Flickr is a good online backup. Discuss......

ryanyboy

ryanyboy

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Ryan
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We all know the importance of backing up our images and to me online storage is the best "fireproof" way to do it.

For the best 12 months I've been backing up all my wedding images on flickr. Now I realise I can only do this for the edited jpeg images - not the original raw files. But otherwise is this a logical backup method?

I'm very open to alternative ideas :)

Ryan
 
I've looked at online options and they are OK for small backups but with 86,000 images in my library the initial first backup just isn't practical. I back up to 2 external drives, with one stored off site.
 
Yeah, and be aware that the hosting website can close your account for absolutely no reason at all - no, online photo albums are by no means a 'backup' at all.
 
trencheel303 said:
Yeah, and be aware that the hosting website can close your account for absolutely no reason at all - no, online photo albums are by no means a 'backup' at all.
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Ok - that makes sense and I suppose was the kind of answer i expected. Fotki has been suggested so I'll take a look. Cheers.
 
FWIW i'd just get an external hard drive and dump your stuff on there, i also use an ipod as a walking backup so if god forbid my house goes in flames or by some stroke of bad luck all my backups at home go tits up, i've at least got something.
 
trencheel303 said:
FWIW i'd just get an external hard drive and dump your stuff on there, i also use an ipod as a walking backup so if god forbid my house goes in flames or by some stroke of bad luck all my backups at home go tits up, i've at least got something.
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Oh, I've got my external HDs sorted. It's just flames and earthquakes and the like that has got me thinking more seriously about getting my work "off site".
 
I have all my "keepers" as full res edited jpegs on Photoshelter, that is as a very last resort incase my main offsite back up (Mozy.com) which has my DNG files fails. I guess if you don't have that many images Flickr would be a good option.

Having full res jpegs online may help rescue you after a human disaster, like deleting the wrong file etc.
 
I use Carbonite for off-site back up:

"What does Carbonite back up?
By default, Carbonite backs up everything in your Documents and Settings folder, including documents, photos, email and data files from applications, such as Quicken, Money, etc. Once a subscription is purchased, music is also added to the list. The default backup does not include programs, system files, temporary files, videos, or individual files greater than 4GB. You can, however, manually add any of these to your Carbonite backup."

It's $55 a year and a useful backup insurance policy, though so far I have not had to restore any files.

Selfless plug here, but if anyone decides to bite the bullet if you tell them I reocmmended you I get a free month, though I have just extended for another 3 years so that might be a moot point..... :thinking:
 
JohnD76 said:
I use Carbonite for off-site back up:

"What does Carbonite back up?
By default, Carbonite backs up everything in your Documents and Settings folder, including documents, photos, email and data files from applications, such as Quicken, Money, etc. Once a subscription is purchased, music is also added to the list. The default backup does not include programs, system files, temporary files, videos, or individual files greater than 4GB. You can, however, manually add any of these to your Carbonite backup."

It's $55 a year and a useful backup insurance policy, though so far I have not had to restore any files.

Selfless plug here, but if anyone decides to bite the bullet if you tell them I reocmmended you I get a free month, though I have just extended for another 3 years so that might be a moot point..... :thinking:
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Thanks John for this tip.

Just so I understand - if I sign up with this company they will access all my documents and back it up automatically? I take it this includes all the files in the "my pictures" folder (including RAWs)?? Is this right?

Is there a better alternative just for photographers guys??
 
Photoshelter can store RAW files and is geared up for photographers, although as a strict back up I use Mozy which is similar to carbonite. Photoshelter is more of an extra back up for my processed images.
 
External drives or something NAS related (setup with RAID) would be the easiest solution, External drives are on of the cheapest options available however
 
2 drives setup with Raid 1/5

If a drive fails the data is still on the other, so adding a new drive and rebuilding the NAS will sort that out without data loss
 
whitey said:
2 drives setup with Raid 1/5

If a drive fails the data is still on the other, so adding a new drive and rebuilding the NAS will sort that out without data loss
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not if:

* the enclosure fails and destroys data on all attached drives (yes ive seen that happen more than once in fact)
* you delete a file
* you get burgled
* your house burns down
 
I see what you mean

I dont use mine "live" so to speak, I only use mine to copy to once shots are complete, I work with them on the Mac, then once done copy the folder over so hadn't thought about it from that point of view
 
whitey said:
I see what you mean

I dont use mine "live" so to speak, I only use mine to copy to once shots are complete, I work with them on the Mac, then once done copy the folder over so hadn't thought about it from that point of view
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thats cool then.. i work on the basis that you should ALWAYS have 2 or more physical devices with your data on (RAID counts as 1 device, mirrors dont count as 2), preferably with 1 of those stored offsite (friends, parents, work address)
 
MozyHome- $5 a month, or $50 a year for unlimited backup. Really simple setup, and 2gb free if you want to try it out.
 
Have you looked into Amazons Simple Stroage Services? (Amazon S3)?

Costs are $0.150 per GB per month upto 50TB.

Currently Free until June 30th, 2010

Take a look! ;)

Apparently transferring large amounts of data is easy as you can mail them a storage deive and they'll upload for you (AWS Import/Export)
 
Thanks for all the info guys. As i typt this I will admit that RAID means nothing to me. I'll go away and find out what it means.

In the meantime, the whole reason I started this thread is because of the fear of fire or burglary. Basically getting my work out of the house :)

Looks like Carbonite, Mozy and Photoshelter are the ones to investigate for now.
 
ryanyboy said:
Thanks for all the info guys. As i typt this I will admit that RAID means nothing to me. I'll go away and find out what it means.
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basically RAID lets you stick several drives together so that you can either span or mirror. although like i say its not infalible so have a 2nd device also if you choose it for your onsite storage.
 
ryanyboy said:
Thanks John for this tip.

Just so I understand - if I sign up with this company they will access all my documents and back it up automatically? I take it this includes all the files in the "my pictures" folder (including RAWs)?? Is this right?

Is there a better alternative just for photographers guys??
Click to expand...

I use carbonite as well. Its main drawback is that it doesn't back up external HD's, although they now apparently have an advanced version which does, but you have to pay extra for this; I think its by the GB, instead of all-in for your $55.

The bigger your files get though, and the more you take, the slower the upload is. My PC has been on permanently recently uploading stuff!

Nevertheless I still think its a good backup method, and I have had to restore a few things, like my emails when they got lost, and it worked fine.

If I was starting again, I'd probably go for Mozy as- apparently - it does backup external HD's.



jerry
 
Will just confirm that Mozy will backup anything attached to 1 pc, doesn't matter if its external or not. It is limited to 1 pc though (you can buy additional pc licences within the same licence)
 
mdollan said:
Have you looked into Amazons Simple Stroage Services? (Amazon S3)?

Costs are $0.150 per GB per month upto 50TB.

Currently Free until June 30th, 2010

Take a look! ;)

Apparently transferring large amounts of data is easy as you can mail them a storage deive and they'll upload for you (AWS Import/Export)
Click to expand...

I couldn't find that on the Amazon site....but I did buy a book and a cd though.....doh!
 
The best solution I've found for this is a NAS box hooked up in my parents house and port forwarded from there interent router. I did the initial backup before taking the drive to there house and now I just get the to switch it on and copy over files as necessary, it's not lightning quick but it's fast enough and free!
 
Just a quick one for all those saying go RAID on external drives, please please remember this will not protect you in the event someone breaks into your house or your house catches fire. There is no substitute for an offsite copy even if it is as simple as copying all your photo's to an external drive once a week and storing it in your office desk, in the even of a burgalary photo's are one of the very few things the insurance company can't replace.
 
a1ex2001 said:
There is no substitute for an offsite copy even if it is as simple as copying all your photo's to an external drive once a week and storing it in your office desk
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This is the simplest method and precisely what I do. Waaay cheaper than some of the online solutions plus you keep control of your images, backup/restore times are short etc.
 
jerry12953 said:
It doesn't look that user-friendly......aimed at techies? But it might be worth persevering.
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I am a tecky :)

I've never used it, only heard about it! With a company so large, I wouldn't imagine the servers go down very often and backups would be spot-on ;)

Just offering alternative methods - also very cheap ;)
 
jerry12953 said:
I just had a look at that and even I can work out that....

$0.15 per month per GB = $1.80 per annum per GB

So if you had a backup of 100 GB that's $180 p.a. plus the $2 per month...

Or have I got something wrong?
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That's correct- a total rip-off (in my opinion), and the problem with using Amazon storage cloud in this way- the pricing just isn't worth it. Not when you compare that I have 288gb (currently...) with mozy, for $50 a year :)
 
To be quite honest I can't understand why people on here seem to make it so hard for themselves about backups.

The answer is simple people - DVDs.

I've been backing up important files to DVDs for years (at least 7 years) and have NEVER lost a backup yet.

I've always used Nero to burn and DataWrite DVDs and I always burn them at half the rated speed.

As soon as I get back from taking pics I download them to my HD and then burn them to DVDs - always RAW.

Then I label them and store them in folders.

No continual obsessing about the best way to backup - and no lost backups.

SIMPLES!
 
@petersmart - I agree with your sentiment. Hard disks fail and optical media has been known to fail over time (especially if left in the sun!). A combination of DVD and HDD backups with copies offsite would be ideal. Offsite could be work, a friends house, critical data should never have a single point of failure.
 
chrisgeary said:
@petersmart - I agree with your sentiment. Hard disks fail and optical media has been known to fail over time (especially if left in the sun!).
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Well I keep all my backups in the cheap folders that hold about 50-100 DVDs - and I don't leave them in the sun!

And I don't bother with anything else because I've found I simply don't need to.

I've got DVDs with Div-X films on them I made over 10 years ago and they're still good.
 
What happens if someone nicks your folders with back ups in?
 
even DVDs not left in the sun can de-laminate over time.. i wouldnt trust them over mechanical drives. especially concidering how little data can be stored compared to mechanical.

blu-ray on the other hand doesnt suffer from delaminating and has a much bigger capacity. however that technology still isnt cheap.
 
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