Here's an overview of my rather basic back up strategy that I recently discussed with another member over PM. I used to manage datacenter projects for a major financial company so I'm well aware of more sophisticated storage/backup tools & technologies, but after trying a number of other methods like DVDs (too small), Blu-rays (too expensive for Dual-layer), and online back up services (not practical given my 1.5MBps upload speeds), I have come up with my own strategy that's pretty simple and quite practical.
The key to my strategy is a focus on my preserving best work (as rated during import/edit) and accepting that I could lose some of the other files that are really just outtakes from each shoot.
1. Import & Edit: When I import my photos, I rate them and then process them. I also delete the blurry and obviously bad photos to save drive space.
2. Output: The final photos are output in TIFF and 100% quality JPEGs, and sometimes as PSD files for composites or sophisticated edits.
3. Upload: I upload the JPEGs to my website where they are stored as 100% JPEGs in the Amazon Cloud
4. Local Backup: I copy the CR2, TIFF, and JPEG files to a portable hard drive that goes into a fire safe.
5. Offsite Backup: Every so often, I copy it to another drive that I take to a safety deposit box. Every year or so, I buy a new hard drive, usually doubling my capacity.
6. Local Storage: When I get the new hard drive, I copy all of the photos to it, and then store the old drive in the bank. This allows me to have some protection for all of my photos, and really good protection for my best work.
By only saving the RAW files, and final edits of my best work, I can get away with using small portable drives (WD Passports) for years, while keeping all of my work at my fingertips on the local drives that are backed up less frequently.
I have considered NAS and other tools, but I don't like the idea of storing everything locally on my network and have heard negative stories of people who thought their RAID would save them, but didn't when two or more drives failed at once. It doesn't seem like home Network Attached Storage (NAS) systems have reached the level of commercial Storage Array Network (SAN) devices, at least without spending a lot of money. That said, I have 3 hard drives in my machine at the moment, two of which are just for photos. Also, I don't do video.
It's not bulletproof, but it's worked well for me a number of years and I have found that Western Digital drives (and the former HGST drives, now owned by WD) are the most reliable.
I welcome the onslaught of inevitable techno-debates over this post ;D
The key to my strategy is a focus on my preserving best work (as rated during import/edit) and accepting that I could lose some of the other files that are really just outtakes from each shoot.
1. Import & Edit: When I import my photos, I rate them and then process them. I also delete the blurry and obviously bad photos to save drive space.
2. Output: The final photos are output in TIFF and 100% quality JPEGs, and sometimes as PSD files for composites or sophisticated edits.
3. Upload: I upload the JPEGs to my website where they are stored as 100% JPEGs in the Amazon Cloud
4. Local Backup: I copy the CR2, TIFF, and JPEG files to a portable hard drive that goes into a fire safe.
5. Offsite Backup: Every so often, I copy it to another drive that I take to a safety deposit box. Every year or so, I buy a new hard drive, usually doubling my capacity.
6. Local Storage: When I get the new hard drive, I copy all of the photos to it, and then store the old drive in the bank. This allows me to have some protection for all of my photos, and really good protection for my best work.
By only saving the RAW files, and final edits of my best work, I can get away with using small portable drives (WD Passports) for years, while keeping all of my work at my fingertips on the local drives that are backed up less frequently.
I have considered NAS and other tools, but I don't like the idea of storing everything locally on my network and have heard negative stories of people who thought their RAID would save them, but didn't when two or more drives failed at once. It doesn't seem like home Network Attached Storage (NAS) systems have reached the level of commercial Storage Array Network (SAN) devices, at least without spending a lot of money. That said, I have 3 hard drives in my machine at the moment, two of which are just for photos. Also, I don't do video.
It's not bulletproof, but it's worked well for me a number of years and I have found that Western Digital drives (and the former HGST drives, now owned by WD) are the most reliable.
I welcome the onslaught of inevitable techno-debates over this post ;D
