Anyone storing images on or on CD?

[Dieselrider]

If you want to shoot in raw, how would you use an online storage service? Don't they require you to turn everything into jpeg and resize to small so it can be uploaded quickly? If they would allow large files wouldn't that take forever to upload?

As for CDs, isn't there a shelf life for data stored on CDs? Wouldn't you need to pull the files and recopy every few years? I am just looking for information and everything I found in searching this on here, everyone talked about the different types of storage but not the limitations of each.

Is using several hard drives the best solution? How many backups are needed to be safe?

Thanks

 

[Alex_B]

Is using several hard drives the best solution? How many backups are needed to be safe?

for 100% safety you would need an infinite number of backups.

But I think with 2 hard drive backups, you are pretty safe. Even better if at least one of the backups is on external drives which are not stored in the same room / house. And i would replace the hard drives every 2 - 3 years.

 

[Christie Photo]

As for CDs, isn't there a shelf life for data stored on CDs?

I used CDs until last year, now using DVDs. I'm hoping the discs will survive... at least as long as the drives are still used. After that, I don't know. I think I'll be dead by then, but not certain.

Is using several hard drives the best solution? How many backups are needed to be safe?

It's been my experience that all hard drives will eventually fail. Maybe that's where re-writing the files would be prudent. Get a newer, larger drive every couple of years and copy the old drive.

Negatives, especially black and white, were never a concern to me. Even if they did deteriorate over the course of 100 years, some sort of print could be made and restored. If a file degenerates over time, can any of it be read? Will there still exist the hardware to read it?

Like I said, I'll be buried long before this becomes a concern to anyone, but it still troubles me.

-Pete

 

[Mystwalker]

I store to an external Seagate FreeAgent Pro 750. You can use any internal/external ... or even build your own. HDs and enclosures are pretty cheap nowadays.

I also upload viewable photoes to flickr.com (jpeg only) - I guess that counts as "storage". Do the same with CostCo.com to print, but still not sure if they will let me download it back.

Lastly, I make a copy to CD or DVD (jpeg and RAW) - someone here said they have approx 30yr life which is plenty long for me. I thought they will keep going and going

 

[Mav]

If you're really serious about backups, use tape storage and then have an on-site and off-site backup. You can swap tapes in and out of a bank safety deposit box or swap them with a relative. They're high capacity and most important passive devices. Optical media isn't very good. CD's are the most resistant to scratches and other damage but have poor capacity. DVD has better capacity but is far more prone to scratching. At least they're electromagnetic proof though. Portable hard drives, even ones you might use just for off-site backup, can still fail and then you have to yank the drive out or use a drive recovery service which is extremely expensive. Most people do this these days though because it's the most convenient.

I have all my photos on my iMac, have a 500GB external drive used as a Time Machine backup. In fact I just needed to grab some stuff from the backup last night because I thought I had DxO set to output some files to a new directory but instead they overwrote my originals. OOPS! :mrgreen: Time Machine backup saved me.

When I'm thinking about it I give some DVDs to my parents that have stuff burned onto them to take to their place as my off-site. Yeah it's DVD, but some backup is better than no backup. Most of the stuff I truly care about is on my online Fotki.com account too, at full resolution. So if my house blows up and my parents' house blows up I still have my Fotki stuff and won't ahve truly lost anything.

I've never lost a bit of data since starting to use computers 15 years ago and I plan to keep it that way. Even if my Time Machine backup wasn't able to save me the other night, I still have all the "keeper" photos from the vacation stuff I was working on on one of my 4GB SD cards, hehehehe.

 

[Big Mike]

I think that a lot of people have found that the average burned CD or DVD doesn't have as long of shelf life as you would expect. Some, might be as short as a couple of years.

There are things that are probably factors...heat, humidity, light etc. Sunlight will ruin them very quickly.

There are 'archival' quality discs that are supposed to last longer, but last I heard, there still aren't any regulations on CD/DVDs...so you can't always trust what is on the label.

When I shoot a job, I burn a backup disc ASAP. I save the files on my storage drive (internal) and I also save the culled files onto my working drive and usually burn the final images onto another disc.

I want to get an external harddrive for backup purposes...photos and other files.

 

[Clikon]

I think that a lot of people have found that the average burned CD or DVD doesn't have as long of shelf life as you would expect. Some, might be as short as a couple of years.

wow, i had no idea the shelf life of a CD could be that short. I wonder what the max would be when stored in a case, on top of my desk...:meh:

 

[Dieselrider]

I am going to research the cd thing a bit. I ,like Mike, have heard they do not last along time. The article I read was on the US navy having some digital data storage problems forsome nuclear submarine data and something about the loss of some data stored on cds. I don't think they mentioned what conditions these files were stored under or how far disks have come since they started out.
Mystwalker is saying 30 yrs. If that's the case they would be a good storage method. I probably won't be alive in thirty years.

 

[Dieselrider]

Some very interesting information here http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq07.html#S7-5 I hope that shows up I am not allowed to post attachments yet.

 

[Dao]

Yes, discs are not create equal. I remember one CD-R disc that I had the disc went bad very quick. And later on I discovered that the problem was caused by the chemical from the sharpie reacted with the gold paint on top of the CD-R disc.

I found that out one day why the disc is bad when I saw my hand writing from the bottom of the disc.

 

[Big Mike]

Yes, discs are not create equal.

I think this is one of the major issues. I read a few articles about the CD/DVD industry and how it didn't have any regulations. So you really had no way of knowing the quality of the product by the packaging. Sometimes you can trust a 'trusted brand'...but sometimes not.

 

[LeftyRodriguez]

What software are people using for backup? I'm using Windows Backup, but I don't really trust it for some reason.

 

[Christie Photo]

Like Mike, I back up each job.

-Pete

 

[usayit]

I use magnetic tape (mostly pulling from work experience) but I also use CD-Rs which are more practical. The CD-Rs I use are archival GOLD from efilm which are suppose to have a longer life. DVD-Rs have less life.

 

[Mystwalker]

I use "Ridata" from supermediastore.com

RATS! May have to start making two copies - one for use and one to archive under bed or somewhere cool and dark.