Posted by Mike Sellers on September 30, 2008 at 11:31 PM
I need to do some archiving and I was wondering what the longest lasting dual layer dvd`s were? Are Memorex best? Are there any silver or gold dual layer dvd`s out there?
Mike
Posted by Scott Nelson on October 1, 2008 at 12:43 AM
Hi Mike, I know this isn't even remotely close to answering your questions, but I thought I'd throw my 2 cents out the on archiving.
With the price of external hard drives coming down, I have gotten 2 external Western Digital drives, one is a 500G Essential, which I use to automatically back up my main photo folder. I also use a Western Digital 320G Passport, which is a portable drive powered by USB. I also back up to it as well, but I mainly leave it unplugged as not to wear the drive out. I have found that over time the collection of DVDs would get rather huge, and a bit difficult to track, and over time would require re-burning disks if there were any modifications to the shot in archive.
I hope this input is worth while for you.
Hi Mike, Scott has a very good point here. I have the same problem like Scott - a chaotic collection of DVDs CDs, with various versions of all my images distributed among them. Getting two drives, (external USBs) for example and synchronizing them (there's software for that) is a very convenient solution. Please be aware that Hard-disks do fail. So, having still a back-up of stuff you have on your HD(either by synchronizing two - hence having a parallel backup) is recommended. I yet have to do that - (second USB-drive)
I sometimes use Dual-layer-DVDs, I use TDK, but can't give any info on their reliability or lifetime.
Posted by Jim DeWitt on October 1, 2008 at 2:01 AM
True archiving is an important part of any backup strategy. Try DVD Media Reviews for evaluations of the leading brands.
Posted by Robert Fisher on October 1, 2008 at 8:41 AM
If you're going to archive images offline then having a system to manage the offline images is important to prevent that 'chaotic collection of CDs and DVDs'. Whether it's a third party DAM application or a system you develop yourself with a spreadsheet and good folder/file naming conventions it is crucial to being able to manage offline images well and find what you want when you want with minimal time and effort.
Posted by John Mumaw on October 1, 2008 at 9:15 AM
Another vote for using external hard drives rather than DVDs for archiving.
The prices are appealing as is the increased flexibility.
Posted by Steve Foss on October 1, 2008 at 9:33 AM
I use both, one set going on hard drives and the other set burned on DVD.
Posted by Mike Sellers on October 1, 2008 at 10:16 AM
Thanks for the replies. I bought a Maxtor 500gb backup drive and after I had 30gb of images on it the darn thing crashed. Then I had to spend $100.00 for recovery software. I formatted it and now I have 100gb on it but understandably I am nervous. I want to back it up on DVD. Is anyone using Blue Ray? The 25gb capacity per disc looks good to me.
Posted by Steve Foss on October 1, 2008 at 10:56 AM
Mike, I had the same problem on a 250 Gb Maxtor. They replaced it on warranty with a 280 Gb, which has worked fine. I think a key with the hard drives is to leave them completely turned off unless one is actually using them. I think that will prolong their lives, because heat kills hard drives and they all run hot to some degree.
I had all my work from the 250 Gb backed up on CD/DVD so was able to replace it all on the new drive when it came.
I haven't used Blue Ray. For me the issue isn't about greater capacity than the 4.2 Gb my current DVDs have. I don't want to leave so many groups of images unbacked-up on separate media waiting to amass 25 Gb, if you see what I mean.
Even shooting a wedding in RAW (no, not in the raw ) I won't amass more than 8 Gb of images. And on nature shoots it's typically far less. While I back up every shoot immediately to the hard drives, waiting and waiting to build the 25 Gb it would take to fully utilize Blue Ray capacity would make me VERY nervous.
Once my images from a shoot are downloaded and sorted and backed up on an external hard drive, my final step before clearing my CF cards is the DVD backup. That all gets done the same day as the shoot if there's time for everything, or at the very latest the next day.
Just my approach and IMO. Each photographer develops their own approach with their own wrinkles.
... and I also have a Maxtor 500BG that crashed after some weeks - "save your life" they say, Haha! Now I have a western digital - works fine since a few months now. I guess I buy a second one to echoe the other.
Posted by Mike Sellers on October 1, 2008 at 7:34 PM
I just checked ebay and 1TB drives start at $129.00 !! Might be the way to go.
Posted by Steve Foss on October 1, 2008 at 7:46 PM
Maybe. EvilBay is a two-edged sword, however.
Posted by Steve Foss on October 1, 2008 at 7:47 PM
I vote for hard drives over dvd/cd backups as well. The amount of discs would simply get over-whelming to me, and I don't like lots of clutter. Get yourself a good sized internal drive, sync that with a good sized external drive, or just use 2 externals if you prefer and your set. The odds of both drives failing at the same time are very low. Just have to make sure both are in sync and up to date.
To go a step further you could have another external drive that you keep offsite, in case of a fire or similar disaster. Maybe once a week or so you update the backup on it, then keep it at work or a family/friends house. You could also look into online backups...
Discussion
13 repliesMike
With the price of external hard drives coming down, I have gotten 2 external Western Digital drives, one is a 500G Essential, which I use to automatically back up my main photo folder. I also use a Western Digital 320G Passport, which is a portable drive powered by USB. I also back up to it as well, but I mainly leave it unplugged as not to wear the drive out. I have found that over time the collection of DVDs would get rather huge, and a bit difficult to track, and over time would require re-burning disks if there were any modifications to the shot in archive.
I hope this input is worth while for you.
I sometimes use Dual-layer-DVDs, I use TDK, but can't give any info on their reliability or lifetime.
The prices are appealing as is the increased flexibility.
I had all my work from the 250 Gb backed up on CD/DVD so was able to replace it all on the new drive when it came.
I haven't used Blue Ray. For me the issue isn't about greater capacity than the 4.2 Gb my current DVDs have. I don't want to leave so many groups of images unbacked-up on separate media waiting to amass 25 Gb, if you see what I mean.
Even shooting a wedding in RAW (no, not in the raw
Once my images from a shoot are downloaded and sorted and backed up on an external hard drive, my final step before clearing my CF cards is the DVD backup. That all gets done the same day as the shoot if there's time for everything, or at the very latest the next day.
Just my approach and IMO. Each photographer develops their own approach with their own wrinkles.
I vote for hard drives over dvd/cd backups as well. The amount of discs would simply get over-whelming to me, and I don't like lots of clutter. Get yourself a good sized internal drive, sync that with a good sized external drive, or just use 2 externals if you prefer and your set. The odds of both drives failing at the same time are very low. Just have to make sure both are in sync and up to date.
To go a step further you could have another external drive that you keep offsite, in case of a fire or similar disaster. Maybe once a week or so you update the backup on it, then keep it at work or a family/friends house. You could also look into online backups...