How do you backup your photos?

joele · 01-15-2007, 07:35 PM

Thought I would ask this just to see what everyone else does.. maybe some good ideas will pop up ;-)

Me first:

At the moment all my photos are on my laptop as it is my main computer.. I also copy everything on to my 300gb Maxtor network drive (to backup and so I can access from my desktop and print)...

This all works well, though of course if my house burns down and my laptop is home I loose everything (though I have more problems then, than just my photos)..

I used to backup onto DVD too, and leave at my parents house, but that is getting to be rather painfull.. What do you guys do?

Alvin · 01-15-2007, 08:15 PM

Mine is pretty much the same as you. 2 laptops, 1 desktop (with the 250 GB HD) and plenty of CD's or DVD's scatterred amongst family members. I trust CD's more than DVD's still for some weird reason and more often burn to that media. That was with 2 or 3 MP shots coming of my Fuji P&S and my Sony camcorder, but with my K100D the media will have to change.

jthommo · 01-15-2007, 08:46 PM

Very similar - backup to external hard drive and periodically to DVDs which I keep in the office. I'm considering a fireproof box for photographs and negatives but probably won't get around to it.

ericc · 01-15-2007, 08:58 PM

Server PC with a pair of mirrored SATA drives. Weekly backup to an external USB drive that is stored in a separate building.

-E

Arpe · 01-15-2007, 09:24 PM

Backup to DVD, which stays in my work bag. Then copied onto my work computer, so at least I have one copy permanently off site.

Ole · 01-15-2007, 09:30 PM

Backup to external 400GB hard drives. One is connected to the computer, the other stored off site. Then I swap the two twice a month.

ccallana · 01-15-2007, 10:38 PM

I have software that does a nightly back up to my wife's computer across the room. I back up to DVD ~once a month, just taking that day, back as far as will fill up 1 disk. I try to do it often enough that I get overlapping back ups, so no 1 directory is only on 1 disk - protects against bad media. I make 2 copies of this, one stays at home in a folder (which I can easily grab if I need to run out quickly) and one goes to work with me and stays in my office there. About once a year I'll do a full back up to DVD.

I'm up to ~40GB now, growing very rapidly (about 30 of that is just in the last year), so I may need to get a Blu-ray writer soon

-=JoN=- · 01-15-2007, 11:02 PM

DVD's. I have a tendency to overstock when I find super cheap deals.
so right now, I have about 300 blank dvd's just waiting to be used....

in addition, spare hdd's i pop in from time to time, and an external hard drive i toss stuff in.

it's going to get reworked, once i get time to build a new rig (pc) and a mac (strictly for photowork)

Photo Tramp · 01-16-2007, 02:34 AM

Since no one can be sure about the life of a DVD I back up all PEF files to two 500gb hard drives And convert all PEF files to high JPEG and place them on a 300gb drive. I also have the main hard drive of 300gb to copy all photo's I have just shot and use in PP and then store them each week.

All of this is done automatically by software.

Good Shooting.
Cheers: David

dave kitson · 01-16-2007, 03:50 AM

Originally posted by joele

Thought I would ask this just to see what everyone else does.. maybe some good ideas will pop up ;-)

When I first load the images onto my PC I copy them to two hard drives. One of these drives (F) is my working area and the other (E) is insurance against a hard drive failure prior to external backup.

When I have about 4Gb saved on the E: drive I burn a DVD, when I have about 12GB saved I copy to DAT tape and then delete the images from E:

I delete most images from my work drive (F) and just keep my favourites, I use the DVDs to retrieve images if I want them.

dave

davek · 01-16-2007, 10:39 AM

I'm probably not shooting as much as most, but here is what I do:

1) Shoot raw, using 512M memory card
2) Transfer to PC.
3) Immediately copy all new PEFs to CD-R
4) Convert files, Import new files into Elements3
5) Accumulate PEF files to approx 4G, then copy to DVD
6) Delete PEFs from PC.
7) Use Elements3 backup utilities for backing up the library to DVD

This gives me:
PEFS on CD & DVD
The whole library on DVD.

Alvin · 01-16-2007, 11:03 AM

Originally posted by ericc

Server PC with a pair of mirrored SATA drives.
-E

Something I am heavily considering after I had a recent external USB drive failure here at work.

tcom · 01-16-2007, 11:24 AM

I am using two external hard disks (of different brands) on which I save the same content. Should one hard disk fail, I hope the other will not do at the same time.

CDs and DVDs just got too small these days.

bdavis · 01-16-2007, 05:05 PM

This thread is excellent, well, because I don't have anything backed up (eep!) at the moment and I've been searching for comments regarding how other folks do it.

I'm thinking that my workflow will be as follows:
Shoot RAW, continue to only make JPEGs/work on my good shots, and delete all the obvious junk shots.
As my photos are currently being stored by date, I'll have RAW folders and separate JPEG folders by date. If I have to, I'll split up the folders to limit the number of images in each file to a manageable size, because my laptop would choke otherwise.
These will then be backed up to DVD x2, and the second copy will be stored somewhere. I'm still tossing about ideas on additional backups, especially because I don't have the cash to implement any.

foxglove · 01-17-2007, 07:00 AM

I've got an external hd, and as soon as I spot a good deal I'll get a second one. At the moment I've got everything on my laptop and the hd, plus quite a few dngs on CD. But CDs just aren't convenient, thus the second hd, which will be in a different location than the other one.

Julie

01-15-2007, 07:35 PM	#1
joele Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Melbourne, Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,308	How do you backup your photos? Thought I would ask this just to see what everyone else does.. maybe some good ideas will pop up ;-) Me first: At the moment all my photos are on my laptop as it is my main computer.. I also copy everything on to my 300gb Maxtor network drive (to backup and so I can access from my desktop and print)... This all works well, though of course if my house burns down and my laptop is home I loose everything (though I have more problems then, than just my photos).. I used to backup onto DVD too, and leave at my parents house, but that is getting to be rather painfull.. What do you guys do?

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01-15-2007, 08:15 PM	#2
Alvin Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,517	Mine is pretty much the same as you. 2 laptops, 1 desktop (with the 250 GB HD) and plenty of CD's or DVD's scatterred amongst family members. I trust CD's more than DVD's still for some weird reason and more often burn to that media. That was with 2 or 3 MP shots coming of my Fuji P&S and my Sony camcorder, but with my K100D the media will have to change.

01-15-2007, 08:46 PM	#3
jthommo Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Canberra, Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 338	Very similar - backup to external hard drive and periodically to DVDs which I keep in the office. I'm considering a fireproof box for photographs and negatives but probably won't get around to it.

01-15-2007, 08:58 PM	#4
ericc Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Western Oklahoma Posts: 412	Server PC with a pair of mirrored SATA drives. Weekly backup to an external USB drive that is stored in a separate building. -E

01-15-2007, 09:24 PM	#5
Arpe Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: New Zealand Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,452	Backup to DVD, which stays in my work bag. Then copied onto my work computer, so at least I have one copy permanently off site.

01-15-2007, 09:30 PM	#6
Ole Administrator Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Copenhagen, Denmark Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,408	Backup to external 400GB hard drives. One is connected to the computer, the other stored off site. Then I swap the two twice a month.

01-15-2007, 10:38 PM	#7
ccallana Inactive Account Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Folsom, CA Photos: Gallery Posts: 321	I have software that does a nightly back up to my wife's computer across the room. I back up to DVD ~once a month, just taking that day, back as far as will fill up 1 disk. I try to do it often enough that I get overlapping back ups, so no 1 directory is only on 1 disk - protects against bad media. I make 2 copies of this, one stays at home in a folder (which I can easily grab if I need to run out quickly) and one goes to work with me and stays in my office there. About once a year I'll do a full back up to DVD. I'm up to ~40GB now, growing very rapidly (about 30 of that is just in the last year), so I may need to get a Blu-ray writer soon

01-15-2007, 11:02 PM	#8
-=JoN=- Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: NYC Posts: 999	DVD's. I have a tendency to overstock when I find super cheap deals. so right now, I have about 300 blank dvd's just waiting to be used.... in addition, spare hdd's i pop in from time to time, and an external hard drive i toss stuff in. it's going to get reworked, once i get time to build a new rig (pc) and a mac (strictly for photowork)

01-16-2007, 02:34 AM	#9
Photo Tramp Inactive Account Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Lancaster, PA. Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,041	Since no one can be sure about the life of a DVD I back up all PEF files to two 500gb hard drives And convert all PEF files to high JPEG and place them on a 300gb drive. I also have the main hard drive of 300gb to copy all photo's I have just shot and use in PP and then store them each week. All of this is done automatically by software. Good Shooting. Cheers: David

01-16-2007, 03:50 AM	#10
dave kitson Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Lichfield, UK Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 486	Originally posted by joele Thought I would ask this just to see what everyone else does.. maybe some good ideas will pop up ;-) When I first load the images onto my PC I copy them to two hard drives. One of these drives (F) is my working area and the other (E) is insurance against a hard drive failure prior to external backup. When I have about 4Gb saved on the E: drive I burn a DVD, when I have about 12GB saved I copy to DAT tape and then delete the images from E: I delete most images from my work drive (F) and just keep my favourites, I use the DVDs to retrieve images if I want them. dave

01-16-2007, 10:39 AM	#11
davek Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Elmira, On, Canada Posts: 461	I'm probably not shooting as much as most, but here is what I do: 1) Shoot raw, using 512M memory card 2) Transfer to PC. 3) Immediately copy all new PEFs to CD-R 4) Convert files, Import new files into Elements3 5) Accumulate PEF files to approx 4G, then copy to DVD 6) Delete PEFs from PC. 7) Use Elements3 backup utilities for backing up the library to DVD This gives me: PEFS on CD & DVD The whole library on DVD.

01-16-2007, 11:03 AM	#12
Alvin Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,517	Originally posted by ericc Server PC with a pair of mirrored SATA drives. -E Something I am heavily considering after I had a recent external USB drive failure here at work.

01-16-2007, 11:24 AM	#13
tcom Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Switzerland Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,293	I am using two external hard disks (of different brands) on which I save the same content. Should one hard disk fail, I hope the other will not do at the same time. CDs and DVDs just got too small these days.

01-16-2007, 05:05 PM	#14
bdavis Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: 'Burque, NM Posts: 309	This thread is excellent, well, because I don't have anything backed up (eep!) at the moment and I've been searching for comments regarding how other folks do it. I'm thinking that my workflow will be as follows: Shoot RAW, continue to only make JPEGs/work on my good shots, and delete all the obvious junk shots. As my photos are currently being stored by date, I'll have RAW folders and separate JPEG folders by date. If I have to, I'll split up the folders to limit the number of images in each file to a manageable size, because my laptop would choke otherwise. These will then be backed up to DVD x2, and the second copy will be stored somewhere. I'm still tossing about ideas on additional backups, especially because I don't have the cash to implement any.

01-17-2007, 07:00 AM	#15
foxglove Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Atlantic Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,049	I've got an external hd, and as soon as I spot a good deal I'll get a second one. At the moment I've got everything on my laptop and the hd, plus quite a few dngs on CD. But CDs just aren't convenient, thus the second hd, which will be in a different location than the other one. Julie