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General discussion

Backing up photos...what are my best option?

Nov 13, 2006 10:35AM PST

Hello all,

I'm a photographer and I upload thousands of photos onto my PC every month. Initially I back up my orginal photos onto CD-ROM as well as the retouched photos. Because there are so many uploaded photos, I have given up backing up orginal photos and only back up retouched ones. This is not only because backing up photos onto CD-ROM are time-consuming and a tedious process, it also starting to be an expensive option. In just few months, I used up 300 CD-ROMs (Yep, I take lots of photos and save them as TIFF). I'm also running out of room to store these CD-ROMs.

Because I can take photos much faster than I can retouch them, my hard drive are filling up. I am extremely nervous about a head crash, or virus infection, and who knows what else can happen to a PC.

What are my options? External hard drive? It would be great if they can mirror/duplicate my harddrive automatically...Is there anything like that. Please share with me your experience with these devices.

Thank you very much in advance for your time and opinion.

BTW, my pc is a Dell Dimension 4600 with Window XP.

L & L

Discussion is locked

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My first thought. . .
Nov 13, 2006 8:53PM PST

is DVD instead of CD. A DVD can hold up to over 4 Gig, and a dual layer twice that.

External hard drive is perfectly adequate for immediate backups, then every once in a while burn to DVD.

You might look into a backup program, most will back up on the fly.

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DVD and/or a NAS setup
Nov 14, 2006 3:50AM PST

You may want to create a small network. Using another simple system with alot of HD space. You network to that system you're pcitures and then use DVD burning process save alot more on DVD vs. a plain CD. The small network can be supplanted by a NAS HDcase which is another option via a network. Google for details, but if you're getting into serious storage, that's the way to go. It does't hurt to get a larger HD as well for the immediate storage needs on top of the forementioned. If you get any other storage needs you may want to look into 'DAT tape" achives as well, provided you want to spend the money.

tada -----Willy Happy

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There's are numerous post discussing different approaches to
Nov 15, 2006 12:42PM PST

system backup, mine included.

The one good thing about backup vs straight copies, you maximize the backup diskpace. And assuming your PC is critcial to conduct of your business...might also consider ways to get back up and running if your hard drive crashes or dies.

Once you read a little ...post any questions, decide on one you like and go for it.

VAPCMD

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backing up photos
Nov 23, 2006 7:05PM PST

Hi you could always get a memory stick as the vary in price and could work out to be cheaper in the long run and you don't have to find alot of storage for it like you do for your discs.