StevenG Loc: Long Island, NY

As some of you are aware, and have kindly commented, I just purchased a 27in iMac to replace my aging MacBook Pro, which crashed and cannot be repaired for any reasonable price. On my MacBook Pro, which had a relatively small hard drive, I kept no photos on my computer’s hard drive. My entire Lr library was on an external hard drive. And, my back up was a carbon copy (I use Carbon Copy Cloner) on a second hard drive. My new computer will have a 3 terabyte internal hard drive, which would allow me the option of using that hard drive as part of my storage system.

I am asking opinions on the best way to store and back up photos on my new computer which will come with a 3 tb hard drive. (I will not transfer my present Lr library from my old MacBook Pro. I will start a new Lr library for the new computer. I will also subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud, which I do not now subscribe to.). So, in essence, I am beginning my Lr and storage system from scratch.

Thanks.
Steve

Daryl New Loc: Wellington,New Zealand

We use an external hard drive.Bullet proof and mobile.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Here is one suggestion. 500GB (1/2 a Terrabyte) portable SSD drive for $125.99.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1380216-REG/sandisk_sdssde60_500g_g25_extreme_600_500gb_ssd.html

StevenG Loc: Long Island, NY

Yes. I will likely stick with external hard drives. I was wondering abut also using the computer’s hard drive, as it will be 3 Tera bytes.
Steve

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

First of all, you should design your backup/archive system so it will handle everything, not just your photos.

Backups are for short term storage, so almost any system will be useful there.
Archives are for long term storage so you will want to be sure your system is robust and redundant.
A lot of people use external hard drives for archives. Others like cloud services. There are pros and cons in both. Since redundancy is really desirable, you might well consider both external hard drives for local storage of archives and cloud services for remote storage.

Local storage is under your control and does not have the same bandwidth limitations that the cloud services have. Cost is reasonable. External hard drives are as low as $50/Terabyte.

Cloud storage is well maintained (depending on the provider). Annual fees probably apply.

Note that whether you're using local storage or remote storage, maintenance is essential. I'm thinking decades here. Storage media all have finite lifetimes so they have to be replaced regularly, and updated when technology changes. The cloud services take care of that for you (as long as the provider stays in the cloud business).

Don't know how many files you have on your computer but coming from an older computer, 3Tb should hold them all so you don't have to swap things around to find a particular file. If you really have a lot of one particular type of file (e.g. photos or videos) you might consider keeping them on an external drive sized to allow for growth.

StevenG Loc: Long Island, NY

Thanks. I will likely stick with external drives. However a half tb is to small. On my MacBook Pro I filled up a 1 tb drive.
Steve

StevenG Loc: Long Island, NY

Thanks for the comprehensive answer. I am thinking of continuing with two external drives for Lr and Lr backup. Because I will have a large 3 tb internal drive, I am thinking of also keeping a set of Lr photos on the computer. I will use Time Machine to back up all of my non photo files. At this point I don’t think I will be using cloud storage.
Steve

ken_stern Loc: Yorba Linda, Ca

With the exception of Cloud Storage, which I don't use, I do use all the usual suspects Internal/External Hard Drives including Solid State. Based on prior experience I consider all these as just TEMPORARY. In other words some day or another or 5 yrs from now I'm going to fire up one of these devices only to find its totally done for & has crashed & I that I probably have lost everything. The one storage method I have NOT YET lost anything with is the DVD+ R Nothing, of course, lasts forever but the DVD gets my Good Enough So Far Rating. The oldest I think I have are dated from the year 2000 -- Scanned 35mm slides that could be on CD's. To hold the DVD storage volume to a minimum I only record my "Keeper RAW Files".

StevenG Loc: Long Island, NY

What you say has merit. I have actually had one of my backup drives fail—probably 7 years old. I had to copy everything to a new drive. Scary! I have concern about the DVD. They are nearly obsolete. New computers have no DVD drive. And, ten years from now, how would you even upload them?
Steve

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

ICloud or Amazon S3 or Google or Microsoft cloud If you have decent internet access/bandwidth. Best off-site DR tou can possibly implement (ignore the cloud storage naysayers), but again, you need decent internet access. (I put ICloud first only because it’s so seamless to back up Macs)

ken_stern Loc: Yorba Linda, Ca

I for one can't foretell the future -- Currently, have two CD/DVD/Blueray Drives in my tower --- Pretty sure "They" will not replace the same type of drives for Audio Systems -- you can still buy turntables -- For the next +/- God only knows how many years --- Think you/me are on the right side of safe here --- BUT WHO KNOWS -- But it's better than having all your photos disappear

PS: I'm not at all "Anti Cloud" I just currently choose not to employ their services --- For me, the Cloud is what I would be forced to use "If "THEY" ever take my drives away"

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

An alternative to DVDs are MDisks. VERY robust with 100GB max size per disk (and getting larger). The majority of BluRay drives also support MDisks. At this moment in time, MDisks and cloud (from a major provider) are the most robust DR/archive/backup methods available.

ken_stern Loc: Yorba Linda, Ca

Ignorance is not bliss ---- Will check-out MDisks & what it takes to record on them

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Steve, you may not have noticed that the drive I was suggesting IS external and that SanDisk also makes it in 1TB and 2TB versions (obviously for more money). Putting my money where my recommendation is, I just purchased a SanDisk 500GB version for my own use as an extra drive; it is in-transit as I write this. I came from a long background in 35mm film photography and, perhaps as a result, I don’t tend to fill my drives quite so fast. Also I revisit my photos often and cull/purge images that are not up to my evolving standards. — Ralph

StevenG Loc: Long Island, NY

Thanks Ralph. I did understand you are recommending an external SSD drive. I just meant that I will continue to stick with an external drive. I think SSD drives are much mor expensive. However, I think they are less likely to break down. A trade off. I will definitely check them out though. And yes, I do need to cull my photos more often!
Steve