I have a really bad habit of not saving my RAW files to DVD's immediatley after I download them. I usually do it b/f I erase the memory card they are on. The DVD back-up system is slow and tedious and not very pleasant. I was just wondering if anyone has a bonafide system that is efficient, safe, and cost effective.
Also, do you recommend backing up files just in the Adobe Camera Raw file format or do you use another format as well?
Thanks,
Michael
Posted by John Mumaw on December 24, 2009 at 10:17 PM
I use an external hard drive. You can buy huge (500GB-1TB) drives for less than $100 these days. Most come with backup software that makes simple, quick work of backing up files. I just have one, as the odds of both my internal drive and external drive failing at the same time are virtually nil. However, using a second backup drive allows one to remove it from the house and store it someplace safe in case of fire, theft, etc.
I recently suffered my first hard drive crash, and restoring the files from the external drive was as simple as pressing a button. I worry about media like DVDs due to possible loss or read problems, so quit using that method years ago.
I save RAW files in a 'digital negatives' folder. Lots of folks are converting their RAW files into DNG files in order to 'future proof' them from the possible (eventual?) loss of proprietary RAW converters.
Thanks a bunch John. Do you have a recommendation for a good, reliable one at a reasonable price? I am on NewEgg.Com right now and it looks like there are a bunch of them for under a $100. Is there any features that I should specifically look for? Thanks and Merry Christmas, Michael
Posted by John Mumaw on December 24, 2009 at 11:24 PM
I bought mine from NewEgg and that's where I saw the prices I mentioned.
Western Digital MyBook drives (which I bought) and Fantom seem to get good reviews.
No special features aside from USB 2.0 interface and backup software included.
I only plug in the drive when I'm backing up in order to decrease the odds of failure.
Merry Christmas Michael, and best of luck with compiling your new website!!
Posted by Gene Lugo on December 25, 2009 at 6:06 AM
Michael, proper backup and archiving of data requires a very rigorous approach. Saving to a $100 consumer-grade .5 TB hard drive is convenient and offers data duplication, but I would not consider it a safe archiving strategy. These drives are notoriously unreliable, and the magnetic media itself is not permanent. Neither is plastic encased media as in CDs and DVDs.
If you are going to use magnetic media as part of your strategy, you should consider a RAID array, which if you use a mirrored pair or striped with parity style raid arrays, you will get the redundancy and error tolerance that is the hallmark of a good fault tolerant system. In order to complete the working storage system you should purchase enterprise quality, RAID certified hard drives, which might cost a few dollars more, but are designed and manufactured to a higher quality standard that their less costly counterparts.
On the archiving side, its best to save your files using an online backup system, such as Carbonite or Mozy. An annual subscription is usually very reasonable - around $60, although Carbonite is offering a 1, 2 or 3 year subscription for $27, $49 and $65 respectively. These are cheap data warehouses - unlimited storage, full data integrity guarantee, stored on magnetic media and regularly maintained, saved with financial-institution-styled double encryption. A great deal for what they charge. If I remember correctly, Carbonite does impose a 100gb monthly bandwidth limitation, while Mozy does not.
The final piece to the puzzle is the file management application. There are many, but I like SyncBack from Two Bright Sparks - their freeware application has most of what you need - you designate what folders/drives you want to back up, the target destination, a backup schedule, put the app in your start menu folder and forget about it. Operating in the background, it quietly saves any new files according to the rules you set.
You might think this is overkill, and you might be right. Until you experience catastrophic data loss. Then you will be glad you did. Sorta like insurance - you buy it hoping you will never need it.
When I started in the computer industry in the mid-80s, I used to sell tape-based backup systems with the admonition that the entire computer user community could be broadly divided into two groups - those that had experienced data loss stemming from hard drive failure/theft/accident - and those that would.
Factor in photography while traveling extensively, and in our case, lots of environmental hazards at home (tsunami's, earthquakes, volcanoes and fires) and it's smart to take extra measures. We go to the extra expense of DVDs to mail home copies while traveling, then store them in our safety deposit boxes at our bank plus in remote locations in other states far from our local hazards. We use the portable drives, but more for immediate access to files than for true "back-up" in case of theft or natural catastrophes. If it ever looks like DVDs will become passe' we'll transfer them to whichever new storage media is most promising.
Posted by Linnet Long on December 25, 2009 at 4:22 PM
You might also consider the "two external hard drive system" documented recently by David Marx at lightroomlab.com: http://thelightroomlab.com/2009/05/my-photo-storage-system-two-external-hard-drives/print
It could be less expensive than a RAID system...but, if you really want to have a neat storage/backup system, go for the new Drobo S! :-).
I use two Fantom 1 TB drives. I'm not recommending them as especially reliable, although they are serving me well at the moment. I have them on eSATA connections, so using them is about as fast as an internal drive. The one I like best (got at BestBuy, I think) is the Fantom "GreenDrive". I have both drives always on, and the GreenDrive hardly even gets warm. The other one is just "warm".
Another two cents, for what it's worth to you! Important thing is to have SOME backup system - some WORKING backup system. (oh, I'm also using GoodSync, which I like fine, have backups scheduled. I've used SyncBack in the past, though, too)
Good luck - and whatever you go with, start backing up ASAP
Posted by Ed Cordes on December 25, 2009 at 6:31 PM
While RAID systems certainly give redundancy I don't think of them as a back up. I have 2 internal drives that are mirrored after I am sure there is no virus or other corruption on the prime drive. In RAID any error created on drive one is immediately copied to drive two. So, while I like RAID as it copies any change I make to files on both drives, I do not create an external back up until I am sure the RAID system is clean.
This is backed up to external HD stored at home and only used if I need it and the home external is backed up to another external I take to work. I use Western Digital My Book and have about filled up a terabyte of data so I will have to now create volume 2. Volume 2 will have another 2 drives - one for home and one stored off site.
Posted by Wick Smith on December 26, 2009 at 11:13 AM
One suggestion talked about the online systems such as Carbonite. They are great if you are backing up small files like Word docs or Excel sheets. For the files we back up, be they raw or jpg, they are large & you will grow old waiting for them to upload to the remote servers. Most Internet connections have considerably slower upload speeds (to the remote server) vs. download speeds (pulling files from a remote server). This solution would only work if you were archiving a very small number of your photos.
Thanks everybody I really appreciate you all taking the time - I am going to buy an external hard drive ASAP and look further into the other options you all suggested. Thanks again and God Bless. Michael
I purchased a Western Digital Elements 500GB Midnight Black Portable Hard Drive WDBAAR5000ABK-NESN this afternoon. It was $100 at NewEgg and I found it for 95.00 at B and H with free shipping. Thanks for everyones help. We'll see how this works...Happy Holidays - Michael
Posted by bill meikle on December 30, 2009 at 8:47 AM
You can get WD 1TB drives for around $100, I have a bunch of WD external drives up to 1TB and they are great and all use the same power supply.
Discussion
11 repliesAlso, do you recommend backing up files just in the Adobe Camera Raw file format or do you use another format as well?
Thanks,
Michael
I recently suffered my first hard drive crash, and restoring the files from the external drive was as simple as pressing a button. I worry about media like DVDs due to possible loss or read problems, so quit using that method years ago.
I save RAW files in a 'digital negatives' folder. Lots of folks are converting their RAW files into DNG files in order to 'future proof' them from the possible (eventual?) loss of proprietary RAW converters.
Western Digital MyBook drives (which I bought) and Fantom seem to get good reviews.
No special features aside from USB 2.0 interface and backup software included.
I only plug in the drive when I'm backing up in order to decrease the odds of failure.
Merry Christmas Michael, and best of luck with compiling your new website!!
If you are going to use magnetic media as part of your strategy, you should consider a RAID array, which if you use a mirrored pair or striped with parity style raid arrays, you will get the redundancy and error tolerance that is the hallmark of a good fault tolerant system. In order to complete the working storage system you should purchase enterprise quality, RAID certified hard drives, which might cost a few dollars more, but are designed and manufactured to a higher quality standard that their less costly counterparts.
On the archiving side, its best to save your files using an online backup system, such as Carbonite or Mozy. An annual subscription is usually very reasonable - around $60, although Carbonite is offering a 1, 2 or 3 year subscription for $27, $49 and $65 respectively. These are cheap data warehouses - unlimited storage, full data integrity guarantee, stored on magnetic media and regularly maintained, saved with financial-institution-styled double encryption. A great deal for what they charge. If I remember correctly, Carbonite does impose a 100gb monthly bandwidth limitation, while Mozy does not.
The final piece to the puzzle is the file management application. There are many, but I like SyncBack from Two Bright Sparks - their freeware application has most of what you need - you designate what folders/drives you want to back up, the target destination, a backup schedule, put the app in your start menu folder and forget about it. Operating in the background, it quietly saves any new files according to the rules you set.
You might think this is overkill, and you might be right. Until you experience catastrophic data loss. Then you will be glad you did. Sorta like insurance - you buy it hoping you will never need it.
When I started in the computer industry in the mid-80s, I used to sell tape-based backup systems with the admonition that the entire computer user community could be broadly divided into two groups - those that had experienced data loss stemming from hard drive failure/theft/accident - and those that would.
I hope you find this information helpful.
It could be less expensive than a RAID system...but, if you really want to have a neat storage/backup system, go for the new Drobo S! :-).
I use two Fantom 1 TB drives. I'm not recommending them as especially reliable, although they are serving me well at the moment. I have them on eSATA connections, so using them is about as fast as an internal drive. The one I like best (got at BestBuy, I think) is the Fantom "GreenDrive". I have both drives always on, and the GreenDrive hardly even gets warm. The other one is just "warm".
Another two cents, for what it's worth to you! Important thing is to have SOME backup system - some WORKING backup system. (oh, I'm also using GoodSync, which I like fine, have backups scheduled. I've used SyncBack in the past, though, too)
Good luck - and whatever you go with, start backing up ASAP
This is backed up to external HD stored at home and only used if I need it and the home external is backed up to another external I take to work. I use Western Digital My Book and have about filled up a terabyte of data so I will have to now create volume 2. Volume 2 will have another 2 drives - one for home and one stored off site.
I purchased a Western Digital Elements 500GB Midnight Black Portable Hard Drive WDBAAR5000ABK-NESN this afternoon. It was $100 at NewEgg and I found it for 95.00 at B and H with free shipping. Thanks for everyones help. We'll see how this works...Happy Holidays - Michael