Storing My Digital Files -- Recommendations?

Hello

Since I started shooting RAW last year, I have found myself in a space quandry. Not enough storage.

My current system setup involves the hard drive of my work laptop (not its intended use -- I do not work in the industry, but my employer allows us to use our laptops for personal apps, understanding that it remains their property.) I back that up with a 160 gb Western Digital portable hard drive.

My problem is that I simply cant get enough space on my laptop hard drive now to load new shots. I cannot process fast enough to stay ahead of the game. That means I will have to start moving first copies to my portable HD, with no backups. My optical drive is a CD burner only. Any upgrade to my laptop is not an option.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

I would advice you to get a second HDD, they are rather cheap and it's a secure way of doing it if you ask me.

My current set up is an internal 500Gb in the computer with a 1Tb external for backups and then I have a second external (500Gb) that I keep on another location for security (fire, theft etc)
I do occasionally burn DVD:s, but I have a habit off forgetting to do that, so I find the automated backup (via Aperture's Vault feature) a much better solution for me

I have two 500GB Western Digital hard drives that work really well. They are mirrors of each other.

I shop at Costco and got 2 250GB Passports. They are small, have cords and have their own covers. You can take them anywhere without taking up space in your bag. I have not had any problems with them.

I have two 500 Gig drives in my PC as well as one external 500 Gig and another external HD that is 320 Gig.

Yeah, I'm anal about not wanting to lose any data.

How about just buying an external DVD burner? You can do it for less than $80USD. Here's one from Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com …aspx?Item=N82E1​6827106098

For the not-so-computer-savvy, Newegg is one of the premier places for computer and A/V related stuff. I've built many systems from their parts.

I personally have 160GB on the laptop with two 500GB externals; one for backup and the other for "near line" storage. I've built a VB app that takes my images from the CF card and moves them into folders on both my laptop for editing and the 500GB Storage drive. Works well.

You can get an external 500 gig hard drive relatively cheap nowadays, and for about another $30 you can pick up a drive enclosure with USB2 and Firewire connections...I'm using two of them with my iMac.

I have a Western Digital 250GB external mini HDD for my laptop...love it.

but if you're not worried about space/portability...yo​u can get a 1TB desktop backup HDD for dirt cheap these days

These are all great ideas. I am beginning to see that part of my problem is workflow related.

Has anyone used a drive that is internet accessible?

sidx001 wrote in post #5342419
I personally have 160GB on the laptop with two 500GB externals; one for backup and the other for "near line" storage. I've built a VB app that takes my images from the CF card and moves them into folders on both my laptop for editing and the 500GB Storage drive. Works well.

That's cool!!! Mind sharing the application and/or the source code???

If you watch the stores you can get pick up some External HD's pretty cheap. I bought a Hitachi 500gb external that came loaded with back up software for $90. Then I found a portable 2.5" Toshiba 250gb for $49.

Today I saw a table full of WD 2.5" External HD's, the 250gb were only $90 and the 160gb were only $60.

Discov3ry wrote in post #5349563
That's cool!!! Mind sharing the application and/or the source code

If you use CS3 then Bridge will do this for you. When I download a card I use the Adobe Downloader and download the images to my 120gb internal HD, and copy them to the Toshiba. There is an option to make a copy of the files on a different location. After I delete and edit the new photos I copy those files to my Hitachi and overwrite the orginal folder on my Toshiba. Probably not the best process, but it works for me.

External USB drives. putting photos on internal drives simply sets you up for a massive data transfer task when you upgrade to a newer, faster PC that utilizes harddrives with a newer hd interface!

[QUOTE=Wilt;5353463]External USB drives. putting photos on internal drives simply sets you up for a massive data transfer task when you upgrade to a newer, faster PC that utilizes harddrives with a newer hd interface![/quote]

true Wilt. I use two external hard drives to store my files. storage is too cheap these days to even consider clogging up my PC with raw files.

you can get a quality 750 gig hard drive for less than i paid for a 500-gig hard drive three months ago.

External - 750GB eSATA / USB 2.0 External Hard Drive (Seagate) - eCOST.com - e

ed rader

mattograph wrote in post #5349502
These are all great ideas. I am beginning to see that part of my problem is workflow related.

Has anyone used a drive that is internet accessible?

You don't want to go down that road unless you have an internet connection with an extremely fast upstream connection. Think about how long it would take to upload just one small 1Gb card...