People say i'm paranoid when it comes to storing my CD's of images. I back up my files on 3 separate CD's then store them in 3 different places . Specially my art photo editions. If i consumed my last edition printing already, i automatically destroy the CD's . You, how do you protect your precious files? :)

I always put them on two DVDs. Just recently, ALL my DVDs stopped working but they can be read in other drives. From now on, I'm buying branded DVD discs to make sure I can rely on them in the future.

Regards,
Norman

I make 2 sets of DVD stored in different location. I also maintain a copy in external hard drive which will be my working file.

If a new technology comes along, say blue ray disc, I'll use my external drives to re-back up everything. My DVD becomes just an additional back-up. That happens to all my CDs.

I keep most of my pics in my laptop (The keepers) and a back up of all in a 250g external :)

Sadly I am now replacing an external hard disk dedicated for music with my photos and I can never get enough. I just started making a DVD copy of the sets and until now, hindi pa rin tapos.

Just using a 120GB external right now, planning to get a DVD writer within the year. Sounds reliable enough. :)

I'm quite efficient with backing-up my wedding files whether its DVD, CD or external drive. I have more copies than what I need.

Last year, I just realize that I'm not making any back-ups of my personal shots like family gathering, birthday, or when I'm playing with the camera. I've lost some of it due to hard disk failure.

I suggest back-up all shots you've taken regardless if it is personal or business. You might regret just like me.

just sharing.

here's my usual backup workflow

memory card => laptop => external HDD => 2 backup CD

:)

I don't trust optical media, I however do use it, I make 1 backup copy on DVD every 12 months of all my files. For day to day back up's I use mirrored hard drives. Currently running 8 drives, 2 120GB, 2 200GB and 4 300GB to give total storage of 920Gb with the same again as a mirror. I plan to add 4 more 300Gb drives in the near future.

I use "mirror folder" to set up software mirror's.

Mike

i have important images stored in zip drives, now i can no longer open it, it's history now just like the betamax tapes, any hint i can retrieve my files from the zip?...:)

I make 2 sets of DVD stored in different location. I also maintain a copy in external hard drive which will be my working file.

If a new technology comes along, say blue ray disc, I'll use my external drives to re-back up everything. My DVD becomes just an additional back-up. That happens to all my CDs.


Dino, the recent fire that consumed MC home depot near my place was a warning to me coz i stored all my files in the office (alone). Now i have to spread it because according to Makati fire dept's report, the fire started in an overheated computers at Muebles Italiano, so the office is not a safe place to keep them. Now i have to spread the storing to my condo, studio, and office...and alot at least 2 hours of backing up every 2 days, sigh:Sick:

i have important images stored in zip drives, now i can no longer open it, it's history now just like the betamax tapes, any hint i can retrieve my files from the zip?...:)

Whats wrong with the zip drive's? is the disk unreadable or is the drive itself damaged?

Mike

Whats wrong with the zip drive's? is the disk unreadable or is the drive itself damaged?

Mike

The connections/cords etc doesnt fit anymore, it's been 4 years already, now the softwares that's related to it won't work anymore, mostly negligience on my part. Moral of the story- today's technology may not work tomorrow, that's why back up and print (archival)!:)

Ross, it happened to me also. Although when there was a fire near my place I'm quite confident because I have an off-site backup. What I realized then was it's not enough to have an off-site backup, you also must have a fire drill plan.

The connections/cords etc doesnt fit anymore, it's been 4 years already, now the softwares that's related to it won't work anymore, mostly negligience on my part. Moral of the story- today's technology may not work tomorrow, that's why back up and print (archival)!:)

Ahh.... Parallel Port!!

You need to hijack somebody else's computer. I still have a parallel port on my PC and a fairly recent copy of Iomega Ware if it is of any help to you

People say i'm paranoid when it comes to storing my CD's of images. I back up my files on 3 separate CD's then store them in 3 different places . Specially my art photo editions. If i consumed my last edition printing already, i automatically destroy the CD's . You, how do you protect your precious files? :)


Ross,

Tough call. I've used CD-R writers since 1995, and I still have those discs and they still work, at least most of them. But they make those discs differently in those days. Even if they do last a 100 years, I can't imagine managing hundreds or even thousands cd-rs. That would be cumbersome!

I also wish I could rely on DVDs. But there's not telling. I've seen some dvd die out in 6 months. And the ones I have working, I'm not sure when they will conk out.

I'm sorry about your zip drives. I've never gone that route and I would have quit using it 3 years ago, as I saw that cdr drives and dvd-writers price go down and zip's days are numbered. Do you still have a working zip drive? You have to get those files out of there. Or ask around these fora for those who still have a working copy and get your files out of there asap!:RedEye:

The best storage for archival is still the tape. You can still play those old beta tapes or vhs or hi-8 tapes as long as you still have the player. Unfortunately, there is no mechanic or tape drives for sale now and tape will be slower to back up. But if you ask me, tape is the best for archival. Witness how you can still see those old John & Marsha shows, School Bukol, Todas on channel 9 or 13? That is the proof of tapes archival qualities.

Right now, the saner approach would be HD. Still expensive, but I figure, you can now get a decent 200-300gb nowadays. A 300gb is listed at about P6k now. A bit expensive, actually have gone down a lot in price in the past year. But you can go for a P4,500 200gb or a P5k for 250gb. I'd stick with Seagate now and not fiddle around with Maxtor or Samsung. Don't know about Western Digital.

I'd wait for the SATA external enclosure usb 2.0 though. Many are still the old ATA/IDE w/c is just fine for my older drives. They can be relegated to backup storage. This enclosure also makes it easy to connect it to notebooks via usb 2.0.

What would last a bit longer if HD is chosen are notebook HD. They are meant to last longer, unfortunately they are more expensive and they don't have 300gb or more variants. But I'd probably go for that. I have a ATA 100gb now and all I have to do is buy an P1,000 enclosure and use it via USB 2.0. So, for me, till all the other standards get settled (blue ray dvd-hd, etc), this is the most "secure." But I'd stil really be wary of the discs.

Proof of notebooks HD life is the fact, I still have my 4 year old 40gb and an old 6 year old 6gb stil working up to now. Most 80gb, 120gb or so desktop HD I have are now busted after 3 years. I am using the 40gb in my PSD (PD70x) now. Fujitsu HD, though slow are really tough. I'd recommend them highly. Though you can go for Seagate, no problems.

So, get a desktop HD and just back it up again in 2-3 years for safety. Or go for a notebook HD and put them in a usb 2.0 enclosure for access. I think a 100gb notebook HD is about P5k. In the USA, there are Fujitsu 200-250gb notebook HDs. See if you can get those. Notebook HD lasts longer.


-Mel

If a 300GB cost P6,000, that means you're spending Php 20/GB. Add another cost of DVD of Php20 for 4.7GB. It's Php100 for 1 DVD and 4GB on hard disk. That just the cost of 1 film. 36 shots vs 400 RAW files, I think it's no brainer.

Go get a HD now and back-up all your files. :)

@ Mike and Mel

Thanks for your offer to assist man, got your pm:)
I thought this is a throw away society already, there are still people like you guys who just don't throw away gadgets, and here to help...i have a friend who sells those hard to find small items for old PC's, and his business thrives because nobody do that business anymore...in the MAC world, only i know who can do the same for us is Bong Almonguera of Ynzal Marketing, the guy can continue your Apple running even if it's really old models, he can source out the old parts for you which other apple suppliers cannot.:)

After reading what's been written in this thread, I remembered my conversation with my cousin some years ago regarding negatives. I was so surprised to find out that she puts all her negatives in negative sheets and stores them in the bank safety deposit box. She told me that of all her belongings, these negatives are the only ones that are irreplaceable. Thus, they're the most precious.

With this story shared, I think the bank safety deposit box is a fire-proof, elements-proof option, don't you think?

Anyway, here's my currect backing-up process: As soon as I upload to the computer, I back them up to my external drive. Work on the files in my computer and at the end of the week, add the edited files to the external drive. Every two weeks, I make two CD copies. Where do I store them? A copy in my office and another copy in my house.

I'm planning to buy another external hard drive for another back-up. Oh, by the way, all my negatives are still in tact, stored peacefully in a very safe place... care to guess where? ;-)

I do multiple back ups too.
I save the RAW files on a DVD, if it was a really important shoot, I make a duplicate copy
I save the processed TIFF files on another DVD
I save a full quality JPEG version on external hard drives

None of the storage devices are secure unfortunately.
My 4th external harddrive that is not even a year old has errors already - bad sectors - and some files can't be read.
Then of course CDRs and DVDRs will not last a lifetime. Many will start exhibiting errors in a few years. The best ones are expected to last up to about 25 years. Not even buying branded ones would provide more security. Tests have shown that the quality lies in the factory manufacturing the discs and not the brands. Sadly some reputable brands have their discs manufactured in various factories and we don't know which come from which.
So, waiting and hoping for technology to come up with a better option for archival storage. As Mel mentioned, tape is the most secure backup but not practical here due to availability.

Hi, Dindin.

SDBs are a good place to store them, but I also recommend a lot of silica gels stored inside as well. Humidity really builds up inside the vault, a lot of silica gel should be placed inside the SDB (I placed one the size of a brick inside my SDB-- which I got from one of the newly delivered ATMs where I work). :)

The bank vault and SDB we're really designed to protect against theft and fire, (unfortunately, there have been incidences that very intense fires have made documents inside very crisp-- not burnt, but crisp). Depending on where the actual vault is (i.e. in a branch, or in a building, air conditioning for 24 hours), the conditions inside the vauilt will vary-- especially if its a bank branch that turns off its airconditioning after bank hours.

Hi guys,

Everybody has been talking about cameras, techniques, lenses, photoshop, accessories, etc. , but I think one of the most important aspect of digital photography is actually backing up your precious photos and since everything is in digital format, I bet that most of us here don't even print 5% of our photos and just keep them in your hard drives or cds or dvds... scratch your cd or a hard drive crash and you can say goodbye to your lovely photos :Grin:

How do you back up your photos?

Philip

I normally have the contents of my SD cards copied to my hard drive first then after selecting what I want to keep, I would be making copies of it on a DVD-RW just in case I would like to put in some more or take out some of it. :)

I normally have a copy of the files at my home computer and also at my office computer here. I read an article before about this concern regarding storage of digital pictures. I'll go look it up if I can find it.

Nice topic. I believe back up procedure is part and partial of every work flow. It may vary when, where and how it happens in the work flow. As a rule, after I download from my media device, I burn it into a DVD. Label it and file it. The computer copy becomes my working document. Another back up is required if I need to work on a lot of pictures. (more often, i don't). And every year, I remove inactive files from my hard disk, to free up some space. They get filed together with the original, unmanipulated copy.

How long will these DVD copies remain good useable??

Hi guys,

Everybody has been talking about cameras, techniques, lenses, photoshop, accessories, etc. , but I think one of the most important aspect of digital photography is actually backing up your precious photos and since everything is in digital format, I bet that most of us here don't even print 5% of our photos and just keep them in your hard drives or cds or dvds... scratch your cd or a hard drive crash and you can say goodbye to your lovely photos :Grin:

How do you back up your photos?

Philip
:) Hi Philip, I keep everything in external HDDs. It's easier for my workflow and more economical on my part. I used to do it in DVD disks too but they are somewhat unreliable over time and they occupy too much space... etc.

Just bought a magazine yesterday - 'PC magazine' the local version - and one of the topics is about online storage.. there are actually lots of them and they're cheap but I don't know if we can trust our photos with them... Maybe I'm paranoid but I actually bought a safe not to keep cash or jewelries but to keep cds and dvds of my kids' photos hehehehhe... but I read that these optical media have shelf life although I'm not sure how long they will last but one problem I see is that in the future the optical media we are using now will be obsolete and we will be forced to transfer it to another media which is tiresome and expensive...
btw Earl... external hdds just like internal ones crash without warning ....
How about tape drives? are they any good?

sorry... the magazine I bought was PC World and not PC Magazine... my mistake

I have an external hard drive too and I realized that eventually it's going to get filled up and if I get a larger capacity one, it;s going to eventually get filled up too and so on and so forth.... So I'm going to get an external DVD writer to handle the backups instead and like Derick, use the hard disk as a place for my working documents.

I think this thread has more info too: http://www.digitalphotographer.com.ph/forum/showthread.php?t=686&highlight=backup

Any DVD writer suggestions for a mac user?

I have an external hard drive too and I realized that eventually it's going to get filled up and if I get a larger capacity one, it;s going to eventually get filled up too and so on and so forth.... So I'm going to get an external DVD writer to handle the backups instead and like Derick, use the hard disk as a place for my working documents.

I think this thread has more info too: http://www.digitalphotographer.com.ph/forum/showthread.php?t=686&highlight=backup

Any DVD writer suggestions for a mac user?


* I use a LAcie External for my hard drive and a Lite-on External DVD writer to create back-up DVDs of my Photos...works fine with me on my mac...:Grin:

Right now since I have only a few photos I use photobucket.com.

Thanks Jake, will look into that. :)

im merging the two threads.

thread merged

Well I hope blu-ray (http://www.blu-ray.com/info/) reaches the Phils. soon... It will definitely be a better alternative than DVDs... The only problem is how much if ever?!? :)

as for me, i have a 500gb nas(network attached storage) attached to my wireless router. archived pictures as well as my other files are stored there..

blu-ray is pretty expensive 880 for a single 25gb cd(accdg to cd-r king). moreover, rewritable cd's would cost more and cd-writing speeds as of now are horrible..