What is your backup method?

[LumixPete]

When you backup regularly do you copy over the last backup or do you rename each backup? So that you can select which backup you use if you need to.

 

[Austinian]

When you backup regularly do you copy over the last backup or do you rename each backup? So that you can select which backup you use if you need to.

Every image backup has the name of the particular PC and the date of backup as part of the backup name. I have multiple image backups on multiple HDDs.

 

[Blufftonian]

When you backup regularly do you copy over the last backup or do you rename each backup? So that you can select which backup you use if you need to.

I keep 4 full backups of all my data; backups of the entire PC go in a different folder than the backups of just my photos. A new full backup will overwrite the oldest of the existing full backups.

The software I use (EaseUS Todo Backup on my Win 11 PC) includes a full date in the filenames. I run a Full backup after every 4 incremental backups

 

[clewis010]

I have two external hard drives, one being a copy of my main photo drive. In addition, I have a regular backup, using Time Machine, that I run frequently to a separate drive. So I have my photos on three disks.

When I'm traveling, I take my regular photo drive which I download to from my camera and I create a copy directory on my MacBook. So I always have two copies of my photos.

I've had one incident in the last 5 years when my external photo drive failed. However, I didn't lose anything thanks to the copies.

 

[Manzur Fahim]

I use two external SSD drives, nothing fancy. I have had one incident. I renamed one yearly folder and the backup program didn't understand that. It made an empty folder instead so I lost one year's photos. There was a bug in the program which they corrected later but it started me thinking. Making a backup is great but it can also cause problems and you may end up loosing all your files if you just keep copying empty folders from one backup to another.

The best way might be making a monthly or yearly backup with different name. Also two indipendent backup software programs might be a good idea. Then if something happens you can go back and find a backup that was still "good". This needs a lot of space. I haven't done that yet but are you doing it like this?

I do complete manual backup, I cannot, for some reason, trust software backups. My manual steps are like this:

1. I compare the folders I know I did not go into and didn't access any of the files. I compare those folders with the folders in the backup drive. If the file and folder number matches, size matches, then I skip them. These are large folders, which has many images and catalogs all organized, so skipping one folder means skipping terabytes of data to be copied. I do this on the backups I run on 10th and 20th of every month.

The backup that I run on the first of every month, I delete all the files from backup drive, and copy the whole lot. This one is about 18TB, and takes about 15-18 hours. The backup drive can write data at around 350+ MB/s so it is not too slow.

But I am liking the idea of keeping a backup every 6 / 12 months, this could be beneficial if I have a change of heart and want something back that I do not have, or deleted or something.

 

[PentUp]

I print all of my photgraph pictures and then I bring the prints into work. I then photocopy each picture one at a time and run all the photocopied picture pages through the scanner in the office which stores them on a computer. I take the scanned picture pages on the computer (PDFs) and copy them onto lots of CDs which I bring home and keep in a big box with the SD cards and stuff. There might be a more efficient way of keeping digital copies of my photographs, but I don't know what it is...

 

[Tom Caldwell]

Hello everyone,

Hope you are well.

Just wanted to see how are you keeping your images / files safe? File corruption, malware problem, hard drive dying and so many other issues that can, in a moment, take away all the files you have. All that memories, gone in a second. I have lost my data once, though it wasn't super important, it was enough to make me paranoid about data backups. This is how I do it:

1. My first stage of backup happens in my camera. I always use two memory cards, and always in backup mode. So, that in case of one card failure, I will have another copy. I have had card fault happened 2-3 times so far, and those were some good brand cards. So, instead of trusting the card and the manufacturer, I trust having a second copy more. I use large capacity cards, and I do not format the card after every shoot. The photo stays in the memory card until the card is full, and then I switch to my second set of cards. Once the second set is full, I then format the first set and start using it. This is how I cycle through my memory cards, and the cards acts as backup until they get formatted.

2. I installed an enterprise grade hardware RAID controller in my PC. These controllers can heat up very easily, so I modified the heat-sink to accommodate a fan, which keeps it cool enough. I added 8 x 16TB enterprise grade hard drives (Not desktop or NAS drives), configured them in RAID6, so it can still be operational if up to two drive fails. I have additional hard drives which I can use to replace a faulty drive when it happens, and it will start rebuild. This is my main storage, this is where I copy the files from memory cards.

3. First of every month, I do a backup of all my photos and catalogs to an external RAID0 drive. I know that RAID0 is not giving me any drive protection, but this is there so that I can backup files faster than a normal external drive. Currently I have about 18TBs of files, and backup to RAID0 drive takes around 14 hours.

4. 10th of every month, I initiate a backup to another set of external drives. One drive goes to my sisters place after the backup is complete, and I switch it with another drive next month.

5. 20th of every month, I backup the most recent 4TB files to 2 x 4TB SSDs in RAID1.

6. Some important photos and shoots, I also backup to cloud, where I have 4TB storage.

24th of every month, the RAID controller does a petrol read, which scans all my drives to check for physical errors. 26th of every month, the RAID controller does a file consistency check to make sure everything is ok. These are just maintenances I do to make sure that everything is working well. These tasks are scheduled in the controller software, so they are automated.

I set reminders on my phone, so I know when a backup task is due. I do not do automation when backing up, so I choose what to backup and where, and since backup drives are always offline, I have to power them on manually. The least amount of time my backup drives are online, the better.

My website serves as a backup too, but just for jpeg files.

I am very interested to know how you do your backups.

I have several hard drive sets external to a computer. I know that these can and have failed but every so often I have backed these up to another larger hard drive. A few years ago I introduced a cloud capable four slot RAID drive. Recently one of these drives failed and it was just unplug and plug in a replacement and the drives sorted themselves out automatically.

I do not trust bought 'cloud' stored somewhere only the great creator knows where, and also vulnerable to the vicissitudes of commerce, wars, and even the very basic reliability of mere civilised life. What happens if we rely on cloud and update payments stop? Commercial blackmail? .... we have your stuff. Are there ethical clouds? dpreview looked like it was here for ever and backed by the great Amazon.

I must make sure that my more recent captures are backed up. I am a bit casual that way but as I have no doubt that my images mean most to me only and not to others I know that no matter how good they (my images) are nobody is going to wade through my huge collection to do much more that perhaps grab a few family sentimental shots out of them. We live in a very busy world full of clicking phones and cameras - add huge video hours and just who will have the time to keep and cherish what I personally have done?

I am on record that with the ephemeral nature of the internet, social media and few hard copies, that there will be just as few copies of images of this grandfather about as there are of my grandfather from the days of film: shared photographs stored in drawers ... and lost negatives.

All this despite our blazing shutters and huge investment in image storage.

People don't change and we all must have historical images of 'family' and no identification on them so that many faces no longer have names.

 

[Lee Jay]

I do not trust bought 'cloud' stored somewhere only the great creator knows where, and also vulnerable to the vicissitudes of commerce, wars, and even the very basic reliability of mere civilised life. What happens if we rely on cloud and update payments stop? Commercial blackmail? .... we have your stuff. Are there ethical clouds?

Like I said - BackBlaze. $60 a year for unlimited backups, all encrypted (two-factor optional), and all in the background completely unobtrusively. I've never had a single problem with them and I have downloaded individual files many time and they've always been there perfectly.

 

[I a n]

When I add RAW images to my catalogue a simple copy of the RAW files also goes to my attached backup drive. That gives me three copies once I get home (one on the working drive, one on my back up drive and one on my card). I typically don't recycle my card for several days or even a few weeks some times.

After that I start editing. Every now and then I attach backup drive A and use BackupForAll to mirror my working drive to the backup drive A. Usually I remember to do that after a significant editing session. Some time later I take drive A to work and bring home drive B and mirror my working drive to it. Then drive B stays a home for a while before I swap again.

I don't have a schedule. That is a good idea though because routine is good.

The two times I replaced my internal HD I used a backup drive to do the restore having my existing HD still there in case the restore has issues. Testing your backup system is a good thing (tm).

All three external back up drives are different brands or models and not bought at the same time. My photo backup drives are always detached unless I am backup to them - this means they cannot be corrupted by ransom ware.

 

[I a n]

When you backup regularly do you copy over the last backup or do you rename each backup? So that you can select which backup you use if you need to.

I mirror my working drive. I could just attach one of the backups remap its drive to my working drive letter and then work on my backup drive seamlessly.

I use BackupForAll which has a mirror option. If you delete files on your working drive they are deleted on my backup drive after the mirroring is done. So, I do not have an incremental set of changes I just have another copy of my working drive (x2).