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What kind of storage do you use to back-up your photos ?

eisenach

pfm Member
All my photos are scattered about on the original SD cards they were shot on, the various laptops they were viewed/edited on, but all backed-up on a WD 1TB usb external HDD and two 3TB WD MyBook NAS drives, the contents of which are identical. One of the NAS is a Duo, so it makes a copy of the first disc to the other. The NAS also store the music, with that also backed-up on another WD Elements external usb HDD.

The external 1TB back-up HDD died last night as I was about to add some of the latest photos to it. It's about 6 years old, but has never had a very hard life, being used maybe 3/4 times a year to update and everyday for three weeks during the annual autumn holiday to the French alps.

Question: What do I replace it with ? Cloud storage is not very practical as the internet is sloooooowww. Just get another (maybe 2TB) HDD ? Is it worth paying extra for a SSD ? Are SDDs really more secure than spinning HDDs? I've even seen 2TB flash drives at "cheap" prices on Amazon, although the reviews seems to suggest that they're a scam.

What do you suggest ? I don't want to spend a fortune, but I don't want to lose my photos either. Thanks in anticipation. I did do a forum search before posting but didn't find anything much.
 
Cards are unloaded to HDD which then gets backed up. Occasionally finished results are copied to a NAS which then self replicates to an identical NAS in another country.
 
What do you suggest ? I don't want to spend a fortune, but I don't want to lose my photos either. Thanks in anticipation. I did do a forum search before posting but didn't find anything much.

I moved all my pics (a lot!!) over from HDD to SSD a few years back after a string of spinning disc failures. Not had a single problem since. I use mainly Samsung EVO.

SSD are much faster for copying bulk and IME far more reliable - well worth the extra in my view.
Flash memory cards less so :(
(too variable quality wise)
 
Mine get uploaded from the cards to my main desktop, then backed up from there onto a NAS. Anything I've then edited also gets backed up onto the cloud.
 
Mine are stored on local HD (SSD), and the whole laptop is backed up via time machine, and to my WD Cloud NAS. I run a secondary backup regime of both of those to other HDs.

(on the basis if data I want isn't also in at least two other, distinct places, it might be in none. I've not lost anything ...yet)
 
I copy the files from card to HD using Lightroom’s import feature. That drive’s backed up via Time Machine.
 
I copy files from the card to a 6Tb western digital external hard drive which is my main storage and then make another copy to a smaller external samsung ssd.
 
Thanks for all the replies.

It seems most are happy with HDDs, just make sure you've got other copies !

I've ordered this 4TB WD HDD from Currys eBay shop @ £72,99 : http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=113375654487

It seems like a good price and will give me space not only to back up the photos, but also to make yet another copy of the music. I don't like shopping at Currys (they donate to the Tories amongst other things !), but needs must once in a while.
 
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It;s a lot of storage for the money; I've run one of those plugged into the back of my mycloud as first line NAS backup for a couple of years now. Very quiet, very efficient/cool-running, and totally reliable. Enjoy.
 
You do need to consider having some off site storage. Periodic backup with a friend or relative is worth considering.
 
Auto copying of all image folders and lightroom catalogues/presets/etc to NAS drive where it is mirrored, lightroom backup catalogue saved to a different HDD in PC and also mirrored on NAS, periodic backup to fireproof/waterproof USB drive (it weighs 6kg!!)

Print really important stuff!!
 
Any two backup HDDs will do in my view. I prefer to backup manually.

I do the same with my music (rips and downloads).
 
Do you know someone with fast Internet? When we have a client site with dog slow Internet we “seed” a Cloud storage account then just the small new data lumps get synced from site. Basically copy the lot to a NAS or Hard Disk, take it away to the fast connection, upload the lot and then you just need to upload the daily new data/changes from the slow connection onsite. If you need to push a large amount of data - after a holiday/project, rinse-repeat the “seed”.

You can use a QNAP or Synology NAS to automate the upload/syncing with free Apps. OneDrive works well as do other providers.
 
all photos kept on a desktop PC and copied to a NAS. The NAS copy is backed up automatically to an external HDD which is swapped monthly with another HDD kept at another address, and to another NAS at a another different address.

Key photos (ones we share) are also in the cloud

our ripped music is treated in the same way, and 28 days worth of footage from our 8 cameras
 
My photos only get onto either my phone's micro SD card or my bridge camera's standard SD card.
At irregular intervals, based on time passed/quantity of photos taken/whim I pop these into a dated "clearance" folder on the PC (SSD), this then automatically backs up to a larger HDD.
 
Not meant to be a dumb question, but why use a NAS..?
I have one, and am thinking of selling it as I'm struggling to see why I should keep it.
I use it to store my documents, ripped cd's and my photo's, but have a hard drive with documents/music/photo's on in my pc, a copy on another HD that I back up to every few weeks and an ssd with music on plugged into my streamer. I could easily use one of the HD's in the NAS to make a further copy and then sell the NAS and remaining HD.
Am I missing something ? I never need to access any of the data from a laptop so can't work out why I should keep it.
 
Not meant to be a dumb question, but why use a NAS..?
I have one, and am thinking of selling it as I'm struggling to see why I should keep it.
I use it to store my documents, ripped cd's and my photo's, but have a hard drive with documents/music/photo's on in my pc, a copy on another HD that I back up to every few weeks and an ssd with music on plugged into my streamer. I could easily use one of the HD's in the NAS to make a further copy and then sell the NAS and remaining HD.
Am I missing something ? I never need to access any of the data from a laptop so can't work out why I should keep it.

I use a NAS setup to automatically duplicate folders on my PC, the folders and then mirrored on the NAS to different drives as well. It just works seamlessly in the background, and on a daily basis I have to no housekeeping.

I also use it:-

a) Store longer term files/etc and are not in auto duplication folders
b) store music and it handles the streaming server part as well
c) store CCTV images (on a separate HDD in the NAS)
 
Any two backup HDDs will do in my view. I prefer to backup manually.

I do the same with my music (rips and downloads).

Ditto.

I used two 500 GB disks for more than 10 years. No problems. But they began to be full so recently I bought one 4 TB thing the size of a cig pac. Costed something like £120 (*). To begin with I was planning to buy a 1 TB, but the price difference was minimal and my guestimate is they are all the same, but during testing/formatting the best ones become 4 TB, the less successful 2 TB and the least ones 1 TB. I want the best.

The important stuff will still be backed to the old disks, the REALLY important is allready on USB-sticks to be ultra safe. If the house burn down? Well, then I have other problems...

I actually did a backdown yesterday as I managed to delete some important data.

I'm sure the cloud works perfectly, but I like to have my own stuff.

* When I started in the business nearly 40 years ago the largest disks where 300 MB (yes Mega), the whole drive the size of an Aga. People in the business was very suspectful of so called 'winchester drives', the ones used in PC's with something like 10 MB.
 


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