Digital Photo Storing

Hyderabadi

When digital (cameras) came about, everyone thought "Ah, no more buying film! No more paying for 'developing'. " Ha! and we promptly went and (continue to do so) bought more hard disk space, portable drives, even new laptops and computers!

So, after all this, as we continue to keep shooting Mbs and Mbs, and Gbs and Gbs, and Tbs and Tbs...

How do you back up your photos??

I am not talking about backing up 'on the road' in India. What happens when you come back home, wherever that is, and discover that you have a terabyte or two of pictures you do not want to lose, just in case your house (god forbid) burn down or whatever.

Online backups? CD/DVD/BD backups? (stored in fireproof bank vaults, hopefully?) DNGaF?

Flickr? Picasa?

arunchs

I dont have terabytes but getting there - with a few hundred gigas already piled up. Since I also shoot professionally, it is critical for me to backup stuff. I use a portable hard drive to make a copy and stash it away somewhere. Every once in a while I update it with images shot in recent past. I am also thinking of finding some software to do periodic backups automatically, but that is one of those tasks that has remained pending very very long.

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My India travel blog
My Images from India

Ignite

External Harddrive, sorted by date added.

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“Nothing is so aggravating than calmness.” Oscar Wilde

Haylo

I back up my photos, as well as other documents such as my tax records onto an external hard drive, which I store at another location.

It is good to know that even if my house burned down, I would not lose those reminders of happy memories.

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The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful - E.E. Cummings, poet (1894-1962)

Hal

Your tax records are reminders of happy memories?

Hyderabadi

How?

Do you back up and transport the external hard drive to the other location? Or, do you have a more techie way?

Just asking, if you do not mind.

Haylo

Now I think about it, yes! Happy memories of those halcyon days when I actually received interest on my savings!!

I collect the hard drive, take it home, do the backup then take it straight back. I'd love a more techie way to do it though!

If all I had was photographs, I'd consider storing them online too, but the bottom line is that if the photo hosting company went bust I'd lose my pics and frankly I'd rather have control of them myself.

Hyderabadi

There are some 'more techie' ways, I think, but I started the thread seeking answers..

Hal

You can buy small fireproof lock boxes at business supply stores. I put my DVD's in one of them, and also keep a copy at work.

Haylo

Yes, you can upload files to your own website, or transfer them electronically to another PC that you have access to at a different location, using file sharing. Perhaps others can provide details of those options?

Hyderabadi

What if?


Now, that is brilliant.

Nick-H

I just keep a copy on an external hard disk, which I update regularly. It is in the same location though, and a dismal view would be that even a big electrical surge might take it out as well as PC.

It does pay off too! Only last week I suffered my first home hard-disk failure. Luckily (very, very luckily) the HDD lasted long enough for me to get all the other not-so-important-but-still stuff of it. It was not what I wanted to be doing late into the night after a fun-but-tiring afternoon at the zoo!

Which reminds me: I took over a hundred photos at the zoo. Three rolls of film, that would have been. As a not-particularly-keen photographer, my camera sits on the shelf mostly, but it has still taken over 5,000 pics.

Oh, I use a software called AllwaysSync to automatically find the new stuff and copy it; it could be set to run automatically, but I don't.

There are on-line backup facilities available. First one would have to have the bandwidth to make it feasible.

Hyderabadi

I'm a control freak myself too..
Seriously,see below:

Hal, DVD/BD manufacturers routinely claim 100+ years of longevity for the disks. But, who has tested them real time?

Nick, great thoughts there.

AllwaysSync site here: http://allwaysync.com/

It need not be just photos you are uploading, there is SkyDrive:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Live_SkyDrive
OK, OK, it's MS, but I'm not complaining with 25gb of HD space (foc) and imho there is a good chance that MS may never go bust, hopefully.

Nick is right (as usual) about bandwidth, though.

There is also all this talk of the future going diskless.

Here is my "Sky Drive":

Hal

In 100 years we'll just be brains in a jar communicating telepathically
I think the medium usually lasts longer than the technology these days. Want to buy some VHS tapes?

Hyderabadi

Nope.

I got some circa 1935-1940 (+-) vintage hard copy photos of my great grand mom I'm sitting around and scanning, and uploading.

Not kidding.