Remote backup. Duplicates EVERYTHING again? I have two WD Passport remote backups. When I add new photos, does it duplicate everything, even those already on it again or just the new...

LolaPL Loc: Richardson, Texas

I have two WD Passport remote backups. When I add new photos, does it duplicate everything, even those already on it again or just the new items added since the last time I backed up my photos?

Thank you for all the past and future help you all give me. It's totally appreciated and available nowhere else that I know of!

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

LolaPL wrote:

I have two WD Passport remote backups. When I add new photos, does it duplicate everything, even those already on it again or just the new items added since the last time I backed up my photos?

Thank you for all the past and future help you all give me. It's totally appreciated and available nowhere else that I know of!

The term 'remote backup' usually indicates that the backup software sends the files to some location other than the one where the PC is located. If you have external Passport drives connected to your PC, and backup to them, it's termed a 'local' backup.

The process of backing up is best done using software designed for that purpose. Most all backup software, when it is executed, will backup any new files and any files that have been modified since the last backup, and only those files, negating the need to wait for it to backup EVERYTHING every time.

While I suppose there is some software that will backup to multiple destinations during the backup, I'm not familiar with it. So, if you are backing up to two drives (good for you!!), you'll need to perform the backup twice to get the backed up files to each destination.

Hope that sheds a bit of light.

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

I wish I had an easy way to back up to multiple drives. Because the only thing I really need to back up are my photos, I just hook up my external drives when finish working on photos, then copy the new folders to the drives when I'm done. I can just walk away and let them copy everything to the 2 drives, while I sleep. Once a week, I upload to my Amazon Cloud drive.

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

bkyser wrote:

I wish I had an easy way to back up to multiple drives. Because the only thing I really need to back up are my photos, I just hook up my external drives when finish working on photos, then copy the new folders to the drives when I'm done. I can just walk away and let them copy everything to the 2 drives, while I sleep. Once a week, I upload to my Amazon Cloud drive.

You might want to take a look at SyncBackSE, a free application from a company named 2 Bright Sparks. I've used it for many years and it has never failed me.

I back up everything. Accounting data, music, images, genealogy data, etc., etc. SyncBack allows for the creation of a 'profile' that tells WHAT to backup and WHERE. When I finish a work session, whether it's with photography or otherwise, I run the profile associated with that work. The destination is a 4TB (G:\) drive that stays connected to my PC. Then, at 5:00 PM every day, SyncBack backs up the G:\ drive to another 4TB drive (H:\) automatically.

On top of this, I subscribe to CrashPlan for a cloud backup. It runs continuously, backing up the contents of the G:\ drive to the cloud (in case the house is blown away or burns).

It sounds like a lot of work, but it takes very little of my (or my computer's) time to accomplish the work.

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

brucewells wrote:

You might want to take a look at SyncBackSE, a fre... (show quote)

I tried a few different programs, but when I would purge photos from my hard drive, it also deleted them from the back up. That's why I prefer to just manually do it.

If I had 1/2 the brains I think I do, I would come up with the million dollar idea to come up with a back up program for photographers only that will permanently archive all photos, even if I erase them from my hard drive to free up space.

Tikva Loc: Waukesha, WI

bkyser wrote:

I tried a few different programs, but when I would purge photos from my hard drive, it also deleted them from the back up. That's why I prefer to just manually do it.

If I had 1/2 the brains I think I do, I would come up with the million dollar idea to come up with a back up program for photographers only that will permanently archive all photos, even if I erase them from my hard drive to free up space.

If you come up with it, or find software that does this, please send me a message. I have a lot of junk on my D:\DATA drive. I would like to really get rid of a lot of it, but I am afraid I'll get rid of something and then learn how to do something new in pp that will salvage the photo.

LolaPL Loc: Richardson, Texas

brucewells wrote:

The term 'remote backup' usually indicates that th... (show quote)

Sorry for the uninformed nomenclature!

I thought that the WD Passports (local backups ;) were designed to make copies of my photos. I do run each separately, one at a time.
So you are saying that each one will copy only the new and modified files, not all of them over again?

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

bkyser wrote:

I wish I had an easy way to back up to multiple drives. Because the only thing I really need to back up are my photos, I just hook up my external drives when finish working on photos, then copy the new folders to the drives when I'm done. I can just walk away and let them copy everything to the 2 drives, while I sleep. Once a week, I upload to my Amazon Cloud drive.

If you are on a PC, you can use Sync Back Free (it is truly free) to do exactly that. Back up data to multiple drives, on a schedule, with integrity checking. You have a choice of data mirroring, syncing, incremental backup. Easy-peasy.

LolaPL Loc: Richardson, Texas

Gene51 wrote:

If you are on a PC, you can use Sync Back Free (it is truly free) to do exactly that. Back up data to multiple drives, on a schedule, with integrity checking. You have a choice of data mirroring, syncing, incremental backup. Easy-peasy.

Thanks, Gene51.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

LolaPL wrote:

I have two WD Passport remote backups. When I add new photos, does it duplicate everything, even those already on it again or just the new items added since the last time I backed up my photos?

Thank you for all the past and future help you all give me. It's totally appreciated and available nowhere else that I know of!

It's not going to put two identical files on the drive. Windows always pops up a window asking what you want to do when it encounters duplicates.

I use SyncBack SE, set to Mirror. When I do a backup from C to G, it makes the folders on G identical to those on C, adding or deleting files.

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

bkyser wrote:

I tried a few different programs, but when I would purge photos from my hard drive, it also deleted them from the back up. That's why I prefer to just manually do it.

If I had 1/2 the brains I think I do, I would come up with the million dollar idea to come up with a back up program for photographers only that will permanently archive all photos, even if I erase them from my hard drive to free up space.

Any of the SyncBack programs will do this. I run multiple backup profiles onto various hard drives, both internal and external. You specify the folders you want copied, which specific files (if needed), whether you want to program to automatically add new files from those folders to the backup, all the usual stuff. The program doesn't care about 'orphan' files on the backup. Periodically, when I am feeling industrious, I take a wander through the backed up disks to remove any old junk which isn't needed any more - multiple versions of downloaded install files, for example. This used to be important with smaller disks, to prevent the backups becoming full, but with 6TB drives, it takes quite a bit to fill them!

I can't remember if the choice to leave orphan files on the backup was a setup option, or just the program's default mode. I have been using their products for many years, and decisions like that have faded into the mists of time...

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

bkyser wrote:

I tried a few different programs, but when I would purge photos from my hard drive, it also deleted them from the back up. That's why I prefer to just manually do it.

If I had 1/2 the brains I think I do, I would come up with the million dollar idea to come up with a back up program for photographers only that will permanently archive all photos, even if I erase them from my hard drive to free up space.

SyncBack allows this configuration.

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

LolaPL wrote:

Sorry for the uninformed nomenclature!

I thought that the WD Passports (local backups ;) were designed to make copies of my photos. I do run each separately, one at a time.
So you are saying that each one will copy only the new and modified files, not all of them over again?

Correct.

LolaPL Loc: Richardson, Texas

brucewells wrote:

Correct.

Yay, a simple answer to my actual question! Thanks SO much!!

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Lola, from your description, I can't tell if you're running software or doing this manually. I'm going to assume software. What you are probably doing is incremental backups. These should just copy the newly added files to those already on the drives.

Just for your reference in the future, remote is local but different system or drive, as you describe. Off site back up is done on a system which is remote to your property.
--Bob

LolaPL wrote:

I have two WD Passport remote backups. When I add new photos, does it duplicate everything, even those already on it again or just the new items added since the last time I backed up my photos?

Thank you for all the past and future help you all give me. It's totally appreciated and available nowhere else that I know of!