Digital Media | Spotlight: Photography | Inside Lightroom | Blogs
A Backup Disk Solution
Earlier this year, I wrote quite a bit on this blog about storage and backing up. Starting with a New Years Storage Resolution, I worked my way up to The Simplest Storage Solution. In short, I keep multiple copies of my data, including rotating data disks through a safe deposit box. These used to be external FireWire drives, but over time I've migrated to using bare hard drives.
When I talk about this with people in person, a frequent question is, "How do you deal with hooking up and disconnecting those drives?" For a while, I've used trays that slide in and out of my external SATA drive array. The downside to that is having to get extra trays or screwing drives in and out of trays. The other solution I've used is a USB to SATA converter cable set. The problem with this is that you end up with cables everywhere.
Then, the other day at Fry's, I stumbled across a gizmo that goes one step forward and provides a nice, easy to use docking station. It's called the Thermaltake BlacX and it supports both 2.5" and 3.5" SATA hard drives. Here's a photo of mine on my desk:
There are variants of this device that hook up to your computer with just USB or USB and eSATA connections. Using eSATA is nice for speed, but if you are using this kind of device for simply syncing disks for offsite backup, either will work fine. I've had mine for just a few days and already I'm very happy. I picked my copy up for $40 at Fry's. A quick search on Google for "Thermaltake BlacX" kicks back a variety of places you can look for it.
What does this have to do with Lightroom? Directly, not much. But indirectly, when you're working in Lightroom, you're working with super valuable data. The kind of data that needs a good backup plan. If you don't have a backup solution in place, now is the time to do it.
Great solution -- I found one for $29 at PC Universe
http://www.pcuniverse.com/Thermaltake-BlacX-N0028USU-Storage-enclosure-SATA-300-Hi-Speed-USB/N0028USU/pd/p4451404&m_id=32
I'm going for a Drobo unit shortly. The fact is SATA drives fail, and they fail all the time. The other fact is that RAID arrays are a pain to maintain.
Drobo solves both of those problems. It allows me to use up those SATA drive I have kicking around, while providing me with a painless way to put storage on the network for use by every computer in the house.
While this is interesting, I prefer to just let Time Machine handle hard drive backups to a large array. For offsite backups, I am now backing up all my flagged photos to Amazon S3 storage using Jungle Disk. Sure, there is a monthly charge for the use, but my photos are worth it.
clvrmky: Of course hard drives fail and the Drobo is a great solution. However, don't treat its ability to survive drive failure as a backup solution. You should still have a copy of your data somewhere else. After all, the drobo volume itself can go south.
Richard: Of course Time Machine is usable for lots of people. At some point in space, however, it gets a bit more difficult. The right solution will be different for everyone.
This device looks interesting - has anybody found a source in the UK? (Shipping costs from the USA are prohibitive).
How about 50GB Blu-Ray media, with supposed 100 year storage life? Has anyone looked into this solution as a viable backup for digital data?
For Roger,
I am based in Ireland and ordered the following from Hong Kong and it's brilliant:
http://usb.brando.com.hk/prod_detail.php?prod_id=00466&dept_id=015&cat_id=039
I don't know anything about the company and have no connection with them just a happy camper.
cheers,
Barry
Thanks for the link, Barry. The difference in prices between the US & your link are incredible. At the HK prices, this is really not a viable option for me - I'd rather spend that amount on fixed disks.
Dean,
The cost of the Blu-ray burner alone is as much or more than the cost of getting the Thermaltake BlacX and a large SATA HDD. The bonus of HDD is that they're re-writeable and cheaper per GB than a Blu-Ray disc is(and way cheaper than a re-writeable Blu-Ray disc). Currently the Blu-Ray option is very cost prohibitive. As technology/production advances, it might become a viable option. But I doubt it would surpass the cost efficiency of SATA HDD.
Duncan,
Thanks for the recommendation on the BlacX. My wife likes to back up all our pictures, even the ones I haven't edited. I've wanted a cheaper/more convenient option than multiple external hard drives. The BlacX looks like a really affordable and very useful option.
How about 50GB Blu-Ray media, with supposed 100 year storage life? Has anyone looked into this solution as a viable backup for digital data?
Joe said:
Great solution -- I found one for $29 at PC Universe
http://www.pcuniverse.com/Thermaltake-BlacX-N0028USU-Storage-enclosure-SATA-300-Hi-Speed-USB/N0028USU/pd/p4451404&m_id=32
THANKS JOE!!!!