Photography Thailand Forum

[agitlits]

Hello,

Just want to know your thoughts on image back up. I got fed up with DVDs and whilst I will still be using them for another back up I also purchased an external 1 TB hard drive. What software do you people recommend for auto back up. I am using NERO's software for automatic back up but it records in some weired nero format which I do not like as it does not provide an instant access to your files. Just want to know your thoughts on software and how you actually do back ups.

Thanks
Alex

[bkkdave]

I use Super Duper for backing up my MacBookPro and external drives. I keep all of my images on an external drive and then I back that drive up daily to another external drive. I have two 750 gb drives mounted in one enclosure and back that up to a separate drive.I also have a bootable sata drive that I back up the MacBook too using a fire wire 800 connection. I get my enclosures from OWC computing in the US. Some people keep their backup drives in a safe and others keep them off site. If I were a professional then I would probably do even more than I do now.

On my Windows machine I have a raid configuration that writes to two drives at the same time, plus another drive in  removable tray that can be unlocked and removed. Someone mentioned recently they are using a Drobo and that is probably a raid configuration too. I guess the thing that is really important is to have more than on backup drive just to be safe. When; and it is just a matter of time, all drives will fail and no one is going to be knocking on your door the day before to tell you about it.

[bjorn slis]

1 external drive - original files
1 external drive - backs up automatically with time machine
1 external drive - back up about once a month keep it somewhere else
extra backups on DVD

I have learned my lesson after somebody while cleaning my desk ruined an external drive :-(

[agitlits]

Thanks for your insights guys.
Bjorn - Is "Time Machine" the name of the back up software? Is it good?

Cheers
Alex

[bjorn slis]

yep, included in mac osx

[agitlits]

yep, included in mac osx

Thanks!

[bkkdave]

I am pretty certain 'Time Machine' will not give you a bootable backup and that is the reason I backup to a separate 2 1/2 inch  Sata drive that is bootable and can replace the original drive should and when it fails. I also understand that on a MacBook only an external 'Fire Wire' drive can be made bootable. There is an interesting discussion somewhere on the 'Adobe Lightroom Killer Tips' website in connection with this topic.

Here is another Thread on the subject: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5944356

[Don]

Just to digress a little, I've just plugged in a 500gb external backup ( Seagate ), and transferred several folders ,approx 5000 files, but I find now when I run my antivirus program it takes forever to complete, is there any way around this problem ?

[bkkdave]

Don I think the only way around this is to select the specific drive you want to run the anti virus on. If you do not want to run it on the new external drive then deselect it from the anti virus menu. Other wise yes it will be slower due to the fact that it now has another 500 gb to check. Or use a Mac (-;

[Don]

Thank's Dave, pretty obvious really.

[bkkdave]

Don if you read through this it gives different scenarios with different Back-up programs that are being used by photographers. I hope it helps:

http://www.lightroomkillertips.com/2009/the-truth-about-lightroom-backups/

[agitlits]

Don if you read through this it gives different scenarios with different Back-up programs that are being used by photographers. I hope it helps:

http://www.lightroomkillertips.com/2009/the-truth-about-lightroom-backups/

Thanks Dave.

Alex

[bkkdave]

Alex you are welcome; were you able to arrive at any conclusions thus far? An interesting subject that we all should have an interest in.

[agitlits]

Hi Dave,

I dug up a program called "Syncback" which is a freeware. It seems to do what I want in terms of auto back up to an external HD. I also burn DVDs every now and then. I will see how it works for me over time. Ideally I should take DVDs to another location, but I need to think how to best do that.

Thanks again

Alex

[Marc Schultz]

For PC I use something called Vice Versa PRO for regular backups. Fast and easy and only copies over files that are new or have been modified since the last backup. Also deletes any files from the backup that were removed from the original archive.