Backup opinions

[Maleko]

So I run a photography business and already backup to externals.

 

I am eventually going to buy a nice NAS drive, but while I save for that (£450) I'm looking at other methods.

 

My scenario is this.

 

I have a huge amount of RAW photo files which need backing up, currently they are only archived off from my main drive. I have thought of two options now... Either get a portable 1TB drive and backup to that and then that can be stored away from home when not in use. Or, get a BR-RW drive and some 25GB discs to burn the raw files to and store them away from home.

 

Now I'm not a massive fan of disc media back as discs can degrade over time and I would always incur a cost for the media. Yet it is easier to store off site. Burn a disc, take away, done.

With the hard drive I would have to keep carrying it back and forth.

 

Just after people opinions on this to help me sway in either direction (or a new direction).

Both cost pretty much the same (the drive + 50 blank dics = 1TB portable USB3)

 

I have looked at cloud storage, but backing up that much data would take an age to do, and would be a reoccurring cost. 

[ShadowCaptain]

SNIP

 

If you get a portable drive be careful, as if its dropped, or broken or lost then you lose your data

 

Personally I run a RAID 10 home server which automatically backs up all PCs - and this server then backs up to unlimited cloud from livedrive

[Eniqmatic]

To do a proper RAID configuration however you will need a proper RAID card, most of which are going to be out of the OP's budget stated and even exceed what he wants to spend down the line.

 

Given your situation I would go for the USB drive, be extremely careful with it till you get a proper solution in place. Perhaps consider backing up a small amount of absolute mission critical items out to somewhere that gives you some free space.

[Captain_WD]

So I run a photography business and already backup to externals.

 

I am eventually going to buy a nice NAS drive, but while I save for that (£450) I'm looking at other methods.

 

My scenario is this.

 

I have a huge amount of RAW photo files which need backing up, currently they are only archived off from my main drive. I have thought of two options now... Either get a portable 1TB drive and backup to that and then that can be stored away from home when not in use. Or, get a BR-RW drive and some 25GB discs to burn the raw files to and store them away from home.

 

Now I'm not a massive fan of disc media back as discs can degrade over time and I would always incur a cost for the media. Yet it is easier to store off site. Burn a disc, take away, done.

With the hard drive I would have to keep carrying it back and forth.

 

Just after people opinions on this to help me sway in either direction (or a new direction).

Both cost pretty much the same (the drive + 50 blank dics = 1TB portable USB3)

 

I have looked at cloud storage, but backing up that much data would take an age to do, and would be a reoccurring cost. 

 

Hey Maleko,

 

Both options seem good. You can keep a larger desktop external drive and when it's full, simply take it offsite and get another one. 

You could also opt for regular internal drives, use them with a docking station and then store them properly at another place. If you are going for simple massive storage, you can check out WD Green drives as they are great for that purpose. Here's a link: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=pzXyDI

 

Captain_WD.

[alpenwasser]

- snip -

I used to do a lot of backups to optical media. The only ones I never had issues with

were DVD-RAM disks, however that's not really a practical option these days due to limited

capacity.

So, just me personally, between those two I'd go with the HDD. I do the same thing with my

most crucial data: One copy is on my server, another on a second machine, and a third on the

USB drive (a WD 2.5" one).

[Maleko]

Cheers guys, the HDD method it will be until I can get the NAS