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Image storage question

Discussion

9 replies
Posted by Pam Colander on July 14, 2009 at 9:03 PM
I'm going to start putting my images on DVDs. Can anyone suggest the specific type I should get?

Thanks!
Posted by Todd Caudle on July 14, 2009 at 9:14 PM
I use -R. I have no idea why...
Posted by John Mumaw on July 14, 2009 at 9:16 PM
I use an external hard drive. Far, far more 'byte for the buck'.
Posted by John Klotz on July 14, 2009 at 9:19 PM
Hey Pam how ya doing? I have been researching this also and this is one I am considering;
MAM-A Gold Archival DVD-R 8x No Logo surface in Jewel Case 10 pack. You can check them at amazon. Read the rewiews of course since I have not tried them yet. {Edit}I also use an 1.5 tb external drive.
Posted by Anna Lisa Yoder on July 15, 2009 at 12:12 AM
Imho, ( & this is as much to John M. than to Pamela! ) it's a good idea to store them on an external hard drive AND DVDs. What I do is make 2 sets of DVDs besides my own set, and send them to close relatives in 2 different states. Any of the above could fail, but then at least I have a couple back-ups besides the external hard drive. I also have lots of back-up on SmugMug as they have servers in several far-apart locations. I at least have most of my better files on there & could retrieve them any time I want. That alone is worth the modest yearly fee.

Anyway, I also use archival DVDs. Not sure if I've tried those specific ones that John K. mentioned, but they sound good. Where I get hung up is in the labeling. I have lightscribe, but am not sure any of the archival storage solutions are compatible.
Posted by Nat Coalson on July 15, 2009 at 12:44 AM
I recommend using USB flash drives for archival. Cheap, small, relatively fast copies, no moving parts, and won't degrade like optical media (DVD will).

Get a few 16 GB USB "thumb" drives; copy your important stuff to them, put them in vacuum sealed bags, and into a safe deposit box. Right now, there's nothing more "permanent"; and cost-effective.

For "backup" - medium-term storage that is updated frequently - external hard drives are the only way to go.
Posted by Pam Colander on July 15, 2009 at 6:30 PM
Thanks so much everyone! I appreciate your feedback :biggrin:
Posted by Bob Falcone on July 15, 2009 at 11:37 PM
FWIW, my method is two external hard drive and DVD's. The chances of all 3 going bad at the same time (and before yet another copy can be made) is virtually nil. Hard drives are exceedingly inexpensive now, with 1TB drives selling in the $100 range.
Posted by Brian Jackson on July 17, 2009 at 5:41 PM
Although they are not out yet, these DVD's are slated to last for 1000 years.

http://heraldextra.com/news/local/article_b25c9a30-7242-11de-9feb-001cc4c03286.html

Brian

Posted by Pam Colander on July 31, 2009 at 1:55 PM
I ordered a 1T Western Digital external hard drive and some Verbatim DVD-Rs. My former hard drive is still nowhere to be found so I will be doing some serious deleting of now unavailable images from my website and portfolio :frown: Nothing like starting all over again. Thanks again for your help!