How to Store and Back Up a Large Quantity of Photos

Ldjsweet on 06/10/2016 - 11:28
Last edited 06/10/2016 - 11:32

Hi everyone,
I've recently started shooting with a DSLR and managing my collection in Lightroom. I am using a Macbook Pro with 256GB SSD. I also have an Apple Photo Library which is happily synced with iCloud.

The two problems I have are:
1. How to store images (more than will fit on my HDD)?
2. How to provide redundancy for my files?

I assume many people have experienced this problem, and any advice and tips would be appreciated!

Details:
Currently I am keeping my RAW and original JPG, Photoshop and Lightroom files in Onedrive, and letting Google Photos take care of my output JPGs. But eventually I will run out of space on my Macbook HDD.
I have considered offloading to an ext HDD, but then I have only one copy (need 2 for redundancy).
Have considered online storage (Crashplan etc), but while it is technically unlimited, it can only work with the data you can fit on your hard drive (which is limited to 256GB).

I have RAW+JPG originals (approx 30MB per shot) I also have TIF outputs from Lightroom which I plan to keep for editing in Photoshop (20MB). Finally, I have the final output JPGs (3MB). In total, I'm looking at 50MB space per shot.

Internet

Comments

  • dasher86 on 06/10/2016 - 11:35

    Cloud. Other than Apple.

    • djsweet on 06/10/2016 - 11:40
      +2

      iCloud is fine for my phone pictures, but for large files - no, because they charge a lot for data.
      Do you know of a cloud storage provider that allows you to store files on there which are not also stored on your PC? Thinking of pushing the RAW off my Mac HDD and into the cloud for safe keeping.

      • scrimshaw on 06/10/2016 - 11:43
        +2

        Do you have unlimited internet? How fast are your upload speeds?

        If your upload speeds are slow because you're on a slow ADSL connection you might want to forget about cloud.

        Look into Synology or Qnap

        • CyberMurning on 06/10/2016 - 11:46
          +1

          agree uploading is pain without NBN in australia. maybe just get 2 NAS with RAID3

        • dasher86 on 06/10/2016 - 11:46

          my upload speed is terrible and i don't have unlimited internet.
          I usually back up photos over night, though I do select which photos i want to back up.

          one drive and google are awesome.

        • fruit on 06/10/2016 - 12:24
          +5

          @eisniwre: FTTN is crap, so even with "NBN" it won't be enough

        • jerjergege on 07/10/2016 - 13:45
          +5

          @fruit: Everyone needs to stop using the convoluted term "NBN" and start using FTTN or FTTP like this guy!

          (profanity) tony abbot, getting rid of my Kevin Rudd Fibre to the premises.

        • Marty131 on 08/10/2016 - 00:27

          @fruit:

          FTTN can still generally do 20~40mbit/s uploads in most cases, can't it? Or am I dreaming?

        • noz on 08/10/2016 - 07:55
          +2

          @Marty131:
          Yes it can. One thing I would advise is for you to only consider responses from people who have FTTN. There are a lot of negative opinions around from people who hate FTTN because it isn't FTTP, and yet have no experience with the technology. I have FTTN. Yes the coalition stuffed up NBN. Yes, FTTP is superior and would have been nice. But on FTTN I am 540m from the node, and I sync at 80/30. The cloud upload speeds are tremendous. Compare this to the 8/0.34 speeds I was getting on ADSL.
          Facts:
          - FTTP is a superior technology to FTTN. With FTTP you are assured of getting the advertised speeds, and faster than 100Mbit in the future With FTTN you are limited based on your copper distance to the node.
          - In most cases, FTTP will experience congestion as much as FTTN. If you go with an oversubscribed provider that hasn't purchased enough bandwidth, then you will experience congestion at the POI (point of intersect). I often see things like "I'm on FTTP but I get 1MB/sec at peak times. what's wrong with my connection?" .. "which provider/plan are you with?" … "Dodo Unlimited."
          To answer your question, yes FTTN is capable of up to 40Mbps upload speeds, but what your connection would be capable of depends on a number of factors, such as the length of your copper from the node, the quality of this copper, and also your internal phone wiring has a significant effect. By sorting out my internal wiring my sync rate went from 50/25 to 80/30. VDSL is much more sensitive to wiring quality than ADSL is.

        • Gina Rinehart on 08/10/2016 - 11:16
          +2

          @noz:

          VDSL is much more sensitive to wiring quality than ADSL is

          Couldn't agree more. I'm on VDSL2 in Canberra (not NBN), and I was getting terrible speeds and dropouts when it first got installed. Switched the pair at each end of an internal cable (it was probably because it was loose, not the pair), and went from 20/5 to 55/13.

        • Gaz1 on 08/10/2016 - 16:19

          @noz:
          Thanks for the info. Out of interest, how did you "sort out your internal wiring"?

        • noz on 08/10/2016 - 18:08
          +1

          @Gaz1:
          - Make sure you only have 1 phone outlet - ie. the one that connects to your VDSL modem. The more outlets you have, the greater the signal degradation. You need to have these extra outlets disconnected from where they branch out. (doing this alone will make the biggest difference).
          - The outlet you keep should preferably be the one closest to the entry point of the phone line into your house.
          - If you can, get a Cat6 run from your entry point to the socket
          - Whatever people say, don't waste your money on a VDSL filter. There is no voice/analogue component when it comes to FTTN, so a filter won't do anything.

        • fruit on 08/10/2016 - 19:13

          @Marty131: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
          Sorry. I get 5mbits upload I'm on 100/40 plan. cries

        • nikey2k27 on 08/10/2016 - 19:49

          @dasher86: get 2 NAS get one back other up i have 2 32TB nas system i back up photos and media

        • noz on 08/10/2016 - 20:26

          @fruit:
          what download speed do you get?

        • fruit on 08/10/2016 - 20:51
          +1

          @noz: 25 at best

          iiNet doesn't pay for enough CVC so sometimes it's as low as 30,50,100kb/s

          CVC costs $17/mbit so 100mbit dedicated would cost 1700 a month.

          "NBN" is a joke.

        • noz on 08/10/2016 - 23:25

          @fruit:
          True. The NBN wholesale pricing scheme is crazy. I would recommend against going with a provider like iiNet unless you want an unlimited plan.
          I do have to ask though … If you only get 25/5 at best, then why are you on a 100/40 plan?

        • fruit on 08/10/2016 - 23:28

          @noz: What provider do you recommend. It wasn't unlimited when I joined, when they moved to unlimited speeds took a hit.

          I'm on 100/40 because someone else foots the bill :P

        • crentist on 09/10/2016 - 22:57

          @fruit:

          I'm staying in an airbnb in malaysia, and every day I stare at a flyer in the lift advertising broadband speeds of 500mbps for $100AUD. half that for 150mbps
          granted my host seems to have cheaped out with a 5mbps option, but even this measly 1% of the available speed will be missed when I'm back to the slowlanes of Sydney

  • CyberMurning on 06/10/2016 - 11:36
    +4

    research for NAS.
    if you noob maybe just get synology or qnap.
    then research for RAID system.
    basically you will see multiple hdd as ONE big hdd (so you can search across easily).
    and when one hdd fails/bad sector/etc, you can just remove it (yes on the spot no need to power down), and replace with new hdd, the RAID will built itself again.

    and then research how to syn your NAS to cloud services like amazon etc.

    there you go, you have RAID and cloud. should be enough i think.
    or you can add one more, another NAS sync automatically between them (and put NAS at your parents house for example just incase)

    my solution isnt the same as multiple external hdds, im talking NAS, RAID and convenience - at a price of course.

    • djsweet on 06/10/2016 - 11:38

      Any tips for syncing RAID with online storage (ie Crashplan or some other one which offers unlimited data)?

      • CyberMurning on 06/10/2016 - 11:40
        +1

        no, the question should be any tips for sync synology/qnap/insert your system with online storage?
        because each software will be different i think. for me, synology offer app to sync to amazon cloud, crashplan, etc
        decide what you want to get first (nas brand) then research more of what they can offer/features/etc

        unlimited data storage? well then you have to pay for them. usually free only few GB.

        • djsweet on 06/10/2016 - 11:41
          +1

          Okay cool. Was having a look at Synology. If that can sync with crashplan, then that is great!

        • Voldox on 06/10/2016 - 12:55
          +1

          @djsweet:

          I run a synology NAS (DS1815+) which is probably overkill for you

          Probably one of their 2 or 4 bays would be good.

          On that NAS you run Cloud Station which can automatically sync up to the Cloud i.e Google Drive, Amazon etc (For an extra cost) if you need a large amount of space.

          Research it and come back here with any questions.

        • CyberMurning on 06/10/2016 - 13:07

          @Voldox: I have synology too. Do you find a way to sync photos to google drive? It is free unlimited for low resolution photos, right?

        • Voldox on 06/10/2016 - 13:31

          @eisniwre:

          I have 50GB at Box.net which I use Cloud Sync with

          I believe Google is 15GB not sure about Photo's I think that maybe amazon and only for JPG

          "Photos use up space in your Google account

          Your photos and videos are stored using your Google account's storage space. You have 15 GB of free storage, but you can buy more."

        • andy19363 on 06/10/2016 - 14:42
          +1

          @Voldox:

          You can choose between 2 storage sizes to back up your photos and videos to your Google Photos library.

          High quality
          Unlimited free storage.
          Regular cameras: Recommended for phones or point-and-shoot cameras that are 16 megapixels (MP) or less.
          Uses: Good for typical printing and sharing.
          Size: Saves high-quality photos and videos while reducing size.

          Original
          Limited free storage: Uses storage in your Google Account, regardless of photo or video size.
          DSLR cameras: Recommended if you take photos with a DSLR camera and want to maintain the exact original quality.
          Uses: Recommended for printing large banners or to store original files.
          Size: Stores your photos and videos exactly as you captured them.

          https://support.google.com/photos/answer/6220791?hl=en&ref_t…

        • djsweet on 06/10/2016 - 16:46

          @Voldox:

          A Synology NAS would be great. I think it would do everything I want and I currently consider it my ultimate solution (when I have loads of cash). I think for now I'm going to buy a 2 bay RAID USB3 enclosure instead. I don't need it to be network attached, and they can be had for around $100. I already have a spare 1TB HDD, I'll buy one more and set up RAID 1. This way I will have to forego cloud storage, but maybe that isn't such a big deal anyway. I'll still have 2 copies and if my house burns down I'll have bigger problems.

        • Voldox on 07/10/2016 - 08:37
          +1

          @djsweet:

          For your current situation that sounds like a good option:)

          If you have any questions in the future around Synology etc (I'm no expert) I will do my best to assist:)

        • Scumbag on 08/10/2016 - 07:19
          +1

          @eisniwre: It's only free/unlimited it you upload using the Google Photos Uploader. This will convert (resize/compress) the images when uploading.

          By all means upload a copy of your processed JPGs since it is so convenient to then access from your phone or PC. Don't consider it a backup though.

      • knk on 07/10/2016 - 20:31

        The way I personally do it for around 300gb of data, everything in Dropbox to begin with.

        Dropbox is Sync'd to server(Debian) (or NAS more likely for you).

        NAS/Server does 2 things, first it snapshots the data on a regular basis and dumps it on a secondary disk. This ensures I can go back between versions, ie I accidentally delete every file on the server. I have a 'snapshot' from a day, week, etc before.

        On top of that I backup the server with Crashplan, just incase.

        I'm fairly sure Synology will support dropbox and Crashplan out of the box and some sort of snapshotting USB backup.

        To be honest though you might just be complicating things with a NAS. If you're not the most technically inclined person it may be easier to dedicate a cheap or older computer as a 'server'. Windows will handle disk mirrors (RAID1) which is probably what you'll want. You can share a folder (just like your NAS!) and backup to Crashplan or Dropbox.

        Synology and QNAP boxes use a software raid if I'm not mistaken, so you're not getting any sort of amazing cached backup or raid controller here. Performance isn't really a concern for you since you're mostly looking at a backup.

        I guess a computer will draw more power than a dedicated NAS though.

  • spackbace on 06/10/2016 - 11:53
    +1

    I asked this a while ago actually, consensus was to put on a CD/DVD, as they're proven to be the most hard-wearing out of anything. Store away from sunlight, etc etc. That's for really storing it for years.

    • fruit on 06/10/2016 - 12:24

      That's a single copy though.

      • Euphemistic on 06/10/2016 - 12:51
        +5

        or you could burn twice and store a copy off site

    • Raq on 06/10/2016 - 14:00
      +3

      Not really viable if you're looking into backing up 1TB+ of photos.

      As of now I have 1.2TB of photos - that would take 200+ DVDs to backup - a nightmare to maintain and validate.

      Personally I have my photos in 5 places: original desktop, external HDD attached to that desktop, NAS (at home), external HDD at work (updated once a month or so) and Amazon Cloud Drive.

      • smpantsonfire on 07/10/2016 - 01:13

        But how often would you take more than 9gb in photos? (In one event) Probably rarely, so once you done the shoot and edited, burn to DVD takes no time. If you do take more 2 dvd isn't so bad either.

        Also how often would you go back to those photos? Hardly ever. While hdd and cloud would be preferable,I wouldn't cross off dvd yet.

  • lupiter on 06/10/2016 - 12:05

    I fork out for iCloud Photos, but my "Photos" library is only 30GB. Stuff I want to keep for posterity but not have on hand (and filling up iCloud) goes on an external HDD (that is always plugged into my server or router) and then that's backed up using Arq to Amazon Glacier. My Amazon costs are about ~$15 a month.

    • djsweet on 06/10/2016 - 12:11

      Cool, I'm thinking of doing something similar. Amazon Glacier seems to have reasonable pricing ($0.007/GB/Month). Also having a look at Backblase at $0.005/MB/Month.

  • Looking4Bargians on 06/10/2016 - 12:15
    +3

    Amazon Glacier with S3.

  • fruit on 06/10/2016 - 12:25
    +6

    Build a cheap NAS.

    But before you do ask yourself how much are those photos worth and what would it cost you if they were destroyed?
    Price your backup system on that answer.

  • blitz on 06/10/2016 - 12:32
    +1

    We have a large NAS in XRAID mode and we'll likely begin a Backblaze subscription sometime soon.

  • CyberMurning on 06/10/2016 - 12:49
    +1

    wow backblaze unlimited just $5?
    https://www.backblaze.com/b2/partner-synology.html
    also syno compatible

    • djsweet on 06/10/2016 - 13:16
      +1

      Only Blackblaze B2 is Synology Cloud Sync compatible. And its not unlimited. It costs $0.005/Gb/Month.

  • pantsparty on 06/10/2016 - 13:00

    Cloud is good but not if your upload speeds are bad. Portable hard drive?

    • Voldox on 06/10/2016 - 13:08

      The initial upload is bad but after that it just runs overnight in most cases.

      For me I only use the internet from 6pm til 10pm on weeknights so the rest of the time it just churns away. In Synology Cloud Statoin you can specify the bandwith to use. It did take me a few days to U/L 25gb initially.

      Alternatively buy 2 cheap Synology NAS's Setup one up with Raid or Mirrored. Sync 2 the second NAS then put it at a friends place with internet and allow them to sync overnight.

      • knk on 07/10/2016 - 20:34
        +1

        Even if you have a good upload alot of these services are piss poor when it comes to actually performing the upload.

        I had an issue with my Dropbox which caused me to re-sync. I used 100/100mbit fibre which is under 10% load most of the time, it still took a week to upload 300gb

  • punkindrublic on 06/10/2016 - 13:07
    +2

    I use Mega which comes with 50GB of free space and a relatively straightforward desktop sync client. Haven't had any issues so far, so perhaps give it a try if you don't want to spend money on another service

    • [Deactivated] on 06/10/2016 - 15:13
      +1

      Was about to recommend this as well.

      Mega has been pretty reliable - Android client is pretty straightforward and powerful as well.

      The pricing is reasonable and there are no restrictions on file sizes, etc.

      • R3XNebular on 09/10/2016 - 23:37

        I wouldn't rely on mega… Had a fair bit of stuff uploaded the first time they existed before dot com got raided. Never know they might shut again.

  • Ryanek on 06/10/2016 - 14:39

    Amazon Cloud Drive https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/home

    If you're a Prime member you can upload unlimited photos.

    • djsweet on 06/10/2016 - 14:46

      Not much use if it compresses them - and Google Photos offers the exact same. While I was looking into this I saw they have a $100 per year unlimited storage offer which could be quite good https://www.amazon.com.au/clouddrive/home

      • macrocephalic on 07/10/2016 - 11:21

        If you just want to store photos, then I'm pretty sure Amazon Cloud is only about $12pa for unlimited storage.

      • callum9999 on 09/10/2016 - 15:39

        It doesn't compress them…

  • CyberMurning on 06/10/2016 - 16:24
    -1

    this
    http://www.howtogeek.com/227084/how-to-use-google-photos-to-…

    yes i know about the quality size but my photos are not million dollars prize type of photos so standard quality is enough.
    too bad there is no automatic way to sync between this and synology.
    or anyone know how?

  • Diji1 on 06/10/2016 - 17:02
    +2

    Buy a dual bay USB 3 (or better interface if your mac has it) hard disk dock with offline cloning and obtain 2 (or 3 for off-premises backup) hard disks to use in the dock.

    Use one disk as a backup and the other disk as a redundant backup by cloning the backup disk daily/weekly - but you will have to remember to hit the clone button reguarly by having reminders.

    You can then use a third disk to mail the data off to an off premises backup service once it fills up and you need to replace it.

    The ideal way would be fully automated though.

  • malouphix on 06/10/2016 - 17:32

    Get a Synology NAS. We have 10 of these at work at various sites. Great support and decent kit.
    Get a 4 bay and go RAID 5.

    Also, have your photos backed up somewhere else either online or offline another an external hard disk in case the NAS and all it's drives get fried or you or a visitor get a crypto virus.

    If you go online, don't rely on this as your only backup location!

  • PVA on 06/10/2016 - 17:42
    +1

    not professional for back up but I have an external hardrive plugged in our router - backups go to that and every few weeks I back that to another hard drive.
    I also have SweetHome on all our mobiles (free app) that auto uploads new photos to the same ext drive when we are home and phone is plugged into get charged. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=sweesoft.sweet…

    (as well as Google Photos online)

  • bs0 on 06/10/2016 - 23:32
    +1

    OneDrive has 1tb on the cloud if you have the new Office(?) . Chances are that you might be eligible.
    That's what I'm using atm. Not the best but for me it's free.

    Edit: uploaded about 100gb over the last week or two and freed up so much space on my HD. Not the best browser interface though.

    • smpantsonfire on 07/10/2016 - 01:16
      +1

      I think if you get a 5 licence one and you get up to 25tb or or something.

  • greatlamp on 07/10/2016 - 00:07

    HP microserver or second hand server from dell outlet , greys online, etc ~ $250 to $300

    Windows 10, (and windows server edition) have 'storage spaces' built in. It allows you to put in 2 or more drives and creates a single virtual drive - software raid, and it is actually far superior to the fake 'hardware raid' you find built into motherboards.

    You want a pc that supports ECC ram - hence a server - as you will be using a file system that automatically corrects corrupt files - REFS. ( you cannot use an old pc for this - unless you use the NTFS filesystem instead )

    You are running windows, use whatever cloud service you like.

    You may alternatively use linux instead, with the superior ZFS filesystem. It supports interesting features such as using the free space to automatically store snapshots, compression, deduplication , encryption, all the features you find in synology. however you will have to be comfortable using linux - in command line - as there is no gui support for ZFS

    • Indomietable on 07/10/2016 - 11:46

      I've been burned by storage space - and I would avoid it.
      I would recommend FreeNAS.

      • greatlamp on 07/10/2016 - 13:42

        What happened? I'm relying on it at the moment

        • Indomietable on 07/10/2016 - 17:25

          I have 6 drives & setup 2-parity mirror. One of the drives failed and I lost all of my data.

    • knk on 07/10/2016 - 20:35

      You can grab brand new ML10s for 200-250 on ebay any day of the week.

  • ju2au on 07/10/2016 - 00:23

    There's no need to keep the original JPEGs if you already have the RAW.

    For a proper backup, you will need to store a copy off-site. That is, somewhere different to where you live.

    • syousef on 07/10/2016 - 04:32

      You want to spend time converting 10s perhaps 100s of thousands of photos?

      • macrocephalic on 07/10/2016 - 11:24
        +2

        You have the RAW, and you have the sorted and processed JPGs. If the photo wasn't worth converting to JPG in the first place then there's no need to keep the JPG in archive.

        I shoot in JPG+RAW, but the JPG is really only useful if you want to immediately post it to the net without processing.

      • Scumbag on 08/10/2016 - 07:36
        +1

        I use Capture One and the recipe for processing the raw files is backed up with the photos themselves. I can then go back and continue editing weeks or years later, maybe I'm not happy with the white balance, or maybe I want to take advantage of features in a new version of the software. You can also have different variants for the processing, e.g. a 6*4 shot and a wide angle B&W.

        That said I also backup the processed JPGs. Storage is cheap, why not.

    • retiredfeline on 07/10/2016 - 20:38

      Then again, if you are keeping RAW, the volume of JPEG is insignificant.

  • TheBird on 07/10/2016 - 00:23

    In my industry, it's 3 copies in at least 2 locations or it's considered not backed up.

    2 externals (one at another locations) and your local HDD will fulfill this rule. 1 External, local HDD and since the amount of data you're talking about is small, cloud backup. Other options is Re-recordable or once write media like DVD or BR, Tape or even Sony's expensive newer long term media.

    The real question is how much hurt will you be feeling if you lost these files, through either computer fault, operator error, break in or even freak natural disaster.

  • jzx100 on 07/10/2016 - 01:09
    +4

    Note to myself, no Ozbargain after midnight, I mistakenly read OP's title as: How to Store and Back Up a Large Quantity of Potatoes

  • cryptos on 07/10/2016 - 02:24

    As others have stated, I'd keep a copy on redundant disk and then look into a bluray burner for offline long term copies.

  • syousef on 07/10/2016 - 04:31
    • Multiple hard drives. When you fill one move to the next.
    • Use a folder structure of YYYY\YYYYMMDDDescriptionOfEvent e.g. 2016\20161001PelicanFeedingTheEntrance
    • Always at least 2 local copies, with the second copy only online for as long as necessary as to update it. (Very important in case you're hit with a power surge, crypto virus or other event that could destroy both copies).
    • As often as practical update a 3rd copy stored off site (to guard against loss due to burglary or fire).
    • Every few years copy the entire lot to new hard drives on the premise that the hard disks don't live forever even when not in use.

    Screw the cloud. If you're on cable or ADSL your upload might not be fast enough to be practical. If it's free you have no recourse if they remove it all, and if you pay you're a small fish customer. Treat cloud as a medium for sharing unless you're large enough to have a serious contract and even then things could go wrong.

    Any medium that requires more than a handful of swaps to load or store another copy is not practical. Optical disk is a nightmare if your copy goes wrong. Likewise any sequential media (tape) is only good if you have time to restore from it.

  • TransportPosters on 07/10/2016 - 08:01
    +1

    Just adding what I know about a guy who has a premium wedding photography business.

    He bulk-buys memory cards and keeps the photos he takes on the memory card he used and stores it away at work, never to touch it again. He also makes a backup onto a portable drive to take home every day.

    • djsweet on 07/10/2016 - 08:53
      +1

      I thought about this… possibly as durable as a HDD. I'd say for long term storage tape or DVD may be the best option. (I don't even have a DVD burner or a tape drive though)

    • macrocephalic on 07/10/2016 - 11:28
      +2

      That sounds like an expensive way to do backups. Firstly, pro's tend to use decent speed cards - so you're paying premium prices there. Secondly, you have no way to regularly check the integrity of hundreds of SD/CF cards unless you do it manually - which is time consuming.

      Two drives onsite, and one copy on the web is the best balance of performance and price IMO.

    • ThadtheChad on 07/10/2016 - 14:10
      +1

      For professional photography, would definitely better to have a local archive using a multi-bay NAS with RAID1+0. In addition, have a nightly job to sync entire storage to Amazon S3.

      Considering the photographs from a wedding are irreplaceable, I wouldn't skimp on tactical solutions (especially as this is the mainstay of the business).

      Spending money on memory cards seems expensive without providing the benefits of cloud storage. Fire/Theft at work, and he's shafted.

      EDIT: Re DVD, same issues as the memory cards.

  • MoneyPincher on 07/10/2016 - 09:31

    I use this setup as I need to access all of my photos when I travel and generally have slow or metered internet.
    Import onto Mac SSD and edit in Lightroom/Photoshop - Keeping Original photos on SD cards
    Export finals to Jpg
    Move finalised raws to external HDD #1
    Use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone HDD #1 to External HDD #2
    Once both HDD are verified I then format the SD cards.

    This ensures I always have two copies at all times: SD+SD (dual slot camera), SD+Mac, SD+HDD1, HDD1+HDD2.
    Make sure you set Lightroom to write changes to XMP so if you loose the catalogue somehow you can read your edits from your photo raws.
    Hope that helps.

  • bradsmrbetty on 07/10/2016 - 10:29

    I would say, decide what you consider to be an acceptable risk vs cost.
    The cost of running a NAS (including initial cost and ongoing power consumption) vs the cost and slow upload time of online storage.
    i.e. typical NAS is fifteen to twenty watts on 24/7, say 30c-35c a kilowatt = x amount a day and x amount a month etc.
    Then you have consider if there is a fire and your NAS is in your house then you have lost everything anyway. On the flip side you have to be careful with where the online data is stored, what are the laws relating to that country?

    I had an external company tell my work, that they should have hired guards to escort them from one part of the site to another while carrying the backup tapes… so nothing is considered too extreme.

    A lot of great options being mentioned here, do some costings and workout what your line is, and need are, go from there.

  • bbourizk on 07/10/2016 - 13:02

    Three externals.
    One for working files. Maybe an ssd.
    Two large ones 4tb+ one on site and one at another location.

    Job done.

  • cuteseal on 07/10/2016 - 13:19

    Just get an external HDD and then backup to Crashplan. Crashplan backups can include your external hard drives as well.

    Directly connected external HDD will be the fastest performing, compared to a NAS, which will be slow as it transfers over the network, plus one less thing to manage and fluff around with.

    Make sure you consider offsite redundancy as well (which Crashplan will provide) - my two most feared scenarios is a fire or burglary, where you won't be protected even if you have multiple copies, but stored at the same site.

  • decabyte on 07/10/2016 - 13:33

    I keep my professional work on dropbox and a couple of seperate copies to external harddrives.

    eg:
    Photos>2016>2016-10-07 - Shoot name>
    then two folders: RAW, and Edits.

    I put the raw's in the RAW folder and it syncs to dropbox.
    I export my edits from Lightroom into the Edits folder.

    Once I'm happy with my edits, I send the link to the dropbox folder to the client and remove the RAW folder via selective sync after I back the whole shoot folder up to an external harddrive.
    (A hot tip here is to be consistent with your naming, its very easy in Lightroom, I change the name of RAW file from a single shoot to: <YYYYMMDD - Shoot Name - XXX>. Then, when I export the files they are named: <YYYYMMDD - Shoot Name - XXXedit - description>. This way its very easy to go back years later and find the original :) )
    So I keep the JPG folder for a little while for reference but eventually I just remove the whole folder.

    I do the same with my personal photos, but to Onedrive as i don't have enough space to keep it all on one service.

    I've got 4 years of 1.5TB on OneDrive from a cheap O365 subscription and some bonus space from seagate and Telstra.
    I have a 1TB Dropbox subscription that I pay for via my Telstra credit from the Play store.

    I sync my Lightroom library via dropbox which lets me edit from different computers

    • decabyte on 07/10/2016 - 13:35

      Forgot to add that I have 240/50mbit HFC cable internet… So thats a consideration! I wouldn't attempt this on ADSL or a slow NBN connection

  • [Deactivated] on 07/10/2016 - 15:26
    +1

    I have RAW+JPG originals (approx 30MB per shot) I also have TIF outputs from Lightroom which I plan to keep for editing in Photoshop (20MB). Finally, I have the final output JPGs (3MB). In total, I'm looking at 50MB space per shot.

    I'm just going to mention something that no one has…

    You mention you're just starting, being blunt, 99%+ of the photos are rubbish. Of course, your standards may vary, but you know a good photo when you've taken one. Why you would allocate 50MB of storage per photo with RAW+JPG+TIF is beyond me.

    I would be brutal with deleting rubbish shots, leave some for learning purposes to see how you've progressed down the track is essential but do not keep dozens of the same shot when only one is the winner. If you can't justify to yourself that you'll edit them down the track then what use are they.

    Yes storage has become so cheap in a few short years, and my point is more towards keeping up a high standards of the photos that you keep, that mentality will propel you to be a better photographer should you wish to be serious with it.

    For example, this shot was the result of some 200+ shots at various angles and over the period of 5 weeks while I waited for it to grow to exactly how I wanted, but at the end only 4 remain, and even then I've just the RAW with the attached XMP, 90MB of disk space in total.

  • Brendoo on 07/10/2016 - 16:58

    I have a HP Microserver running FreeNAS with 4x 3TB HD RAID as my storage. Then connected to that unit I have 4x USB hard drives as backup, 2 of them are swapped out weekly to 2 offsite locations. FreeNAS automatically runs scheduled backups to the connected USB drives and at this same time it emails me exact statuses of the syncs showing source and target file counts and total sizes so I am sure everything is ok. FreeNAS monitors the health of all drives the drives and any issues are alerted and emailed so I can swap out a hard drive that may begin to fail a SMART test or scrub before the drive becomes defective enough to lose data. I have been running this setup for years without a single issue. Had 2 single drives begin to fail scrubs (but still working fine as FreeNAS will just avoid the bad sectors and not write data there) at 2 different times, but a simple swap of the drive as soon as that happens and the new drive restores itself with data quickly once I plug it in.

    Then continually i have GoodSync software backing up my FreeNAS unit to OneDrive cloud storage. Reason I use OneDrive is because I use Office 365 and you get 1TB for free, plus I am a Telstra mobile customer and you get another 200GB free from Telstra. I have around 1TB of photos so dont need to pay any extra for cloud storage.

    I shoot RAW only and keep/backup all the RAW keepers. I also have my Lightroom catalog backed up as part of that. No need to store anything more than RAW and the catalog. Any edited photos from Lightroom are just XML descriptions of the edit and thus small. If I want a TIF (or JPG) like you mentioned I just export it when I need it. I also have a bunch of PSDs from Photoshop backed up as well.

  • neophytte on 07/10/2016 - 18:17

    I have a Netgear ReadyNAS with about 10Gb of storage, and a secondary NAS with about 6Tb of storage for backup - the first NAS contains other information which doesn't need to be backed up. We've reached about 2.5Tb of photos at the moment …

  • DavoW on 07/10/2016 - 19:22

    I'd put in a vote for backblaze online backup. $5 a month for unlimited backup. I've been using them for 8 years and I have 1.3TB stored with them, bloody good service. I'd also put in a drobo if you want connected expandable storage.

    All the best.

  • nil01 on 07/10/2016 - 19:25

    Why not Flickr? Free 1TB of uncompressed photo storage.

    • zealmax on 07/10/2016 - 21:40
      +1

      Uploadr isn't free anymore.

  • zealmax on 07/10/2016 - 21:45

    I have over 4TB of photos and videos. I have been uploading it to Google Photos since May. Took about 4 months to upload, using Telstra cable 1Mbps upload speed.

    Copy 1. 5TB HDD inside low power PC, syncs to Google Photos.
    Copy 2. 4 disk Windows Parity Storage Spaces volume.
    Copy 3. Bunch of HDD that I leave at the office. Good to have offsite backup.
    Replica. Google Photos. Not a copy, since all of the photos get scaled down to 16MP and video are significantly compressed. Good for sharing photos and videos with family and friends. It's free.

  • BabyBlogger on 07/10/2016 - 21:48
    +1

    I use Office 365 $12/month for 5 accounts and 1TB each account. Kids get the latest office for school work and I get loads of cloud storage. Also looked at Google drive, amazon cloud but ultimately chose MS Onedrive for the bundled Office software and free skype minutes.

  • DealzEddy123 on 08/10/2016 - 08:16

    I use Amazon Prime with Unlimited Photo backup in their cloud.

    I used an Amazon.de prime account because it's cheaper, but you'll need a Euro credit card and address (can use fake address)

    Slow internet doesnt really matter.. just let it run overnight and through the day assuming you have an unlimited plan

  • bargainmuncher on 08/10/2016 - 10:22

    Hey OP,
    If I were you, I would consider using storj.io. at the moment it is free to store your stuff, however it will be likely the cheapest when the time comes to pay. It is basically a decentralized storage network - think of it like torrenting your files.

  • subydooby on 08/10/2016 - 19:50

    Try printing them out and storing them in a shoe box under the bed…

  • Name on 09/10/2016 - 08:37

    Check what your router can support. My home router has two usb ports that I can plug external portable hard drives into (2TB max per USB port).

    My set up is a $98 2TB Seagate usb portable drive I got from officeworks plugged into my router, and then crashplan that backs up that usb hard drive. I mount the network storage so it acts like a local drive.

    I'm against RAID style backups (well to a degree- as long as you're also backing up offsite) because if there is a fire or you get burgled, both backups are together and will both go.

    Friends do the backup hard drive and swap them with a mate "once a month" to get offsite storage, but you could potentially lose a month worth of data or as it turns out that month just gets dragged to longer and longer times between back ups.

  • Danthemanz on 09/10/2016 - 15:37

    Either a NAS/file server at your place with a regularly updated external HDD stored at at Family members house.
    Cloud is very difficult with the current state of internet, if you have a top NBN plan you could manage it though. RAW files are just too dam big.

  • methdd on 10/10/2016 - 05:32
    +3

    I own a photography business and we do over 170 weddings a year, over 50 corporate shoots a year and over 700 studio shoots a year. I find that people over complicate things and I also find people backup unnecessarily thinking they'll go back to photos they've taken years ago when they won't. Ever.

    Here's what I do.
    1) shoot the event
    2) copy to SSD on the computer and a backup to an external hdd on the same computer. I'll then make another copy on another hdd that is stored at the studio (or vice versa depending where the original copy occurred).
    3) edit the raw photos and export to jpg.
    4) upload high res edited photos online (smugmug unlimited)
    5) burn DVD and send to client.
    6) delete all raw files

    I end up with a jpg backup of the edited files plus an online backup as well. Once clients have received their photos that's all that's needed to backup. For family events and extra special shoots I want to retain raw, I do the edit and upload online and also backup using dual hdd manually. This is pretty rare though as I find jpg is enough.

    It works for me as my style of editing is very natural and not over done. This means that the picture straight out camera is very similar to that of the edited photo. This also means there's no need to retain the raw file anymore as we've got what we wanted out of it.

    If you wanted to do a filtered edit or something fancy with a photo, there's always the edited jpg to work from.

    Also I always work on one Lightroom catalogue. Every event in Lightroom that's still in there is an "outstanding job" that hasn't been completed yet. Once the job has been edited and exported then it's over and we delete it from Lightroom. There's absolutely no reason to leave it in Lightroom anymore. This is good as I use Lightroom as a way to see all my outstanding jobs which could be 30 weddings behind.

  • georgesc on 15/10/2016 - 03:01

    Got a 3TB external drive which is sync daily with Amazon S3, Im using 40GB ATM and it's like $1.50 USD a month
    If I were anal about the local copy would either get a twin external HDD or if Im rich, a Raid 1 NAS

  • cupcake on 20/10/2016 - 09:17

    I just bought this for my photos and video files:

    http://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/seagate-4tb…

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