Storage and Backup

Hi everybody,

I recently got my Nikon D70 and have been shooting a lot of topside images in raw along with processing them and saving the edited image in jpg format.

Just yesterday, I took over 400 pictures. (filled a 4 gb card)

I currently have 2 200gb external drives that I am storing my pictures on. They are not setup as raid since they are external, but I am manually copying all the pictures to both drives so that the second drive acts as a backup.

I am getting close to filling up these drives. They currently have all my pictures on them from the last couple years, but with my new camera I find that I am taking a lot more pictures, the pictures are larger in size, and I never used to store the raw files, so now I am storing both raw and jpg.

These are all really just personnal photos, I'm not a professional so I would not go bankrupted if I lose them, but they are important and I certainly don't want to lose them.

So I am wondering what other people are doing for large storage and backup and what people might recommend for me? I don't want to spend too much, but I also want to make sure I have some sort of backup in case the drive fails.

I've considered just buying 2 more 200gb drives which I think would be enough for the next year. I could go with 2 400gb drives, but it appears that the price per gb is much higher when buying the larger drives.

This is a common problem so it will be interesting to see what others do.

I have just over 10,000 pictures and backup them up as RAW files to a hard disk - I use a 250GB external device. I also back them up to CD or, now, DVD. So I have at least two copies of all my pictures. But I don't save a .jpg copy too as I figure if I need .jpg I can produce one from the RAW.

I use Photoshop Album to index all my pics so I have a fighting chance of finding them again whether they are on my computer hard disk, CD, DVD or external hard disk: or just a fantasy in my mind.

But they sure do build up!

If you're not one for setting up a RAID system, then a more cost effective solution is to use removable drives. You can buy removable drive caddies for as little as 10$, then mount a normal internal drive in them. They work out a bit cheaper than external drives, although obviously a little flexibility is sacrificed

The drawback is that you're still having to manually copy your images onto the backup drives, but the solution is cost effective and it works.

Steve

You mean buying normal internal drives and putting them in a usb/firewire drive housing.

This is actually what I did for my 2 200gb external drives. They are really internal drives inside a housing. It does work out cheaper, but I have found that these housings do a very poor job of cooling off the drive and therefor these drives are taking extra abuse since they get a lot hotter than normal. Perhaps its just the housing I'm using, I have not found a cheap housing yet that either has a fan, or some other method to help keep the drive cool.

I would not mind setting up a raid system, but it would have to be done as an exteral system, and I have not found any cheap solutions for having a raid disk array. The reason it needs to be external is that I do all my work off a laptop. As far as I know you cannot create a raid configuration using 2 external usb/firewire drives, you actually need some device that have a raid controller built in.

no I meant this type:

http://www.icydock.com/ (the MB122)

but unfortunately no good for a Laptop.

Why don't you buy a PC and use it as a network file server? - this could be with or without RAID, and all you'd need to do to access the disks is add a network hub (30$) and plug your laptop in. - you could get a good used machine for the cost of 2 400GB drives

Unfortunately you're trying to solve a problem (the need for large capacity storage) with a device that is simply not optimised to this sort of requirement (the laptop)

The best solution for you maybe as you've pointed out - a standalone file server, but I would imagine a PC is cheaper and can do the same job

sorry this is probably not much help.....

Long term, archival storage is a fundamental problem with digital. I believe that Delkin now produce a DVD with a 100 year life (so they say). I already back up to DVD (twice) as I have read (and to some extent experienced) about the hard drive problem - that there are two types of hard drive, those that have failed and those that will fail!

Given the price of DVD writers and DVDs, I am happy to make 2 x back up copies. Does it matter whether the images are professional or otherwise - they are still unique and as valuable as you consider them?

I agree that you should have two copies of everything, and that's what I do too. I have copies in a second internal hard drive that I use only for photos and backups in an external hard drive and DVDs. I will have to buy another external hard drive soon... And let the money spending begin, or better yet, continue.

If you are using hard drives - there's 2 things to consider also. Some malicious worms can target what's known as the master boot record of a disk - making the disk unuseable. I lost a 120GB drive this way 2 years back, but fortunately was able to recover 99% of the disk (which wasn't backed up) using recovery software (which took over 24 hours to do it's job).

Therfore the only secure backups are ones that are not connected to a PC permanently (and preferably completely powered off when not being written to), or those such as DVD - ie. things that are write once and cannot be overwritten.

Also, you should really consider storing a copy of your data offsite, at your workplace or at a family members. If my house burned to the ground, then most stuff at home is replaceable - my pictures aren't

Steve

Thanks for the suggestions.

I might consider DVDs.

I agree that you should have two copies of everything, and that's what I do too. I have copies in a second internal hard drive that I use only for photos and backups in an external hard drive and DVDs.

I personally prefer to keep 3, not 2, copies of my photos. Most people will keep their second copy on another harddisk on the same PC, or maybe some DVDs in a closet. But that does not protect you to the not all too uncommon problem of theft or fire, or, as we have unfortunately seen now, flood. For this reason I keep 3 copies..

1. The main 'working archive' of all my RAW/jpgs. I never edit these files btw. I keep seperate archives for project related copies of photos.

2. An automated nightly synchronization to another harddisk of all archives and projects.

3. A manual monthly synchronization to another external harddisk that I currently leave in a locked drawer at my office. But I am working on getting a bank safety locker. I usually do a copy right after Im done archiving my images after a trip.

I use 300 GB harddisks, and since im rather critical of what I keep it seems to be plenty of space for now.

Im actually thinking of keeping another remote copy. This would be a yearly archive that I would make every year on a different disk (so this would mean 10 disks after 10 years). Because im a little worried about synchronizing corruption and not noticing it fast enough. I work in an environment with thousands of harddisks, and I know first hand the weird ways in which harddisks can and will fail. Even with RAID controllers.

It all may seem a little too much, but its a small price to pay for not losing a personally priceless archive of images.

Cor

Be careful not to rely solely on DVD's. For a short term they might suffice, but for long term storage I'd consider DVD and hard drive back up. Steve is right. Get a network hub, and create storage externally that way. I have had one DVD F&*%^ on me but I was lucky I had an additional backup on my Seagate. For me, if you are going to some far away place that costs you a bazillion bucks (Well, maybe a few thousand) and then couple that with all of the hard diving and photography effort you invested (and you cannot just decide to go back next weekend like I can at Catalina Island) then it is totally worth investing in a reliable back up system.

Good luck.

Joe

I have a 150 or 160 gb in my PC that has aprox 100 gb of pictures in it. That's my original set.

I have a external hard 300gb drive that I power up anly when I add/delete/edit pictures in the original set. That hard drive stays at home next to my computer, off all the time, never on when the PC is on line to avoid allowing a virus in.

I have another 300gb hard drive at my office. Once a month or so I swap it with the external at home, that way, even if my house is demolished I only loose the last month or so of pictures.

A little pricey of a solution but I think in the long run more reliable and cheaper than DVD's.

I hope this help.

Hugo

I bought a D2X, upgrading from a D100. One thing that's an issue then is travel storage. The D2X images are 2 to 2.5 times as large. During a 2 week liveaboard trip this means you need a lot of storage. I used to use my laptop and an ipod for storage, but since this wont fit anymore I was looking for something different. What I ended up with might actually be interesting to others also. I took a 2.5" harddisk drive (i had a 120GB one around, but if you buy them they're not expensive), then bought a USB casing on ebay (a few bucks). It takes 30 seconds to put together, and then you have a 120GB extremely portable USB2 external harddisk. The whole thing weighs a 139 grams, and all my computers immediately recognised it. No external power is necessary, it gets power through USB (sometimes you need 2 USB connectors, which come with the housing)

Here's a picture of it, compared to a battery and a CF card. Remember, thats a 120GB..

Cor

That's a great alternative Cor, I never thought about that! Do you have a reference or model number for the casing you bought on ebay?

Luiz

Cor,

I enjoyed your article in UWP.

I like your vaio HD enclosure too - looks very sexy! Please post a link.

Eric posted a link in another thread for an enclosure that ALSO contains a CF card slot, so you can DL directly to the HD if your laptop dies.

http://www.eastgear.com/shop/index.php?cPath=17_66

This is a better alternaive than a straight HD enclosure in my opinion.

Cheers

James

On ebay just search for '2.5" case'. I get dozens of hits. Here is one..

The 120GB HD model is quite new, so maybe relatively expensive. I actually bought 2 casings (99 cents a piece and also put a 60GB laptop HD i had in a box in it. Much more use for it as an external HD than in an old laptop. I see 100GB versions for USD 150 on ebay (new).

The versions with card reader are nice, but in my case not an option. I already had the HDs (you may too, in an old laptop . I just bought 2 casings for USD 0.99 (including USB cable), and thats it. Im especially happy that it weighs near to nothing and doesnt need an external power supply.

Cor

I carry with me a hard drive casing with card reader incorporated.

The original hard drive is a 60GB, I asume can be replaced for a bigger drive.

The cost was aprox $235. The brand is "Wolverine", you can find them in E-Bay.

No lap top is needed and the 60gb can take in my case more than I shoot in a dive trip.

The size is about the same as in regular hard drive enclosures, just a little thicker.

Hugo