The Collapse of Digital Rail Road

http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/photo-news/stock-and-syndication/e3ic75447be81df667c42e634a785839986

"This is no way to run a railroad. Photographers and agencies were left reeling after technology provider Digital Railroad declared it was shutting down.

 

Digital Railroad-powered Web sites were still functional mid-afternoon on October 28, but the main site had been replaced by a short announcement about the shutdown.

 

The four-year-old company provided an e-commerce platform for scores of photography Web sites, and offered supposedly secure backup of image archives. "

 

It's OK to post a short quote just to show what the article is about.

sorry, I just figured the title gave it away.

Vincent Laforet has had a few choice word on the subject too:

 

http://blog.vincentlaforet.com/2008/10/28/digital-railwreck/

Stacy - you're right as long as you know hat Digital Railroad is/was! Not everyone does though.

 

I think this incident shows that depending on someone else to archive your work isn't the best choice. It might be OK to keep one of your archives on a server owned by someone else, but it's a bad good idea not to have a local archive too (as apparently is/was the case with some Digital Railroad users). You need two (perhaps three) separate and independently stored copies of anything that you consider of critical importance, at least one of which should be local to you and under your direct control.

<i>It's OK to post a short quote just to show what the article is about.</i><p>

 

It should be compulsory, in my opinion.

I agree. I have two external hard drives for exactly that reason. But I also believe that you should store them on someone else's server as well (what if you have a house fire, you never know). I am currently storing my more recent collections on fotoLibra.com. One should cover all bases.