External storage question (Page 3): On my PC, I used a RAID 1 system with two 2TB HD of different manufacturers AND an external backup HD. So far, the equipment has worked well.

regionabove Loc: NYC

On my PC, I used a RAID 1 system with two 2TB HD of different manufacturers AND an external backup HD. So far, the equipment has worked well.

aellman Loc: Boston MA

Zaruka wrote:

Agreed. I preserve digital content for a living and I run into so many stories about lost files and desperate recovery strategies. I am obsessive about drive fail at home and purchase a new 3-5Tb drive every six months. Any single failure is no problem. You do have to have a migration strategy. I use software to synchronize my repositories and seek out any content migration failures. I do also keep DVD copies of some critical photo shoots but they are extras and not relied upon.

Bottom line. You can't be too careful.

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

FYI

Should someone not have raid abilities, Capture One Pro will copy photos in a couple places during its import process.

You do have to tell it where to store the photos. Although I don't use that process often, I have done it several times on other drives, on Sandisk SD cards, and to different partitions and files on the same drive.

I really should take advantage of this more often myself.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Capture48 wrote:

Which RAID is correct for you is really hard to sa... (show quote)

Well said, but one small correction - RAID 5 arrays do not have a dedicated single drive for parity information (Raid 3 and RAID 4 use a dedicated parity drive). On RAID 5, the parity information is rotated across all drives such that every drive has both parity and data (with the data block and its associated parity information not located on the same drive).

Capture48 Loc: Arizona

TriX wrote:

Well said, but one small correction - RAID 5 arrays do not have a dedicated single drive for parity information (Raid 3 and RAID 4 use a dedicated parity drive). On RAID 5, the parity information is rotated across all drives such that every drive has both parity and data (with the data block and its associated parity information not located on the same drive).

You are correct, I was trying to keep the information at a very simple level. Should have been more precise.

Capture48 Loc: Arizona

GENorkus wrote:

FYI

Should someone not have raid abilities, Capture One Pro will copy photos in a couple places during its import process.

You do have to tell it where to store the photos. Although I don't use that process often, I have done it several times on other drives, on Sandisk SD cards, and to different partitions and files on the same drive.

I really should take advantage of this more often myself.

So does LR, it can make a BU copy at time of import.

OnDSnap Loc: NE New Jersey

queencitysanta wrote:

The critical issue with a backup is "If all of your backups are at home and your house burns down your back ups will be destroyed/

REALLY? It's Why you keep additional ones offsite, I keep mine in my safe deposit box...if the bank burns down, I still have the ones at home....the chances of both going at once...I'll have a lot more to worry about than backups...

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Capture48 wrote:

You are correct, I was trying to keep the information at a very simple level. Should have been more precise.

I think you're right. A storage discussion can quickly escalate in technical terms to the point that it's well beyond what most users actually want to know - how can I keep my data safe? Both you and others on this thread have done a good job in pointing out that RAID is NOT a backup solution. It's simply using the power of multiple disks to achieve better performance, reliability or size (or all three) as compared to a single disk. All the types of storage (working, backup and archive) need to be addressed in order to maximize the security of our data, and all three have different attributes and implementations.

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

Capture48 wrote:

So does LR, it can make a BU copy at time of import.

:thumbup:

Dan De Lion Loc: Montana

Raid is fine method for keeping an interactive database up and running. For the safekeeping of photo files I use the son>father>grandfather method with 3 Seagate 5TB drives (about $120 each.) The son HD is currently connected to the computer. The father is on site, not connected and was the son before rotation. The grandfather is in my safe deposit box, and was formally the father. Once a month I rotate these: Grandfather goes to son son goes to father father goes to grandfather.

With this method you have 3 different generations of data stretching back three months that are stored in different places.

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

I'm OCD, but also as a wedding/portrait photographer, I can't really afford to lose images.

I use a 1gb "working drive" for all current photos.

I have a 2tb "in process" drive for current jobs that are completely done with PP.

My back up system is 3 external 5tb hard drives, one of which is kept off premises....

Lastly, I have everything backed up (last resort)on my Amazon Prime cloud.

One thing, none are saved as "back up's" They are actually copies of the images. A long time ago, I had 2 copies of my computer backed up. BOTH back ups failed, and I didn't know it until I had a system failure, and tried to upload the disks (this is when we backed up to DVD-R's)

You can do what you want, but as cheap as memory is, and with Amazon letting me actually keep full size copies of prints online with my Prime account, I sleep much better at night.

Dan De Lion Loc: Montana

Hi bkyser - Does it take a long time to transfer 1TB to Amazon's cloud?

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

Dan De Lion wrote:

Hi bkyser - Does it take a long time to transfer 1TB to Amazon's cloud?

Not too bad with their bulk uploader. Once done, incremental uploads go pretty quick. I made sure that all my folders were well organized before I selected them for upload. I was able to keep doing other work, including PP work, and I think it took a few days do the main first upload. I've heard of other services taking months, but these aren't "back up's" you are actually uploading the full files. Much easier to retrieve as well.

I still like the security of having some physical hard drives, just in case there is a major bug in the cloud system (I did have about 3 days where I kept getting error messages that my catalogue couldn't be accessed, but after Amazon got it cleared up, all files are still there,. I consider it my "back up parachute"