Back up, back up and back up!

Here's my contibution to the backup methodologies.

On field, aside from the 8gb CF in camera, my camera strap has two card pockets, each one holds a 4gb CF card. In my other pockets are all the other CF cards I've collected in years; 2gb, 1g, etc. The idea is never to have to erase a CF card onfield to make room for more shots.

I also carry two portable data storage devices (essentially a hard disk with CF card reader slots) to back up what's on the CF card. Each device has a 160gb drive. The intent is that any CF card that leaves my camera is backed up onto these drives.

In Baler, I carried only one portable data storage device but I also carried my notebook so I essentially also had two backups.

When I get home, I upload all into my computer with a 1.5TB RAID system. Everything is backed up onto a 1.5TB NAS device (also in RAID) at the basement through my home LAN. That's the online/nearline storage bit.

For offline backup, everything gets backed up onto 2 sets of DVDs, one I keep at home, the other in my office.

Now, I'm contemplating some eSATA external disks as backups instead of DVDs because 1. hard disks are getting much cheaper and 2. DVDs are cumbersome.

Despite all these paranoia-like hardware and processes, I still lose data. Most dangerous culprit is myself. Sometimes, I hit delete when I shouldn't have.

Hi guys ... hope Neon gets his files back.

Being into the business of databases and data protection, I would say that doing back up is not enough. The backup process is just 50% of the entire process to secure and protect your data.

I would add to what Mastah and Ding has shared, that after you do your backup, do a restore, restore, restore. Your backup is only as good if you can restore it. You have to make sure that your backup is restorable, especially if you are using some form of proprietary storage device/facility.

Countless of times I have heard and seen a client curse heavens after they have known that their backups arent restorable for various reasons. Always remember, what is the use of your backups if they can't be restored, so check.

Here are some other imporatant tips to secure your data at all times:

- DVDs arent good backup devices. Writable CDs/DVDs can only last a few years. You get lucky if you can still get to use old backups in DVDs with no read errors. Harddisk and tapes are much better and will last longer. If you rely on DVDs, make sure you have multiple copies. Transfer your old backups to newer media like every 2-3 years. Store backups in dust-free environment preferably on a room temperature or cooler.

- Backup the versions of software that you use (OS, RAW converters, photoshop, etc). You might ran into software compatibility problems in the future. You might have a good backup but you might have upgraded your system already and old formats become incompatible. Though this is more unlikely to happen ... we can never tell as we dont have control what our software makers want with their software in the future.

- When you upgrade software, always try to check if your old RAW files can still be opened in newer version of the software that you use. It wont be nice if after so many years, when you need to open some old RAW files, the files can't be opened in your new setup. There are cases when old software become incompatible with your new computer. So before you dispose your old computers, be sure that you can open old files into your new system.

- Using RAID and other proprietary storage system. Be warned that in some cases, you just cant swap devices or disks from one system to another in case the host device gets busted. Some NAS devices today only support some proprietary format and can only be opened on platforms supporting that format. So before you buy those storage devices, be sure that your device of choice support popular, open formats.

- Again, dont be over too confident with your backups. Regularly check if they can still be opened and restored.

Hope this helps!

Thanks Sir Romy! I was just thinking about this last night since I just got my new DSLR.

I was searching the net last night for a good external RAID system and my wifey quipped "Oh, oh... I knew the DSLR is just the start of it." Hehehe.....

Anyway, what do you guys think about online backups? I mean, like Flickr? Flickr offers unlimited uploads and downloads of both photos and videos at a very reasonable price. Do you think it is more safer?

Online sites are good repositories for very important files, but note that upload and download speeds are very slow even with fast broadbands (try downloading a 100 5d2 RAW files ;D).

Likewise, one has no control on the site's hardware, software and security. I'd still prefer traditional back up modes, like redundant HDDs, supported by hi-cap optical media (DVD and blu-ray).

Yikes!

I was just thinking about this last week. Sylvia does a good job with her files backing up with an external and DVD's. I have them all in an external drive and ordered a 1tb external which I will get this morning.

Aside from a virus or an HD crash another reason why all your files might get wiped out is a fire.

When I was in highschool ( a long time ago) our house burned. The whole house did not burn down but everything got wet from the water of the firetrucks. Wet as in slippers floating in the water wet even in the unburned portion. Aside from the burn damage and the water damage there was also the smoke. It got into everything and all the things in the house smelled like they were in a week long BBQ. Another kind of damage was heat. Some places did not burn, like the bathrooms because they were marble or tile walls but the heat melted a lot of the things inside those unburned areas. Watches, jewelry, and metal stuff melts. I don't think any files or media can survive a fire. Even a fireproof safe only works for a while.

It may be a good idea to keep some files physically apart from your home.

Hmmm...I may need another external HD.