islandboy4147 Loc: Savannah, GA

NAS-network accessory storage works great for my needs.

StevenG Loc: Long Island, NY

Thank you Bob. This is essentially what I did on my now defunct computer. Used Carbon Copy Cloner as my back up program. I was just wondering if this remains a good choice of back up.
Steve

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

Steve,
The best strategy is one that works for you. That you understand and can work with. So if Carbon Copy cloner works then go with it. No need to spend $ if you don't need to. Good Luck.

Also, be sure to reserve some space as a scratch disk unless you have oodles of RAM.

StevenG Loc: Long Island, NY

therwol Loc: USA

There are many MDisk compatible burners on Amazon and at B&H. I might also add that I just bought an HP 17 inch laptop at Sam's Club that has an MDisk compatible internal DVD burner. BluRay burners exist as well, probably a better choice for a very active photographer.

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

Maybe for a moderately active photographer. A very active photographer will have terabytes of storage to deal with. Even the Mdisks are too limited in storage capacity at this point.

If you have to store your photos on multiple disks you need a good database system to tell you which disk has the photo you're looking for.

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

My advice is keep your photos on WD (western digital) external drives. I have a number of them and everything is double or triple if important backed up.
I think I will try my Adobe Cloud I pay for the suite but dont use their cloud. And to be honest using LR and management systems for images
and video is too structured. I had a lot of stuff and Apple Aperture and they stopped the software. I say manage the photos your self in multiple
external drives and on a cloud. Good luck.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Most BluRay drives have for years supported MDisks as well - just look for the MDisk logo on the drive door or manual. My 5+ year old LG BluRay burner supports MDisks as well - didn’t even realize it when I bought the drive.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Currently max MDisk capacity is 100GB/disk last time I checked, so multiple TBs will require 10-20 (or more) disks. For cloud storage, Amazon S3 has multiple levels of storage depending on whether you need regular access or just want an archive, and they vary from ~$20 per month per TB to $4 per TB/month for S3 Glacier which is chump change if you’re running a business. Just like the initial MDisk backup, it’s going to take awhile to “seed” the cloud, which will depend on your internet access speed. Many mid sized cities and towns now provide Gbit internet speeds, and some cloud providers will allow you to send them a drive with your data, and they’ll input it for you. At 1gbit, assuming the real transfer rate for large files (photos) is half that, you can upload 1TB overnight, and subsequent uploads are much smaller and faster.

There are alternatives. RAID systems with external backup stored off-site are an alternative, but inconvenient (swapping drives with the bank safety deposit box weekly, if you religiously do it every week), have the possibility of losing everything that is stored between drive swaps, and the disturbing fact that a large percentage of drive failures occur on start-up after the drive has been inactive for awhile. The alternative is to only archive the final work product, rather than every single raw shot (cull more aggressively). In short, there’s no perfect, cheap, unlimited size solution. Just remember that enterprise class storage was about 1K$ per TB a couple of years ago, so when you buy that 8TB drive for $150, remember that you get what you pay for. Like everything else, there is no free lunch, but multiple copies of your data, with one off-site, is your friend.

StevenG Loc: Long Island, NY

Thank you.

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

I think the safety of your archives requires at least one copy to be stored off site. That means different things to different people.
A lot of people think the bank's vault is sufficient for safety. It's possible, but if the bank is close by then a regional disaster (flood, california wildfire) could easily include your bank. I think off-site means WAY off site. More than just a few miles. Of course that increases the inconvenience of synchronization.

This is where the cloud services come out on top. They are not only remote, they are distributed. And maintenance is taken care of. You don't have to deal with aging disks or MTBF issues. If you have the right software you don't even have to deal with synchronization. It's included.

OTOH, a local hard drive is in your hands, under your control, and if you need it, the bandwidth issues are minimal.

For the best system it's probably a good idea to use both local hard drives and cloud storage. Local hard drives will take care of local problems. Cloud storage will be there in case of regional problems.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

therwol Loc: USA

I would agree that the capacity is limiting for someone who takes a lot of pictures. My interest in MDisks is transferring a ton of pre-HD video I already have on DVD to the newer discs. I bought some spindles of the discs but haven't had time for the project. Something to do in retirement.

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

I don't do much video but I recognize that they tend to be larger files. That means fewer different files on an Mdisk so there's probably room to write file titles there.
You still have to look through a pile of disks to find the file you want so I prefer the larger capacity media.

ken_stern Loc: Yorba Linda, Ca

This Monday I'll buy one & install it. Went ahead & ordered the MDisks themselves -- Happy to see they come with an increased capacity over the traditional 4.7gb --- they also offer 8.5gb & 25gb --
I probably should mention that I do have 3 hard drives currently backing up my PC --- Within the tower -- 1) 222gb solid state with my operating system & associated software 2) 1.18 TB hard drive with a backed-up operating system & software & an external 3.62Tb hard drive also with the backed-up operating system --- The two TB sized hard drives also contain some but not all of my images
My prime reason for having 3 hard drives is to maintain & save the operating system & software --- Never "so far" at least have I lost any DVD/CD saved photos -- But give it time I surely will lose them!! With the MDisk that is after I move what I consider my best images over I may "never" need to be concerned about losing images -- But who in the hell knows --- "Never" is a long time & I'm for sure am not getting any younger!!!

THANKS FOR THE TIP REGARDING THE MDisks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!