Backups..

Backups.. the 'dirty word'

I'm an IT guy, and have been for going on 15 years now.

I realize the importance of a good backup strategy, as I've had to recover my fair share of failed systems.

Up until recently, backups hadn't been a huge concern for me - but my recently purchased D700 has 25 MB RAW files, and that takes a LOT of disk space.

My present workflow for importing images:
-Insert card in PC, it opens LR3 import dialog
-Tell LR3 to make a 2nd copy to a mapped network drive. Network is gigabit switched, so that doesn't take as long as it sounds

This works pretty well, but lacks the 'offsite copy'. I do have a safety deposit box, so the offsite copy has somewhere to go.

I started running out of disk space, so I ordered 2 external USB/eSATA drives, 2 TB capacity each. I added one to the 2nd machine and set LR3 to copy the files to it instead of the internal drive.

The 2nd one will go on/with my laptop, and I'll 'archive' older stuff off the laptop to it, and keep the files I'm presently working with on the drive.

The challenge, though, is the 'offsite copy'. I tried carbonite.com, and while the concept is pretty sweet, it's incredibly time-intensive. I went out and did a small shoot, and came home and downloaded 10 GB of content to my PC. It took several days to upload 10 GB to carbonite's servers.

I could get more external drives, if that's the answer. But, I'm not convinced it *is* the answer. I'm also waiting on Comcast to raise hell for transferring gigs of data all the time.

My needs for a backup are going to increase, as I'm shooting more and more every month.

How do you handle your backups?

Yes Backups, Backups. How important they are, as it sounds like you know this.
I use a USB drive on my laptop and than I have a second drive in my desktop that I have networked so I can copy the pictures to the desktop. So at my house I generally have two copies of the files. I am also using Mozy for off site backups, but it is slow to upload when you have a bunch of data but it has saved me some frustration having the off site backups. As for Comcast raising hell there is a 250 gigabytes monthly usage limit, you can go to comcast.net and log in to "My Account" than under the "Users & Settings" tab there is a High-Speed Internet Data Usage bar. I personal have not gone over the limit but one month I came somewhat close. It wasn't because of off site backups, it was because I was downloading to much from e-mule (file shearing I don't do that as much now). The Comcast monthly limits are for residential accounts, Business accounts don't have the same limits.

But as file sizes get bigger and keep getting bigger I think external Hard drives are the best way to go.

I copy my master LR catalog and images from my MacBook to an external drive which I keep in my office. I also keep a copy on my work ThinkPad. The key is to separate the copies. I've been considering a safety deposit box for other reasons which is where I would keep my offsite copy in the future.

I don't feel comfortable until I have my files on DVD's.

Yibel said:

I don't feel comfortable until I have my files on DVD's.

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I work in the Disaster Recover/Business Continuity industry. DVD's are not considered viable solutions for long-term storage. Some are rated for only a 2 year lifetime! Proper storage and handling methods are vital components of DVD use. I'm not trying to challenge your solution but make you aware of a potential problem.

I need to backup my files (not just photos) on a more regular basis. A new external drive is probably in order.

If anyone is curious this site has redundant backups.

Eduard said:

I work in the Disaster Recover/Business Continuity industry. DVD's are not considered viable solutions for long-term storage. Some are rated for only a 2 year lifetime! Proper storage and handling methods are vital components of DVD use. I'm not trying to challenge your solution but make you aware of a potential problem.

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There is media far superior to the cheap walmart cd's and dvd's.

Delkin's eFilm Archival Gold CD-R's incorporate a Phthalocyanine (thalo-sy-a-neen) dye and a 24k gold reflective layer into every CD-R. Delkin claim that eFilm Archival Gold CD-R's can store images for more than 300 years. I'm not aware of any independant tests that verify this, but gold/pthalocyanine disks should have the longest lives.

I realize this is for cd's but there are also dvd's of archival grade. I don't need 300 years and am more than happy with 100 or so, archival grade media. I think this makes a lot more sense than a multitude of external hard drives, they also have mtbf data to consider.

MAM-A are a very affordable option.
http://www.gotmedia.com/mam-a-dvd-r.html

Bill:

You are absolutely correct about media quality and mtbf. I guess the key is that you have and use a backup method, right?

Personally, I'd love to use one of the cloud based solutions but the bandwidth requirements - even though I have FIOS - are prohibitive.

Ed

I agree 100% the media and how you care for it is important. I wish I knew what was coming in the near future, every format mentioned has replaced one that was considered good, I can envision a 3D cube with data transfer controlled by telepathy.

The other problem is duplicating archival data prior to life cycle end, now if we can't keep our good stuff backed-up now, who the heck has the discipline to duplicate our back-ups.

I really don't have much that I need to keep, almost arrogant to think much of my photography is that important, Web sites I do need to be backed up for clients will have to reside on external hard drives whether the bearing lubricant fails or not and then on optical, star wars will save us for the next generation.

Good thing this thread got going, reminds me I need to back up. lol

With the low cost of external hard drives these days, there's really no reason that we all shouldn't have one. For $65, you can get a nice Seagate 250GB, which is a lot of space for photos. And Eduard is right. DVDs are not a viable long-term storage solution.

I use two external hard drives for backups. I won't use CD's or DVD's for backups for two reasons: 1. I don't trust them (but then I don't trust external drives either, which is why I have two) and 2. it's much easier to backup or migrate a 250 gb external drive than 20 DVD's

I think what's really important is to have a methodical system in place for organizing and storing photos. We know the media/technology is going to change (that's a given) and we'll have to upgrade and migrate our stuff if we want to keep our stuff readable and usable. So get a system in place right now with that in mind.

Along that line, is anyone saving their photos as DNG's as opposed to RAW's? I'm still researching this and am wondering how much smaller the files are than the raw files, and if there's any quality degradation.

ohkphoto said:

Along that line, is anyone saving their photos as DNG's as opposed to RAW's? I'm still researching this and am wondering how much smaller the files are than the raw files, and if there's any quality degradation.

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I have converted RAW files from my old Minolta A2 to DNG as a way to preserve them. After Sony purchased Minolta's camera business they changed the RAW format and no longer support the old one. I have not converted any of my NEF files to DNG as I have more confidence in the viability of the format.

Anthony Hereld said:

With the low cost of external hard drives these days, there's really no reason that we all shouldn't have one.

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Sweet limited time deal going on at Newegg for a 120GB external for $19.99. Check out this thread.

The problem I have with backups - I have the 2 USB external drive solution going now, but I'm torn on how to get the offsite copy.

I have a safety deposit box. I could buy 1 more 2 TB external drive, copy the other ones and stick it in the safety deposit box and every month, carry a drive in, put it in the box, and bring one home.

That is not a difficult solution, and it might work well.

johnwartjr said:

The problem I have with backups - I have the 2 USB external drive solution going now, but I'm torn on how to get the offsite copy.

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I keep one in my office. Not the most elegant but it works with little extra effort.