RLSprouse Loc: Encinitas CA (near Sandy Eggo)

I use a LaCie 2big RAID 16TB drive box configured as Raid 1, which means that the two 8TB drives are mirror copies, so it acts like one 8TB drive with automatic, real-time backup.

I use BackBlaze to maintain a cloud backup of the Raid drive and some additional drives I use for other things.

I use SmugMug when I want to make photos available to other people.

Pretty simple, really.

coullone Loc: Paynesville, Victoria, Australia

Neither work if you are in the bush where there is no internet and if there is you have power (or lack of) problems.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

Don't know where you get your info, but cloud storage is probably the best for offsite. There is no way they will lose your data as they have to many backups in different locations.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

hgrinolds

Well, I’ll add my process. Local Raid Qnap system backed up by usb external hard drive. I also sync the photos to Google photos and Microsoft One-Drive. The former is for sharing, lower resolution, and ‘free’. One-Drive for sharing as well. Please note: ‘If it is free, you are the product’. From the camera, the cards get loaded onto a laptop if in the field, the cards are kept as is until LR imports them as DNG with a jpeg side car. I using only look at the DNG, edit and the rate. A selected set goes to One-Drive and stays on QNAP. I have about 100,000 images on LR.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

A jpg side car?

The only side car file I know of is the .xmp file that contains edits of a proprietary raw file. Do you mean you shoot raw+jpg, importing both?

Turnings Loc: Rogers, MN

In my opinion, I think that any online storage would be a good option even if the resolution is lower. How many graduations, weddings, anniversary parties or funerals do you go to that have old, scratched, out of focus, poor composition, or bad exposures do you see. It's not always the photos but the memories they invoke. Unless you are an Ansel Adams a little loss in resolution won't matter. They important criteria is that your photos are safe and accessible.

traderjohn Loc: New York City

If you already have and are using Flickr, why would have to ask if it's worth it to go to a higher level? What other websites have you checked? This is your decision.

azemon Loc: Saint Charles, MO, USA

I decided to invest a few dollars and have two sets of backups:

I bought a Synology DS218+ (it looks like the DS220+ is the current model) which has two disk drive bays. I installed a pair of 4 TB disks. That gives me 4 TB of usable storage. If one drive dies, the other drive has all of the data. I back up my entire computer, nightly, to the Synology box.

I also have a paid SmugMug account where I put my "good" photos, the ones that I think are worth sharing. It is not everything but it is a lot of the pictures and there are no practical limits on what I can put there.

Ryeley Loc: Springfield, Ohio

I believe in backing up data to external USB drives, but I do not keep then attached to my system. If they are always spinning they will fail over time. You should also have some kind of off site back in case of fire or some other disaster. All of the online companies should also be backing up your data.

Some online (cloud) systems have size limits for files, so check it out before you commit.

lookingglass18

I’ve heard high praise for Backblaze which backs up all your docs and photos for $5/mo.

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

I have both Flikr and ROKU. Not the same, at least not the free Flickr. Also, Roku doesn't show Amazon Drive, and Firestick doesn't show Flickr photos unless I'm missing something. I recently dropped cable TV completely and all of my TV's have Roku and or Firestick, and an HD antenna.

Flikr is limited to 1000 photos, is much harder to upload and manage photo's, and the Slideshows are not very good on the Roku app.

Amazon you can upload whole folders with hundreds of photos at once, and it goes fast. FLIKR no. Amazon you can sort your slideshows by date uploaded, date taken or randomly. Show ALL pictures, just individual folders or one at a time. You can set the slide show speed and more. Also, size and amount is unlimited. Also you get free movie storage with a 5GB space limit, which you can also display on your TV.

None of this is true with Flickr, far as I could determine, but I didn't spend a lot of time on it so I could be wrong about Flickr. I only have 26 photos on Flickr, but 2,811 photos on Amazon Drive, so I'm more familiar with Amazon.

This is free only if you have Amazon Prime. Someone just said Amazon is $10/mo, but really, Prime is around that amount, which gives you free music, free one day shipping on most orders, and free photo storage, and more. I hate to sound like a Bezos Ad because as much as I dislike him, he provides a great service and all his stuff works great, as opposed to Billy Gates, who produces nothing but junk.

Someone else mentioned the free services for backup is not particularly a good idea, and I agree. Amazon works well though, and is excellent for displaying your "amazing" photo's on your big screen TV.

Just an aside, it's really nice to edit your photo's on your PC, and simply upload them to Amazon, and instantly have them available on all your (Firestick) TV's. Your computer doesn't need to be on for display and you don't have to copy and delete files from a thumb drive and move the thumb drive to and from your TV. It really is a nice way for today's photo enthusiast to enjoy his work.

gessman Loc: Colorado

I don't really have a collection that the world will miss but I do have a worthwhile backup system that takes into consideration about every known method and I have tried many over the past many years. I have several computers I use for different purposes and I have one or more of these https://www.amazon.com/Unitek-External-Docking-Station-Duplicator/dp/B06XQH7VHC/ref=sr_1_19_sspa?crid=1BEJM7KJ2BG5T&dchild=1&keywords=ez+dock&qid=1594475044&sprefix=ez+dock%2Caps%2C200&sr=8-19-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFSNTczT05LWUNJRTcmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAyMTEwMDcyNzI3U0tZMlFZMEQyJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA5ODU4NzVDMTFCUFEzNUQyUFAmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9idGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl either on each computer or handy where one can be swapped by unplugging a usb cord and plugging it into another computer sitting beside the one it's hooked up to. I use large terrabyte drives and swap them between the docks, making three copies of each drive and do not "backup" to the docked drives but rather copy the internal disks onto the docked drives. For instance, after a worthwhile outing I process my images and then copy them to the three external storage drives. Keeping up with it regularly avoids a backlog that's overwhelming. Whatever works for you.

I then remove one of the three current docked drives from my residence to preclude loss by fire or other natural disaster, storing it with a relative. I also have a 100 gigabyte blu ray burner that can record to "M" discs, the ultimate in removable disc storage at present. I do not trust any cd/dvd type disc even though they say an "M" disc will last 1,000 years. They said cd's would last 100 years but when I started burning them in 1987, within 5 years of storage in a dry climate in sleeves, they would "rot" and couldn't be read any longer by normal means without some kind of heroic data recovery process. I have tried online storage and watched some of those companies go out of business without benefit of letting the customers know which, of course has led to loss of stored data. I manage my storage and don't rely on any other entity, nor shall I. You choose your poison. You take care of it or you roll the dice. If one of my 3 storage drives ceases to work I replace it and duplicate one of the other two. Many folks use a raid device and for automatic backup that's about as good as it gets but I don't even trust that. The dock above uses any size drive even ssd and large spinning disc drives, 4 terrabytes, are about as inexpensive way a person can go as there is at present and remain under your control and are as efficient as a system as you are prepared to make them. A lot of people won't agree with my methodology but that is of no concern to me because I know that my data is as safe as it can be and dependant only on me and that's how I like it. I make time to secure my data. You know the old saying, "if you want something done right, do it yourself." That's your answer.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

Big difference in free vs paid for Flickr I suspect

I have a paid pro version, can upload one or hundreds of images directly from Lightroom and because I use the Jeffery Friedl plugin to upload, can also create albums automatically, place images within albums automatically, Mark as public or private automatically and many other management tasks automatically based on keywords

I currently am at 22,000 images on Flickr organized into many albums, public and private

Using the Flickr app on a Roku allows me to display my images on my tv as a slideshow easily.

Perhaps there are more limitations on the free Flickr account than advertised

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

Yep, had a similar experience with CD’s, some lasted, more became unreadable over a matter of a couple years.