External Hard Drives and Backup (Page 3): Surge protectors mitigate the effect of normal power line surges but are ineffective when presented with major surges such as a lightning...

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Picture Taker wrote:

That brings up the surge protection in your system. Most of us probably use a serge protector with our computer.
I have one and they put a automatic generator in the house. It came with a total house serge protector, so I am gambling I am safe. But, If you totally unplug the power cord and the connection to the computer you would be safe. This may be extreme, I lost a hard drive about 15- 20 years ago that could not be recovered.

Surge protectors mitigate the effect of normal power line surges but are ineffective when presented with major surges such as a lightning strike. For that the best protection is to pull the plug, although even that may not protect against a really close lightning strike.

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

That is what I said at the end. Unplug both power and line to computer.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

dandev wrote:

Thanks Gene51. br It does look like Synology is a ... (show quote)

Buy the best enterprise class drives available (money well spent) WD/HGST UltraStars would be my first choice.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Manglesphoto wrote:

I use a Drobo raid+ four drives, Three for file ba... (show quote)

A triple drive failure is certainly unlikely, although double drive failures happen all the time and a double drive failure would cost you your data. If you have 3 for backup, isn’t part of your data on each drive? And unless the Time machine drive is as large as the other three combined, how is it backing up all your data? And even if you have 3 full copies of your data, a fire, power surge, flood or lightning strike can again, cost you all your data. You need an off-site disaster copy of your data to be properly protected (that assumes your data is valuable to you)

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Bayou wrote:

Conventional drives are preferable for backup. Longer life, proven tried and true over several decades, while SSD is still new tech that has less history to have faith in...and HHD is much cheaper. The speed of SSD goes essentially unnoticed in a backup application, a waste.

SSDs have been in general use for at least 9 years, so hardly new technology (i have a number of Intel SSDs that have been running 24x7x365 for 8+ years), and large scale testing is beginning to indicate they’re more reliable than spinning disk. Now whether you need SSD speed (and they are worth the cost/TB) for backup is a different question - depends on how much data you have, your backup strategy and your backup window.

jtang2

Check out this article:
https://www.matiash.com/blog/why-i-switched-from-drobo-to-sandisk-professional-and-g-technology?utm_campaign=photovideostorage&utm_medium=email&utm_source=kajabi

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

DirtFarmer wrote:

Surge protectors mitigate the effect of normal power line surges but are ineffective when presented with major surges such as a lightning strike. For that the best protection is to pull the plug, although even that may not protect against a really close lightning strike.

👍👍 exactly, and the vast majority of surge protectors use MOVs, which become ineffective after x number of absorbed spikes. Since you have no way to test them, you have no idea when they’ve become exhausted, so best to replace periodically. Also, there are types of power line failures that they will not protect against. Certainly better than nothing, but no guarantees with MOVs.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Bayou wrote:

Those three drives could easily all fail at the sa... (show quote)

👍👍 well said.

rcarol

lreisner wrote:

Just as a reminder to Amazon Prime members: They offer unlimited back up of your digital photo files without size restrictions. It is at no additional cost. It is not ideal but does work and as they say its better than nothing. If you down load the app it will also upload all of your cell phone pictures as well.

Doesn't Amazon limit backups to jpeg only?

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

TriX wrote:

SSDs have been in general use for at least 9 years, so hardly new technology (i have a number of Intel SSDs that have been running 24x7x365 for 8+ years), and large scale testing is beginning to indicate they’re more reliable than spinning disk. Now whether you need SSD speed (and they are worth the cost/TB) for backup is a different question - depends on how much data you have, your backup strategy and your backup window.

Backup is in the wallet of the beholder.

It's really a question of what your data is worth to you. How much pain you would experience if it disappeared?

Your computer (capital equipment) cost you a few hundred dollars (or more). Your data (ephemeral) cost you years of your time (irreplaceable). Which is more valuable?

A couple of external hard drives will cost you a hundred or two dollars (or more depending on the size and complexity of your backup system). A cloud backup will cost you something, whether you use a "free" service from some other service you use or buy the service from another provider. In my opinion, the cloud service is safer than your local backup using external hard drives, but the local backup has the speed advantage. Which is more valuable to you?

Note, also, that backup requires maintenance. You have to invest your time to do that maintenance for the local backup. You pay for the maintenance of the cloud data somehow. You can't just store something and expect to find it 25 years from now where you left it. These are physical devices, subject to aging. You have to ensure that the data is not impacted by that aging.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

dandev wrote:

I'm looking for suggestions on a file storage solution. (Like a Drobo).
I'm thinking 2 separate hard drives - plus a third drive just for backup. I'm ready to spring for solid state drives.
Or maybe the backup is in the cloud.

Thanks...

https://eshop.macsales.com has been my go-to shop for accessories since 1988. They serve primarily the Mac market, but most of their drives and hubs and docks and cables work with Windows PCs and Linux PCs just as well. Check out their RAID arrays, and single drives. They sell really high quality stuff, and stand behind it. I've always had good luck with it.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

jerryc41 wrote:

I have thousands of documents backed up. It's better than storing the paper. All my manuals are on the computer, but I kept the paper versions, too. It's very easy to read them on the computer

Same here. I keep my most-used manuals on the computer AND my iPhone via iCloud Books. That way, I'm never without them.

shackcf

I am not a pro photog but retired IT. I have a QNAP NAS with 2 external drives attached. The NAS is dual drive 4TB ea. Externals attached via USB 3.1. 4TB & 2TB. This is a total of 12TB on line. These are not compressed and the externals could travel and used without the NAS. I do selective backups using Free File sync.

I only use cloud systems to transfer files between others and for documents while travelling.

I do have 14 years of photos and video edits for a dance studio plus my own travels in digital since 2009.

So glad you understand the value of backups.

photoman43

If you want NAS follow Gene's advice.

If you want just external drives, consider Hard drive enclosure cases that take the same 3.5 inch HDD's that may already be in your computer. You buy the enclosure case and the HDD and then slip in the HDD into the case. Mine are all aluminum for fast heat transfer. My HDDs are 12 TB to 18 TB.

I use a desktop with win 10 Pro. It has USB3 and USB3.1 ports. I have enclosure cases compatible with both ports. USB 3.1 is faster than USC 3.

Here is a link to the USB3.1 enclosure case I use: I have a 18 TB HDD in it.

https://www.newegg.com/startech-s351bu313-office-products/p/N82E16817707393

Depending on your computer (PC or Apple) you can find enclosure cases compatible that will accomplish the same.

I do not use the cloud. But I will be giving my daughter (separate location) one of my HDDs as a backup outside of my house.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

I have at least 300,000 total images at various places. I use (multiple) Synology NAS systems loaded with either Western Digital or Seagate NAS specific drives running at 7200 rpm. I also have a LaCie 2Big drive system directly attached to my iMac PRO where I store a working copy of my most recent images. All drives are in a RAID 1 or RAID 5 array. I use Lightroom Classic ($9.99 monthly). Upon import, all images are stored both on the local drive AND in a NAS system. NAS drives are replaced and moved to another location on a rotating schedule. Anal perhaps, but works for me. Happy New Year to ALL!