Photo Storage Problems Grrr

[Filson Back]

have been storing files (raw files and film scans) directly on my hard drive on my laptop and it has been filling up fast and thus slowing down my machine. So I went out and got a 1tb external drive--the Iomega Ego Blackbelt or some such thing. It seemed to have decent reviews and was semi-drop proof which seemed good. So after a long transfer (50 gig of photos) I started checking files. A ton were corrupted. Fortunately I have the folder backed up remotely with Backblaze--but restoring it is a pain. Is there some known issue with transferring image files to external USB hard drives? I'm not a techie so any advice on this is really appreciated. I couldn't believe that so many files were corrupted--a relatively small percentage but in every folder there was at least one. Is Iomega known for turning out garbage? The reviews were decent. What kinds of storage solutions have people had luck with?

 

[Roger Hicks]

I used Iomega and Maxtor with no problems and now have 2x 2TB Memups each partitioned as 4x 500 GB drives for faster access. This is apparently Good Stuff but was done for me by someone who knows far more about PCs than I. I moved all the stuff from the old drives just using Windows: slow, but it worked. Mind you, this was from a desktop, not a laptop.

Cheers,

R.

 

[ederek]

Nothing to offer wrt corrupted files - sorry.

If you use Lightroom or another application that uses a catalog to store library details and thumbnails, it is best to keep this file locally on the laptop, and store a backup file on the external drive. There are some websites recommending to run everything off the external drive, and this can lead to issues.

I also keep recent images that are being processed, etc., locally on the laptop, with a copy on the external. Then, every so often move these over to the external (with a copy on the desktop system at home).

Processing images that reside locally on the laptop hard drive is usually faster and more reliable (except for some eSata connections with fast external drives).

I recently got an Oyen Digital, MiniPro external. It is Firewire 800 and 1TB in the small form factor. Works very well so far.

 

[ederek]

Also, with Lightroom, best to use the application to move files between drives, versus a file manager outside the application.

 

[ampguy]

I have a couple of SAN devices in the house, which back up to remote SANs "in the cloud"

I wasn't having any issues with external USB drives, other than to keep the multiple backups synced, finding the proper drives, and cables and getting multiple copies stored.

Now I read the card once, and it's distributed securely and widely. It cost a bit more than just getting more small usb drives, but being able to upload, replicate, and access anywhere is important for me.

 

[migtex]

I use external Raid 1 disks (eSata) with 2 TB, then copy them to a NAS with RAID 5 (QNAP box).
When on the field use the Synctoy tool from MSFT to laptop copy and a Hyperdrive Album to copy the CF cards (twice).
The Skydrive from MSFT has 25 GB so the cloud is available.. the only pain is the upload speed/bandwith

 

[ampguy]

not much space

not much space

25GB is not much space. My utilization for reduced photos online (to about 1200px on the wide side) ~ 300kb / image, already uses over 30GB online.

Find some good netapp to netapp or even equallogic to equallogic SAN setup and you can replicate only deltas 'to the cloud'

The RAID 5 box you have is a good one for home/small business (Cisco OEM's the QNAP for SMBs), but you still need to backup that raid box, preferably off-site, and depending on your needs, you may want that data available and live for business continuity.

I use external Raid 1 disks (eSata) with 2 TB, then copy them to a NAS with RAID 5 (QNAP box).
When on the field use the Synctoy tool from MSFT to laptop copy and a Hyperdrive Album to copy the CF cards (twice).
The Skydrive from MSFT has 25 GB so the cloud is available.. the only pain is the upload speed/bandwith

 

[atlcruiser]

Also, with Lightroom, best to use the application to move files between drives, versus a file manager outside the application.

can you tell me a bit more about this? I am a real computer tard🙂

currently i have 2 lightroom libraries on the home desktop with both backed up onto the external drive. how would i use LR to manage this?

 

[Bruin]

Use Teracopy or Syncback to do validated transfers between HDDs. Both programs are free.

No matter how you store your photos, make sure your transfers are validated!

 

[ampguy]

Just setup a budget NAS/ftp server for a relative. 4TB in RAID 1 config (2TB usable, either drive can fail).

Not fast, but it's acting as backup so can be backed up from any PC on the home network.

Cool thing is that it allows the 2TB 3.5" drives to idle when not used, so power consumption at idle is < 15W.

Total cost < $300 with black friday deals.