Sorry if this has been discussed here before, but the digital technology is changing daily bases.
I am in need of getting more external hard drives. I shoot about +500GB a year.
So far, I always bought two identical hards at a same time. One for the daily use and the other one for back up both portable (smallest as possible). And I did the back ups manually. That means every now and then I have to backup all the new files as well as the old ones that I have edited. It is a time consuming task.
Now, I am thinking to buy a big capacity desktop for the backup (possibly the automatic back up system) with one portable to fill at a time.
I would like to hear from you guys here at NPN.
What do you guys use and how do you back up?
What is the best option out there? is it safe to have a big capacity HD, what if something goes wrong with it?
Any inputs are appreciated.
Mo
Posted by Max Waugh on September 18, 2013 at 12:14 PM
At home I use a Drobo S, for redundant backups. On top of that I have some external hard drives that I store off-site (in case the Drobo is stolen or lost in a fire). On the road I use a couple of Nexto 500GB storage devices for instantly downloading cards.
Max
Posted by John Mumaw on September 18, 2013 at 3:06 PM
I use the free Microsoft SyncToy to back up my image files. After the initial setup and when you run it during backup, it automatically knows when an image has been changed (edited) or even deleted and then takes the appropriate steps with your external drive data. Best of all, it's free!
Posted by Richard Ditch on September 18, 2013 at 4:45 PM
I am on a Mac.
For my OS, applications, and non image files I simply use the built-in Apple application Time Machine to keep a current copy of my Mac, plus a bootable clone created with either Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper. I do this for both an older iMac and a recent MacBook Pro laptop.
For my image files (raw plus psd and tif versions) I keep copies on external Firewire drives (1TB for the raw files, 500GB for the others), plus another copy of each file on a CD-R.
My workflow is:
- import the raw files via a CF card reader to a portable 1TB external drive
- edit the raw files to delete the obviously bad ones
- sort the files by subject and number therm sequentially
- copy the named files to the 1TB drive for storage
- burn a copy to CD-R
Brands:
- the long term storage external drives are Hitachi or Samsung in separately purchased enclosures
- the portable 1TB drive is bus powered and from G-Technology
Posted by jack jaeger jr on September 18, 2013 at 8:38 PM
John Mumaw you are always a great help thanks for the info !
Posted by David Bostedo on September 18, 2013 at 11:11 PM
Mo - For really safe backup, a general rule to follow is to have 3 copies, on 2 different types of media, in 2 separate locations. The 3 copies and two locations are so you have a local backup, and a remote one in case of a disaster locally. It also somewhat protects against corruption issues to files during copying or crashes of drives during the copy process that could take two drives out.
The 2 types of media are so that you have security against, say, your computer over-writing both hard drives during a copy/clone; And also a lot of people like a longer term storage media. (Hard drives stored for a long time without being used do risk not being able to spin back up. Or risk having data on them degrade depending on how they were stored. Most optical media is in the same boat on the data side, but the lack of mechanical parts makes them more robust, and there are some rated for long term storage.).
Personally, I just use hard drives, since I have 3 copies and use them often enough that I don't worry about longer term storage. I'm also just an amateur though, and losing my images would only really have a sentimental impact. So you'll have to decide for yourself what to do.
As far as large drives go, though - if you're following a good backup scheme, the size of the drive should not matter. Go as big as you need, use a good multi-copy backup scheme (most likely using incremental backup software like John recommended above).
Posted by David Chauvin on September 19, 2013 at 7:23 AM
I also use the three drive strategy for long term storage. One internal 1TB with my entire archive (and LR catalog backups), one external 1TB (usb) at home and a third 1TB external usb drive kept off site. The drives are synced at least once per week. Cloud storage for favorite select images is starting to look better but I don't ever see giving up the three drive solution.
I use four drives in my workflow with another internal drive for initial importing and image work. After I doing the usual deleting, sorting, keywording, etc., they are copied to the 1TB internal. The working LR catalogs are also located on this drive.
Mohammad,,,,,You say you shoot +500GB per year. Do you keep all +500GB? If so this will dramatically change the hardware requirements.
Sorry, I have been quiet for a while. Busy with work and daily life.
Thank you all for the information. As I mentioned, I have two copies (two identical HDs).
My workflow is: import the photos into one external HD and work on them and time to time copy it to the other HD.
I am not a pro, so I don't process all of my images at once. About 80% of my photos stay as RAW files and I go back to them time to time and edit one or two from each file if I need to. Now, here comes the problem, after editing images in any old files, I have to go back to the back up HD and update the same file manually every time or just leave the RAW only in one of them. But you all know that the PP is time consuming task and if you have edited an image you want to keep a copy of the edited one as well. That is why I think I need a new system like Drobo S or the method like mentioned by John. Drobo is a bit expensive and I am not sure if 3 years later I can find similar hard to add to my system as digital technology is changing rapidly and there is no grantee to find compatible products.
John you are using free on line system to update your back up which is great but, I think it is for Microsoft and I am not sure if we have similar system for Mac. I use macbook. And I don't know how much you would trust online systems if they are not using or copying your files!!! For that reason I don't use cloud copying either. Maybe I am too conservative!!
Richard, your workflow is great if I did work on my files once an back them up into another HD, I am doing almost them same thing now, but I go back to them sometimes and edit them, then I need to go back to the back up HD and back up whole file again?
I have not worked with super Duper and Carbon copy, I need to do some research on them.
David B., I think capacity of the HD are getting bigger and they are getting cheaper, I am thinking of writing my files from an old external HD to another new HD after few year just to prevent the lost due to damage of long storage and degrading.
David C, I fill about 500GB storage per year that includes the RAW images as well as the different edited versions.
Do you sync your copies manually every weeks? Do you work on your files once? if you go back to your old files and work on them do you Sync them as well?
Thank you all, is there any other options out there? I would like to know some more
Mo
Posted by David Chauvin on October 1, 2013 at 12:57 PM
Mohammad,,,,,,as I said earlier, I have an internal drive as primary image archive. This includes all RAW keepers, processed images, and my Lightroom catalog backup. This is synced to an external when needed and a second (portable external that I keep off site) gets synced once a week. I use a program called Second Copy (Win) which compares files on the two drives and replaces any files on the externals that have been added to or revised on the primary archive drive. This is a one click process once the sync profiles have been created. I took a look at your gallery and see you are using Canon digital gear. 500GB per year seems like an incredible number of images!
Posted by Richard Ditch on October 1, 2013 at 5:04 PM
My Nikon raw files never change - Adobe Camera Raw treats them as "read only" as far as I can tell. ACR adjustment settings get written to a "sidecar" file. So I never need to worry about updating any copy of any raw file on an external drive or on a burned CD.
My "work" files (the output of ACR and Photoshop) are .psd, tif, and jpeg files. The psd and tif files get stored in two places (external FW drive plus burned to CD), just like the raw files.
If you decide to keep the psd, tif, and raw files on the same drive then you will need to update that drive every time you generate new files from conversion or post processing.
Super Duper is available for free or as a paid version. The free version will make a complete bootable copy of the source drive every time you use it. With the paid version you can run in incremental mode where only new or changed files will be copied from the source to the backup. Carbon Copy Cloner used to be free, and old free versions still work. But the latest versions of CCC are no longer free. I think CCC also has an incremental mode.
I use Mac Time Machine for the backup program. I have two external drives. I keep one at work and one at home and periodically swap them for each other. If my house were to burn down or the setup stolen, I would at least have a fairly recent backup at work, so I would lose very little. I think offsite storage is crucial, at least for my peace oif mind.
I have had great luck with Western Digital external drives.
Discussion
10 repliesSorry if this has been discussed here before, but the digital technology is changing daily bases.
I am in need of getting more external hard drives. I shoot about +500GB a year.
So far, I always bought two identical hards at a same time. One for the daily use and the other one for back up both portable (smallest as possible). And I did the back ups manually. That means every now and then I have to backup all the new files as well as the old ones that I have edited. It is a time consuming task.
Now, I am thinking to buy a big capacity desktop for the backup (possibly the automatic back up system) with one portable to fill at a time.
I would like to hear from you guys here at NPN.
What do you guys use and how do you back up?
What is the best option out there? is it safe to have a big capacity HD, what if something goes wrong with it?
Any inputs are appreciated.
Mo
Max
For my OS, applications, and non image files I simply use the built-in Apple application Time Machine to keep a current copy of my Mac, plus a bootable clone created with either Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper. I do this for both an older iMac and a recent MacBook Pro laptop.
For my image files (raw plus psd and tif versions) I keep copies on external Firewire drives (1TB for the raw files, 500GB for the others), plus another copy of each file on a CD-R.
My workflow is:
- import the raw files via a CF card reader to a portable 1TB external drive
- edit the raw files to delete the obviously bad ones
- sort the files by subject and number therm sequentially
- copy the named files to the 1TB drive for storage
- burn a copy to CD-R
Brands:
- the long term storage external drives are Hitachi or Samsung in separately purchased enclosures
- the portable 1TB drive is bus powered and from G-Technology
The 2 types of media are so that you have security against, say, your computer over-writing both hard drives during a copy/clone; And also a lot of people like a longer term storage media. (Hard drives stored for a long time without being used do risk not being able to spin back up. Or risk having data on them degrade depending on how they were stored. Most optical media is in the same boat on the data side, but the lack of mechanical parts makes them more robust, and there are some rated for long term storage.).
Personally, I just use hard drives, since I have 3 copies and use them often enough that I don't worry about longer term storage. I'm also just an amateur though, and losing my images would only really have a sentimental impact. So you'll have to decide for yourself what to do.
As far as large drives go, though - if you're following a good backup scheme, the size of the drive should not matter. Go as big as you need, use a good multi-copy backup scheme (most likely using incremental backup software like John recommended above).
I use four drives in my workflow with another internal drive for initial importing and image work. After I doing the usual deleting, sorting, keywording, etc., they are copied to the 1TB internal. The working LR catalogs are also located on this drive.
Mohammad,,,,,You say you shoot +500GB per year. Do you keep all +500GB? If so this will dramatically change the hardware requirements.
Thank you all for the information. As I mentioned, I have two copies (two identical HDs).
My workflow is: import the photos into one external HD and work on them and time to time copy it to the other HD.
I am not a pro, so I don't process all of my images at once. About 80% of my photos stay as RAW files and I go back to them time to time and edit one or two from each file if I need to. Now, here comes the problem, after editing images in any old files, I have to go back to the back up HD and update the same file manually every time or just leave the RAW only in one of them. But you all know that the PP is time consuming task and if you have edited an image you want to keep a copy of the edited one as well. That is why I think I need a new system like Drobo S or the method like mentioned by John. Drobo is a bit expensive and I am not sure if 3 years later I can find similar hard to add to my system as digital technology is changing rapidly and there is no grantee to find compatible products.
John you are using free on line system to update your back up which is great but, I think it is for Microsoft and I am not sure if we have similar system for Mac. I use macbook. And I don't know how much you would trust online systems if they are not using or copying your files!!! For that reason I don't use cloud copying either. Maybe I am too conservative!!
Richard, your workflow is great if I did work on my files once an back them up into another HD, I am doing almost them same thing now, but I go back to them sometimes and edit them, then I need to go back to the back up HD and back up whole file again?
I have not worked with super Duper and Carbon copy, I need to do some research on them.
David B., I think capacity of the HD are getting bigger and they are getting cheaper, I am thinking of writing my files from an old external HD to another new HD after few year just to prevent the lost due to damage of long storage and degrading.
David C, I fill about 500GB storage per year that includes the RAW images as well as the different edited versions.
Do you sync your copies manually every weeks? Do you work on your files once? if you go back to your old files and work on them do you Sync them as well?
Thank you all, is there any other options out there? I would like to know some more
Mo
My "work" files (the output of ACR and Photoshop) are .psd, tif, and jpeg files. The psd and tif files get stored in two places (external FW drive plus burned to CD), just like the raw files.
If you decide to keep the psd, tif, and raw files on the same drive then you will need to update that drive every time you generate new files from conversion or post processing.
Super Duper is available for free or as a paid version. The free version will make a complete bootable copy of the source drive every time you use it. With the paid version you can run in incremental mode where only new or changed files will be copied from the source to the backup. Carbon Copy Cloner used to be free, and old free versions still work. But the latest versions of CCC are no longer free. I think CCC also has an incremental mode.
I have had great luck with Western Digital external drives.