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Hi,
I would really like to know your ideas on backing up your images. And any ideas on the way people keep their files/folders neat and easy to find.

Do you make a copy of your raw files kept in raw form? A copy turned into Jpeg? Should I put them on disk?
Its driving me nuts!! So any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I have brought a portable hard drive which I store all my images on (I worry other members of my household may accidently delet them) this way i can plug it in an out when I need.

Cheers

Multiple drives, including a copy offsite. More precisely - a copy on a partition of my HDD in my laptop + that is backed up to a mirrored RAID ext HDD (2TB, 1TB usable due to mirror) on my desk + another 1 (or more as they cross over) external HDD that I keep offsite.

I have never bothered to burn any to DVD, I could I suppose...... but I think I'm paranoid enough

I file my pics by year & camera body as a directory, then in sequential directory order eg "D:/2009 - Nikon/2009-01-26 - Australia Day BBQ for Pom"

I keep the JPG's in this directory and have a subdir "NEF" for the raw files.... I also save any edits here with an annotation at the end of the file name to note what, eg "crop" for a cropped pic, or "800" indicates I have resized it.

Just my way...... I shoot RAW+JPG too.

Edit: I also run all my desk gear off a reasonable UPS retired from server duties too..... to try to avoid the power surge issues.

Here's my backup process: How I backup my photographs

The details have changed slightly since I wrote that as I have moved to larger drives.

I use a method similar to Andrew, though, because my circumstances have changed, I don't have an offsite backup, but I wish I did. I also don't worry about the DVD-R. I have found to my cost that Optical media are not necessarily a reliable long term storage option, It was only one batch that went bad, but I just don't trust them anymore.
I also use Nikon transfer to make two copies on separate disks when moving them off camera.
I then use the following BAT program whenever I feel the need to do a backup. At the moment it is daily, as I am doing work I really DON'T want to lose, but at other times , it may only be once a week. It depends on how heavily I am using the computer

Code: Select all

@setlocal
@set ymd=%DATE:~10,4%%DATE:~7,2%%DATE:~4,2%
@REM Set source directory
@rem net use r: \\edmini\Rigel
@rem net use s: \\edmini\sirius
@rem net use t: \\edmini\Thuban
@c:
@cd %homepath%
@echo make first backup. List all files backed up to a text file
@xcopy . r:\GregsStuff\%ymd% /s/a/i/y/c/h >>r:\GregsStuff\%ymd%.txt
@echo make second backup
@xcopy . s:\%ymd% /s/m/i/y/c/h >>s:\%ymd%.txt
@endlocal
@echo move raw files to their drive. Only delete if the copy worked. Don't copy tif if the RAW move fails
@xcopy *.nef t:\RAW\*.* /s/y >>t:\RAW\files.txt
@if errorlevel 1 exit
@del *.nef /s >nul
@xcopy *.tif t:\RAW\*.* /s/y >>t:\RAW\files.txt
@if errorlevel 1 exit
@del *.tif /s >nul


Note that in addition to backing up all changed files, I also move all NEF and TIFF files off my home drive. This is because I have limited space there (I use a notebook.) On the backup drives, I store all changes with a granularity of daily. This way I can go back to an earlier version of a file if I feel the need.
When on the road, I use either a microdrive in the PCMCIA slot, or a small USB drive, depending on my needs at the time, so I can always have at least two copies of important files. Also note I don't limit the backup to pictures. EVERY changed file gets copied, even ones in hidden directories. This gets log files as well - useful if things go pearshaped. Only files in use at the time get missed.

Backing up is something that you can be consumed by, the best option is to automate it as much as possible.

I copy all my images to an 'internal' C: drive using lightroom, and in the same process, backup to another physically seperate (i.e. not a partition of C:) internal drive H:. This is done through Lightroom and easy enough to do. This ensure I straight away have two copies of my images, with lightroom a great program to make sure the 'orginal' image isnt edited in anyway.

I then have Norton Ghost running (my desktop stays turned on), and this backs up my images in the small hours of the morning to a 1TB external drive, which in turn is backed up to another 1TB drive also. So, effectively I have 4 copies of my images. The second backup 1TB external drive has about 400GB set aside for use by Ghost, and as it fills this amount, it removes the older 'backup' files, replacing them with newer ones.

If I start to shoot weddings or more events, rather than trackside shooting (where images have a finite live) I will look into offsite storage also.

Hope this gives you some ideas

I back up all RAW files plus processed TIFFS and JPEGS to 2 external hard drives, and keep them in sync with Microsoft's Synctoy. Unfortunately both drives sit on my desk at home, so they're both vulnerable to the same catastrophic event (fire, theft, meteor strike etc) - I have another portable drive that I must get the files onto and kept at work.

I used to back up to DVD, but it was too slow and cumbersome. I back up my music and other files online at Amazon S3, and this would be the ultimate failsafe position, but there are way too many GBs to bother (until my broadband gets a lot faster)

Frank

Thanks to everyone who replied!
Much appreciated...and now the task begins.

As it happens, I just went out an bought a 1TB external drive today and also downloaded the update to the latest version of Acronis True image.

I currently have 1.5TB of storage on my PC and 1TB of that is a RAID5 array which gives some degree of inherent backup (if one drive fails the rest will cope). I also have an external 0.5TB drive with lightroom database backups, an oldish disk image and some oldish backups. However, I've been slack with that and I have to get it set up and automated. I haven't got round to external backup as yet.

Backup is one thing. Taking images of your hard disk is useful as well. Then you can download or install software and return to your previous PC state if it causes angst or introduces a difficult virus.

There's also a useful series on backup on Outback Photo.

Regards,
Murray

An update based on recent experience
My system karked itself bigtime on Thursday/Friday. IT started dropping power, then progressed to freezing, finally stopping at blue screen of death partway through boot. LNG no go and SAFE no go.

Several days later. New computer & facing the daunting task of rebuilding data from backups. (S/W to be reinstalled from originals)

My backup strategy (see above) revolved around saving new or modified files to a new (Daily) folder. Great for backups, and for those "Oh Bugger" moments when you just wished to be able to back up a few steps. But in this instance, where I need to recover everything, it means I have to restore from the oldest, then the second oldest... up to the latest. Now these go back daily to 2007. AARGH!

My new strategy will involve the above, but once a week or so, I will do a total copy. That will mean I will only have to do half a dozen or so restores to get back to "Yesterday". To keep disk usage manageable, I will delete all but the last two total backups. I will keep the incrementals for at least a year, as they will allow going back to an early version of anything. There have been times I have been grateful for this ability.

HTH PS New computer is a step to the dark side. An interesting challenge.

I keep both JPG and RAW on an external HDD, which isn't the safest option.

I'd prefer to keep RAW offsite, but I do at least have full-size JPG's uploaded to my smugmug site.

Mr Darcy wrote:PS New computer is a step to the dark side. An interesting challenge.

Canon now make computers?

gstark wrote:

Mr Darcy wrote:PS New computer is a step to the dark side. An interesting challenge.

Canon now make computers?

erhaps I should have borrowed from Terry 'rachett and said I am on the other side of dark looking back

Now all I need to work out is how to emulate my old XCOY routine (without the "" as it doesn't want to cooerate on this comuter. They didn't have the wide keyboard when I bought so they gave me a loaner until they get stock)

Mr Darcy wrote: They didn't have the wide keyboard when I bought so they gave me a loaner until they get stock)

And the keyboard you're using seems to have a desparate need to go to the bathroom, judging by the way that it's holding its pee.

gstark wrote:

Mr Darcy wrote: They didn't have the wide keyboard when I bought so they gave me a loaner until they get stock)

And the keyboard you're using seems to have a desparate need to go to the bathroom, judging by the way that it's holding its pee.

Fingers( and legs!) are crossed that the right keyboard turns up soon. It is a real 'ain to do a cut & 'aste EVERY time I want to use a certain letter

Got totally fed up with the Mac keyboard. Dug out one of my genuine IBM keyboards, found a USB converter for it and away we go

pppppppppppppppppppppppppPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPppppppppppppppppppppppppp Ahh! that felt good

Yay!

Some of the keyboard mapping is a little strange but hey at least I can type - As well as BM anyways