# Digital Media Backup



## KKCFamilyman (Apr 6, 2012)

I current use an on site server and SOS online backup but I find my collection growing to large for what they want to charge for the next tier. What are you using out there to backup your digital collection of stills and video?


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## neuroanatomist (Apr 6, 2012)

Lots and lots of these:









Seriously, I should probably look into an online solution (e.g. Mozy), but currently I just use 1 TB HDDs, FW800 so transfer is fast, and I keep a duplicate set at home and work.


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## msdarkroom (Apr 6, 2012)

I'm keeping 3 copies with one off-site.

I import to my MBP and make a backup right then to a different temporary drive. I then backup my MBP as well before formatting the CF or SD cards. This leaves three copies (MBP, external drive, and MBP backup on separate external).

When I'm finished with the edits, I transfer the images to my 'archive', a RAID-1 FireWire drive, and also to an external drive that I keep off-site.

So.

1: Take pics! CF/SD - one copy at this point (or two with the dual slot in the 5DM3 or similar)
2: Import to computer and make external backup - 3 copies at this point (CF card, computer, external drive)
3: Backup computer to separate drive - 4 copies at this point (CF, computer, external, different external)
4: Format CF/SD cards - 3 copies
5: Edit images
6: Move images from computer to RAID drive when finished and also copy images to permanent external drive used for storage. You can then reuse the temporary drives and computer backup drives as they fill. This leaves you with 3 copies (two on the RAID and one permanent external that is kept off-site).


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## prestonpalmer (Apr 13, 2012)

I also always have 3 or more points of backup. 


1. Image is written to TWO memory cards, 1 CF and 1 SD
2. Cards are transferred to computer, then immediately start uploading to CrashPlan
3. Time Machine starts to back them up
4. The ORIGINAL files are copied to my DROBO (dual disk redundancy)
5. the SD/CF cards that have the original images are not overwritten until images are delivered to client.

I highly recommend you checkout CrashPlan for data storage. Its a FANTASTIC product. So easy to use and super reliable. Oh, I should mention that once my Drobo has the wedding images, its mirrored to a 2nd drobo. So images are always onsite in multiple locations, and online. Lots of redundancy is gooooood!

I talk about some of this stuff on my website if you are interested.


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## Haydn1971 (Apr 13, 2012)

Save on main PC, regular backup to my RAID box via eSATA, then less regular back up via an eSATA external 1TB drive that is collected from the parents house several miles away and returned the same day... Short of a nuke hitting Sheffield, I've got a copy of the majority of my data.

I also use a 256bit encrypted USB stick - 16GB to also back up daily changes of my data, which includes my locally stored Outlook .pst, my recent data and my business financial records.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Apr 14, 2012)

You can keep one copy of your files on a Amazon S3 server as well as a backup on your local server. I use goodsync to upload to S3


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