thought back to a photo I was having a hard time finding it.
So now all my computers and drives have an identical filing system based on dates Year/Month/Week and folders are also labeled with key words for searching such as event or person name.
I have a lot of pictures on CD's, a flashdrive and photobucket, but now I am working on putting them all on shutterfly.com they give you unlimited storage at full resolution plus you can order prints, photo gifts, etc.
@Andy, I'm cracking up over your "lard drive!" Let me know how that storage option works out. ;-)
Thanks for the input, everyone! I think I'm going to end up going with either a device with a RAID array or some form of cloud storage since I shoot RAW files and want to be able to maintain my originals as well as my edited files.
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Unfortunately with places like facebook and myspace, they do not save your full version. I also shoot in RAW so I can't upload those anywhere and they take up a ton of space.
I'm thinking on getting another 1 or 2 TB and backing everything up again on there.
the more safety nets the better
you ALWAYS have to back up your back up :)
So I suggest backing them up on anything and everything you can get your hands on. You will regret it later if you lose any of it.
I have backups of my backups lol.
i store everything on a 1T drive, originals plus edits. Photos and video.
I also have 2 small wallet size external drives. On one I keep edited photos, music, video and other odds and ends I might want on me like programs ect. and a few videos incase me and the child get stuck somewhere and I can find a computer to occupy him.
I then have another small external drive that (when i remember) I use as a mirror for the little drive I take with me everywhere incase something happens to it knocking around my handbag..
Sounds like alot.. but ive been in that place where you lose everything and just want to cry and scream ...
But... photobucket is a good option and you can access them anywhere
I used two external HDs in case one bites the dust. One is connected all the time, the other is used to back the connected one up monthly or so.
I think realistically you shouldnt back up everywhere... its too hard to keep track of what you have / what you dont have in the various versions running around the place. Also realistically you only need to go back to the previous anyway. For a household solution I think its more manageable to go external hard disk with RAID 1 and then an online backup solution.
Keep in mind you're also trying to protect yourself from "worst case scenario" which includes your house catching on fire. so if you spend an eternity creating DvD backups only to stash them in your house, they go up in a fire too.
example: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2443662&Sku=D700-5386
I just copy the files over - I've never been able to get my head around backup software and "incremental updates".
I use NTI Shadow to automatically copy new photos from my laptop to my NAS as soon as they are downloaded from the camera. In time, I will be setting up a 2nd NAS as a backup to the first.
The key thing is to have at least 2 copies of your photos (3 would be even better and easily achievable with the cost of storage these days). Another tip is to never edit the original file from your camera, but to save any edits as a new file. That way you can always go back to the original.
No matter what solution you choose, I have to be strict on yourself to ensure that you consistently follow your plan.
Think I'll invest in an external lard drive and maybe CD. Where to keep tho??? Work seems best bet... sprinklers blah blah blah.
Of course... did we worry so much with old fashioned photos and negatives?? Nope, just kept them all together in an album or box,,,,
Initially I was just dumping everything onto drives. When I thought back to a photo I was having a hard time finding it.
So now all my computers and drives have an identical filing system based on dates Year/Month/Week and folders are also labeled with key words for searching such as event or person name.
@Andy, I'm cracking up over your "lard drive!" Let me know how that storage option works out. ;-)
Thanks for the input, everyone! I think I'm going to end up going with either a device with a RAID array or some form of cloud storage since I shoot RAW files and want to be able to maintain my originals as well as my edited files.