Best photo backup solution (hardware + software)

Fresh shots go to laptop where they stay not longer than 3 months.
Instant backup to 2TB external fire/waterproof IoSafe Solo HD.
Using SuperDuper once every couple of weeks to 2nd HD which is stored
offsite.

I import to external 3tb hd then SuperDuper clones it to a second 3tb hd. I also have Crashplan backing up to another 3tb drive on the computer at my parent's place.

I maintain three copies of my whole digital archive: the original + external USB hard drive + an off-site hard drive (in my office). I never erase files on the two copies (full backup, not mirror). Every time I copy files from one hard drive to another, I run a bit-wise comparison between all the files in the two hard drives involved (so I can catch a bit rot - RAID wouldn't catch those), by means of computing and comparing hashes of files. Different copies are under completely different OS (Windows and Linux) which should prevent a full wipe-out by viruses. Every 3-4 years I move data to a new hard drive in each copy (again with full bit-by-bit comparison of the files in the old and new drives).

This is all automated (I wrote my own bash script which I run on my office Linux workstation; it is based on rsync over ssh and md5sum).

madflea wrote in post #17301435
What do you use to manage your photo library backup? Do you juggle external hard drives, live exclusively in the cloud, copy file after file manually and individually or just clone the entire hard drive?

Heya,

I keep it simple and inexpensive. So no NAS or cloud or any of that. I just buy reliable 2TB USB 3.0 drives. And I keep my photos RAW files only after I've processed and moved on from the medium I ended up with after the shoot (be it print or just web use). I have a large capacity internal drive in my PC where I initially dump the CF/SD cards to and process. From there, I have two external drives (USB 3.0) that I then back up all the RAWs too. I simply plug them in, copy over the new files, and remove them and keep them in a safe box. Ideally you would want a burn-proof safe. They're not too pricey. But I don't do that, but it has crossed my mind.

I've considered a wireless NAS for access, but ultimately I'm the only one using the drives, so I haven't needed to go that far.

Very best,

I have an internal one terabyte SSD drive. I also have an 8 TB G Drive which I use for additional storage and backup using the Apple Time Machine backup program which comes with the operating system. It seems to work quite well. The G drive is hooked to the computer through a thunderbolt II cable. It is very fast and reliable. I suppose it is better to have a backup for the backup system but I am not a professional and do not depend upon my photos to make my living. My greatest concern is future accessibility when standards change and the current media may no longer be accessible. That is one disadvantage to the digital age. At least when using film you always had a negative archive to access, assuming you properly stored the negatives.

Bruce

BDM wrote in post #17391521
My greatest concern is future accessibility when standards change and the current media may no longer be accessible. That is one disadvantage to the digital age.

The changes happen slowly enough that you can migrate to new media before the old ones become unreadable. You just can't stick something in a box and come back 30 years later and expect to read it. Now where did I put that parallel port Syquest drive? lol

For Hard Drives of production Macs and location Mac Book Pros I use simple Time Machine which is built in the Airport router. Its good for small mistakes etc.
I also clone hard drives about once a month with SuperDuper incase the hard drive dies, I can swap the cloned ones without delaying any work.
For the RAW image library which is roughly 24 TB, I use a Thunderbolt2 external drive which has four 6TB 7200 rpm drives in it. Works perfect speedwise when working with files, editing etc.
For the added security, I also make a second copy via USB harddrive dock to regular hard drives and store them offsite in a Pelican case.

Vcize wrote in post #17307442
Even if you're backing up locally/manually on a NAS or external hard drive, it's just too easy to backup to the cloud now not to use it, assuming you don't have bandwidth cap issues with your ISP.

Microsoft is offering unlimited cloud storage for $6.99/mo (also comes with an MS Office) and Amazon is offering unlimited cloud storage for free for Prime users. Always good to have that easy to access, offsite backup.

What! How did I not know about the Prime cloud? I'm gonna try that out.

My photos are backed up to an external hard drive attached to my iMac and to an Apple Time Capsule using Time Machine. I have a portable USB 3 drive for my MacBook Pro when traveling for backups as well, but it all gets merged with the backup on the iMac and then erased before the next trip.

Anything I do for a client and my most important personal photos also get their own private gallery on Smugmug.