Digital files storage

<p>My disk space has consumed multi-fold since I have started shooting in RAW+JPEG, and now its a time for sensible planning for storing them. Just would like to know how others are managing it? Huge capacity internal hard drive, external hard drive, USB drives, some online facility or any other practice.</p>

<p>I am thinking to buy an external hard drive, but before taking any step would like to have ideas from community.</p>

<p>Thanks in anticipation.</p>

<p>Whatever you do, make several make-ups and transfer them to new media every couple of years.</p>

<p>I just put my stuff on CDs/DVDs. Hard drives can fail rather quickly.</p>

<p>I use a staged approach. On my "main" drive, I keep the files from recent shoots as well as the Lightroom catalog files of my entire archive. Periodically, when I need to free disk space for upcoming shoots, I move files of finished shoots to a secondary "archive" disk drive, which is an external hard drive because my laptop computer doesn't allow for installing multiple disks. When moving images across drives, I always verify that all files were written correctly before deleting the originals, and point Lightroom to the new location afterwards. Since the files on the archive drive are referenced in the Lightroom catalogs on the main drive, I can search my entire archive even if the archive disk is not connected.</p>

<p>If the archive drive ran out of free disk space, I could just add another disk without having to change my system, but so far I just replaced my archive disk with a disk of at least twice the capacity every few years.</p>

<p>For each disk drive, there exist at least two backup clones, one of which is stored off-site and updated regularly. Additional backup disks are used for backing-up photos during transfer from the memory cards, or to cover special situations that require additional storage. So, if I speak of adding a drive to my storage system, I actually add three disks; one active and two backup drives.</p>

<p>This system may seem overly complicated, but it protects me pretty well against drive malfunctions and any accidental delete that I detect immediately. Storing a second set of disks off-site also protects against environmental damages and theft, but I may lose changes made since the last rotation. Finally, it offers no protection against mistakes (like deleting or overwriting files) that I don't notice before the drives are rotated.</p>

<p>This is a great question; and one where the jury is still out.</p>

<p>I too struggle with this, so my backup & archiving strategy is ever evolving..as it probably should be as technology also evolves.</p>

<p>My strategy may not be your strategy as it is dependent on several factors.</p>

<p>I approach my backup from a flowchart aspect.</p>

<p>1) What is critical & what is not?<br>

2) When is backup too much backup?<br>

3) How much space do I really need?<br>

4) Is my system expandable?<br>

5) Is my system future proof?</p>

<p>I use a RAID system for initial downloads.<br>

I process my images and save as a TIFF and place in a folder labeled "Processed."<br>

<em>As yet I am not convinced in the viability of the DNG format.</em><br>

My "Processed" images are saved to another external drive.<br>

Of my processed images, I make a decision which images are (CRITICAL).<br>

Since I shoot quite a bit of stock, a loss of certain data would be a loss of income.</p>

<p>Finally, the images that are licensed (Critical) or will be, are burned to (2) DVD's; one stored at my home and the other off site.</p>

<p>I at one time saved everything to DVD's. I have since abandoned this methodology as digital files are quickly becoming unwieldy in size. It doesn't take long to fill a DVD with TIFF data.</p>

<p>Cataloging images?....Another topic entirely. :)</p>

<p>My "system" is kind of a work in progress; but currently:</p>

<p>A second 500GB internal HD is the primary drive for all my photo images, and is also partitioned to serve as a PS scratch disk.</p>

<p>One 500GB external HD connected as an eSATA drive (much faster than USB 2.0). This is the main backup drive for all photo files, documents, and computer system restore files.</p>

<p>A second 500GB eSATA external HD, secondary backup for everything on the first external HD, also shared on our home's wired LAN as a network backup drive for the other three computers in the house. This one gets moved to a safe location when we're on the road.</p>

<p>I also gave up on using DVDs for TIFF file storage. My storage space is already cluttered with about four years worth of those. If three constantly-updated HDs aren't enough to do the job, I don't know what is. However, I do use DVDs for archiving RAW files as "digital negatives". With the smaller file sizes, a lot of shooting can be stored on one DVD.</p>

<p>I have a 1T drive in my computer that is used to store my photos and other files (mp3's, etc), but then I got another 1T driver in a external enclosure to back up the photos.</p>

<p>I will not use dvd's/cd's, First off, cd's dont hold much, and dvd's/cd's do not last as long as the industry led us to believe - I have dvd's that were 2.5 years old that I could only read about half of the disk. Might be fine for short term but not long term.</p>

<p>Not sure about blu ray disks if they last longer or not but the blanks are expensive. A External HDD is the way to go in my opinion. They are getting larger, and cheaper.</p>

<p>If you dont need more than 500gb, you can get a laptop drive in a external enclosure - small enough to fit into any safety deposit box.</p>

<p>I store digital files as well as digitized film files. My digital files are kept on two external Raid 1 drives. My digitized film files are kept on a single external Raid 1 drive, and the original transparencies are kept in metal filing cabinets. The main shortcoming of this system is that I don't have an off-site drive, and I intend to purchase an external drive that will hold all of my digital files and fit in a safety deposit box.</p>

<p>My filing system is based on geography, and it is so natural to me that I can keep track of it in my head. It would be best if I tagged each image so that finding a specific photo could be easier, but I haven't done that. Still, it's not too difficult to find a file. Images that are on my website are put in a specific folder, so files that are likely to be accessed frequently are very easy to find.</p>

<p>A question for people making regular back ups: How do you know that the files you are copying are good? You could be making multiple copies of files which are already corrupt or is there a way of verifying their integrity?</p>

<p>I forgot to mention that I also use a off site storage www.myotherdrive.com to act as a back up of my photos, and this gives me the ability to access all my (backed up) photos from anywhere that has a computer/net connection.</p>

<p>Problem with using sites like that are that you pay each month (or a yearly subscription), depending on your net speeds (UP load), it can take a very long time to upload your images. Some of these types of sites are quite expensive imp, myotherdrive was reasonable imo.</p>

<p>Not sure about other sites like myotherdrive but these guys also allow you to send in your files for them to upload free of charge except for media you need returned (ie disks, thumbdrives) - you have to pay return shipping.</p>

<p>I use internal drives in my computer (4 x 750GB for 3TB total), a Drobo + copies on two separate external hard-drives. One of those external hard-drives is kept in a bank safety deposit box and one is kept in a different off-site location that is very secure. I manually back-up new files and have Time Machine set to make one update every day.<br /><br />As others have said, make sure you have redundancy. <br /><br />Steve brings up a good point. I periodically check my external drives (and swap as needed) for mechanical problems but only ever check a few random pics. I'm sure there is some software out there than can automatically verify if an individual file is corrupt or not and that would be interesting for sure.</p>

<p>My raws are on a pair of internal drives, routinely mirrored via XXCopy. When I build up enough for a few DVD's, I burn two disks, and keep one off-site.</p>

<p>Just having a look, my most prolific DSLR folder is at 84 GigaBytes, a drop in the buck, but I'm definitely a low volume shooter. My film scans take up much more room.</p>

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<p>My film scans take up much more room.</p>

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<p>But why bother with film scans? My image storage consists of a box to keep my negatives in. It hardly takes up any space.</p>

<p>"But why bother with film scans? My image storage consists of a box to keep my negatives in. It hardly takes up any space."</p>

<p>I consider my archival sleeves that are full of negatives to be one of my backup sets. My scans are on a HD that's backed up to an external HD. The file is also backed up to the Mozy online backup service.</p>

<p>Steve:<br /><br />I for one have a bunch of scans. Scanned over the years for publication, agency submissions etc. Easier to keep the scans than having to dive into the slide archive, scan, remove dust and scratches, etc etc.</p>

<p>I once had more than 260,000 negatives of nearly everything I shot. <br>

I finally decided that the "loving couples" I'd shot 20 years ago had divorced and wouldn't be ordering duplicates so their negs were shredded, along with the many thousands of parties, special events and other forgettable situations that made it possible for me to maintain my family. I continued to remain anal about my work, digital making it easy for the stored images to pile up. <br>

A reality check made me ask myself: "who are you kidding? Who's going to want your work in some near or unknown future”? <br>

“Aren't you being vain about what is after all, rather ordinary images, found in tens of millions of other photographers who think they are God's gift to the vocation?” <br>

Almost without exception, tens of thousands of digital (and a few more negs) images bit the dust. <br>

I finally decided I was too old to be "discovered", too plebian a photographer to percolate up in the annals of the trade and just wise enough to know I had no skills that might venerate my name in the near or far future.<br>

<br>

My half-terabyte of images are and will be ignored by the world after my death, as they have been while I was alive. </p>

 

<p>But Ed, you don't have to do photography for others; you can do it for yourself, and each image can be a reminder of a single experience you've had in life. That's a wonderful thing.</p>

<p>I agree with Ed. I don't have as many old photos as he, but I have plenty that are expendable and I am continually blasting away at them. I give them several chances to survive tho: If any of my old photos (mostly kodachromes) makes me or my wife pause with even a scintilla of interest, it stays. By the way, Ed never said he was giving up personal photography.</p>

<p>If this was Facebook, I would have clicked 'like' on Ed's post!</p>

<p>My strategy, such as it is works like this</p>

<p>I have two internal hard drives, one of which is dedicated to digital pictures, the other smaller drive handles everything else. </p>

<p>I have two external hard drives, one of which holds backups for the "pictures" internal drive, and the other holds backups for all the other stuff. The "pictures" backup is made automatically by Lightroom when I import new images, so I don't have to worry about backing up raw originals periodically. Of course I do have files with photoshop edits made that are not in Lightroom so I need to back those up periodically. The drives are switched off and disconnected except when backups are being made.</p>

<p>I tend not to delete images from cards until I need that card again, and given I have lots, its entirely possible that I have most of the last year's photographs still on cards.</p>

<p>The weakness I see with this approach is that both copies of the photographs are at the same location, and I've yet to work out the logistics of keeping the backup drives remotely whilst at the same time using them whenever I make backups or load more photographs. Maybe its as simple as making yet another backup on yet another drive and keeping that elsewhere but locally. </p>

<p>I don't back up to disks because of the volume. A decent trip for me might generate 3-4 DVDs worth of material and I don't want to file/search through hundreds of DVDs to find something. In any case I've followed countless debates on here over the years about what sort of disks-if any- have a reasonable life expectation and I've seen a lot of conflicting experiences which persuade me that disks are as risky as drives and less convenient.</p>

<p>Ed Greene's point is interesting, and in some ways I'd like to have the time to get rid of that 90% of my supposed "keepers" that the future will determine aren't worth a light. But its frankly easier to keep the stuff than it is to decide what I need to keep, particularly since the more I deal with stock agencies and the odd gallery, the more difficult I find it to predict what they'll choose.</p>

<p>I have a computer with a raid setup on the computer with 1tb external drive as a backup. I also have a 160 usb powered drive that I copy files to then put back into a firesafe. When that one gets much full I will purchase another. I also have copies on DVD's for the more important files. For most important photos I have another set of DVD's that I keep at my sister's in another part of the state. John</p>

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<p>But why bother with film scans? My image storage consists of a box to keep my negatives in. It hardly takes up any space.</p>

 

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<p>Well, I'm not chucking out the film, but I'm glad I "bothered". It took me more years than I care to admit, and I'm still just getting around to the color negatives, the black and white and color slides I've done.</p>

<p>I think you can waste a lot of your life scanning all of your negatives and slides just so you have them on a hard drive somewhere (which will probably fail one day). I would rather just scan as and when needed.</p>