Need storage help...
Discussion
I've just looked at my C: drive only to find there's only 4 gig of space left (after a good clean-up!)
Would one of these be a good idea www.dealtime.com/xPC-Maxtor_MAXTOR_E01G500_External_One_Touch_II_500_GB_Hard_Drive , or is there a better solution? I currently have no back up except CD/DVD which I keep putting off
If I put all my images on the Maxtor will they be safe?
Martin.
PS - please be gentle with me...I'm not good with computers, I prefer a hammer and nails
Would one of these be a good idea www.dealtime.com/xPC-Maxtor_MAXTOR_E01G500_External_One_Touch_II_500_GB_Hard_Drive , or is there a better solution? I currently have no back up except CD/DVD which I keep putting off
If I put all my images on the Maxtor will they be safe? Martin.
PS - please be gentle with me...I'm not good with computers, I prefer a hammer and nails
I've been considering something similar to the storage you've linked to there.
(I'm sure I've seen something more along the lines of £150 fopr about 400Gb somewhere on the Interwebbie - or maybe a mag somewhere recently
)
However, I would suggest that you still want a backup. However good that HD is it's a single point of weakness.
(Of course, you can go well OTT to some extreme of a copy to your solicitor and one to a nuclear bomb-proof bunker and the like....
)
My workflow includes....
1) Copy CF card RAW files to HD
2) Copy RAW files to DVD
3) Carry on blithely faffing over those files
4) Back up any nice results/files that get submitted to agencies to DVD
(I'm sure I've seen something more along the lines of £150 fopr about 400Gb somewhere on the Interwebbie - or maybe a mag somewhere recently
) However, I would suggest that you still want a backup. However good that HD is it's a single point of weakness.
(Of course, you can go well OTT to some extreme of a copy to your solicitor and one to a nuclear bomb-proof bunker and the like....
) My workflow includes....
1) Copy CF card RAW files to HD
2) Copy RAW files to DVD
3) Carry on blithely faffing over those files
4) Back up any nice results/files that get submitted to agencies to DVD
DVD-R's are agood solution or for those that are more prolific (and into 12mp range) DVD+R DL's (around 7GB storage capability).
The maxtor is a good external unit, but I would only use it as a "holding tank" until you make the time to copy them to optical media. I've had extremely good luck with the SeaGate external drives, personally...
ErnestM
The maxtor is a good external unit, but I would only use it as a "holding tank" until you make the time to copy them to optical media. I've had extremely good luck with the SeaGate external drives, personally...
ErnestM
Standard CD/DVD is ok for short term storage or backup but not really as a long term archive.
There are going to be a lot of disappointed people in the future when they go back to archive CD's and find the reflective layer has oxidised to nothing or the plastic parts have degraded and they have unreadable disks.
I'm paranoid and occasionaly replace the media my backups are on. I also never delete from disk, I just upgrade and re-copy. All my old disks are around so in theory I've got 3 or 4 copies of most of my images. Most have a copy "off-site" as well.
Gold disks are promising 300 years data life but who's around to verify?
There are going to be a lot of disappointed people in the future when they go back to archive CD's and find the reflective layer has oxidised to nothing or the plastic parts have degraded and they have unreadable disks.
I'm paranoid and occasionaly replace the media my backups are on. I also never delete from disk, I just upgrade and re-copy. All my old disks are around so in theory I've got 3 or 4 copies of most of my images. Most have a copy "off-site" as well.
Gold disks are promising 300 years data life but who's around to verify?
Typical CDr's have max 10 year life so they say, We had to use magneto-optical to archive medical records onto as all the optical media didnt have the required lifespan.
Before thinking of adding external drive storage see if you can crowbar a new HDD into the case somewhere, cheaper and quicker. Most cases will take 2 at least.
Before thinking of adding external drive storage see if you can crowbar a new HDD into the case somewhere, cheaper and quicker. Most cases will take 2 at least.
poah said:
just bought a lacie 250gb external HDD for £100 off ebuyer
Or a 320g internal drive...
www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=9535&GroupID=596
HankScorpio said:Oh no, not that urban myth!
There are going to be a lot of disappointed people in the future when they go back to archive CD's and find the reflective layer has oxidised to nothing or the plastic parts have degraded and they have unreadable disks.
www.cd-info.com/CDIC/Technology/CD-R/Media/Kodak.html
"We predict the lifetime of KODAK Photo CD, and KODAK Writable CD Media with InfoGuard Protection System, under normal storage conditions in an office or home environment, should be 100 years or more."
The very first CDs had an issue where the ink they used actually etched through the cover, but as CDRs don't have any ink on them, that isn't an issue.
HankScorpio said:For the last 80 years, since Bell Labs invented accelerated testing, ramping up the temperature and humidty and then plotting the failures has been proven from then the real world examples to be extreemly accurate.
Gold disks are promising 300 years data life but who's around to verify?
Stuff that was accelerated Bellcore testing (known as HALT and HASS testing nowdays) 20 years ago has failed almost exactly as predicted during it's normal life, so you can be pretty sure that the results such as the link I provided above, will be pretty accurate.
However, s**t happens, so if you are really worried about your photos ensure you have two copies stored away.
J
Last week I restored a bunch of files of a 13 year old CDR at work, no problems or issues at all.
I dread to think what the CD drive and blank media cost back in those days though!
Personally, I have a big internal drive and a big external drive with copies of all my important data on both, so can afford a failure of one or the other.
I dread to think what the CD drive and blank media cost back in those days though!
Personally, I have a big internal drive and a big external drive with copies of all my important data on both, so can afford a failure of one or the other.
_dobbo_ said:
Last week I restored a bunch of files of a 13 year old CDR at work, no problems or issues at all.
I dread to think what the CD drive and blank media cost back in those days though!
I bought a very early CD writer for the company I was working for around then. The PC was 5K and was reserved for doing nothing but CD writing. Blanks CDs were a fiver each
The CD writer was X2 speed. The data on the CD sold for £1500 so it wasn't actually a bad deal compared with the pain of writing to zillions of different tape types and formats.
I agree with Joust. I've read up a lot on this subject. If you are REALLY REALLY concerned, you could always get medical grade media:
www.ccmedical.com/cd-dvd-media.html
Pricey is an understatement, however.
ErnestM
PS: Ever look at a hard disk drive? Ever see that little item MTF? Know what it means? Mean Time before Failure. With magnetic media, you know for a fact it will fail.
www.ccmedical.com/cd-dvd-media.html
Pricey is an understatement, however.
ErnestM
PS: Ever look at a hard disk drive? Ever see that little item MTF? Know what it means? Mean Time before Failure. With magnetic media, you know for a fact it will fail.
ErnestM said:
PS: Ever look at a hard disk drive? Ever see that little item MTF? Know what it means? Mean Time before Failure. With magnetic media, you know for a fact it will fail.
[pedant] It's mean time BETWEEN failures. [/pedant]
But since a disk drive is almost always useless after its first failure it amounts to the same thing.
Captain Beaky said:
PS: Ever look at a hard disk drive? Ever see that little item MTF? Know what it means? Mean Time before Failure. With magnetic media, you know for a fact it will fail.
[pedant] It's mean time BETWEEN failures. [/pedant]
But since a disk drive is almost always useless after its first failure it amounts to the same thing.
also its often possible to see/hear when a drive is on its way out, and then do something about it. plus if you are using it for backup dont keep it on the whole time and its expected life will improve.
Not urban myth.
I have responsibilities for maintenance, backup, restore, archiving and retrieval of many terrabytes of data with legal requirements for it's retention, which is sometimes indefinite, and consumer writable CD's and DVD's are not suitable media for long term archival. In fact, their use was restricted in my firm about 5 years ago.
Multiple copies on multiple media in multiple locations is the safest way to go, how far you you take it is dependant on how important your data is to you.
And as theboyfold says, prints are a great way to store, I've got a big bag of prints in my loft that are 35 years old and they look great, in another 35 years, they will be in better condition than any CD/DVD I burn today.
I have responsibilities for maintenance, backup, restore, archiving and retrieval of many terrabytes of data with legal requirements for it's retention, which is sometimes indefinite, and consumer writable CD's and DVD's are not suitable media for long term archival. In fact, their use was restricted in my firm about 5 years ago.
Multiple copies on multiple media in multiple locations is the safest way to go, how far you you take it is dependant on how important your data is to you.
And as theboyfold says, prints are a great way to store, I've got a big bag of prints in my loft that are 35 years old and they look great, in another 35 years, they will be in better condition than any CD/DVD I burn today.
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