backing up files -- external drive or online storage

[dickgrafixstop]

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First I take the pictures on an SD or CF card. The "film" cards are so cheap now I find that

buying new ones is still less expensive than buying/processing film so my first "back-up" is

the original.

Second I copy the card to the internal hard drive on my computer - carefully naming the folder whatever I've written on the original card as a title. Now I have two copies.

Then I copy the internal hard drive to an external hard drive on a weekly basis - back-up to the

back-up so to speak. Copy 3. This external hard drive is kept at my office (different place, different town) in case of catastrophe.

Lastly I back up to an on-line "cloud" service. copy 4. This is handy for access from anywhere

and is also geographically remote. I pay a little extra for the amount of storage i use, but it's still

cheap insurance for irreplaceable pictures and documents.

Then, just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean I won't lose anything, I occasionally burn a DVD

of images I really like and store the discs in a fire-proof box.

[gib_robinson]

thanks to all who have responded, your thoughts and views are extremely helpful. seems like external hard drives including a redundant storage facility (will have to start talking to my sister again) makes the most sense. i guess i can also keep buying and then saving sd cards instead of erasing them after the pictures are downloaded and backed up.

 

The external drive solution is the one I use. I find reliable hard disk storage is remarkably cheap. I use external drive cases by Icy Dock ($74 US) with firewire 400 and USB 2. The 2TB Western Digital HD is $89. These are plug and play units. The drives slip into the cases with no screws. No extra software needed. I have two sets, one of which stays off site with a "commuter disk" for new files. The offsite set is at my wife's office. I would not want to have all my files in one location.

 

--Gib