Online archiving?

Hi all,

I am looking for a online archiving service to storage my RAW files. I already use Mozy for my files, but it is a backup service, which means it will delete the online version if you remove your local file. As my RAWs take too much space (20mb each) I wanted to store them online and remove from my hard disk. I am thinking of uploading (offloading? ) my RAW files and keeping only my jpgs...

Any suggestions?

One possible issue to be aware of, as it has happened in the past to people using such services...offline storage server services have gone out of business and did not bother to tell customers or to send their data to another service, so data which was not backed up was totally lost!

I would not recommend using online storage for an "only" source of back up under any circumstances!

Further, I don't recommend it for back of RAW files at all.
The numbers get to be too high for online to be a reasonable solution IMHO.

Now,. many may not be at that point,. and I suppose never will be, but online archiving of Terabytes worth of Data just doesn't seem a reasonable solution...

You seem willing to pay for this service though, has it occurred to you that hard drives are very affordable? For two years of an online service, you could by a very large hard drive.

Look at some f threads here on POTN (see "threads like this one" at the bottom of this page, or do a search for back up workflow)
What you really need to be doing is archiving your images to multiple copies of media. I recommend at least three physical copies,. two on site and one off site.

Sorry, would not trust any online service. As Wilt mentioned, their track record is not good. Not to mention the uploading/downloading times can become excessive.... One can put a lot of 20mb files on a relatively inexpensive terabyte (or greater) drive, then keep a secondary offsite.

Like the above users have recommended, use an offsite backup. go rent a safety deposit box, and store your back up hard drives there.

If you are just trying to save space, just get another hard drive. they are not expensive. For around $100-$150 USD, you can pick up 2TB.

Better to upgrade hard drives and implement a solid backup plan.

I agree with the previous posters as not relying on online backup as a primary source. Though, it may not be a bad idea if you're traveling and need to upload the photos somewhere for redundancy purposes. If your laptop is stolen, then you'll at least have the photos online to download when you get home.

Instead, I would get an external enclosure that can hold two hard drives and have them RAIDED. You can set it up as RAID 1, which is creates a mirror image of all your data. If one of your hard drive crashes, you have a secondary copy. Plug in a new hard drive, and you'll have two copies again. Of course, the downfall is you lose half of your space. More advanced external enclosures can create RAID 5, but you'll need at least 3 drives. It's a lot more complicated to explain, so you may want to do research on it if you want to go that route.

appreciate all your input. In the end, it does sound more reasonable to have local large storage than online for that kind of data, it is just that I already have 3 HD on my computer and I did not want to have more... and I tend to rely more on online storage than local disks, but maybe that's just me.

xcel, tks, I do know how RAID work, I just did not want to build a SAN at home...

comcast would have me arrested if I uploaded my files.

I actually just bought me a 2TB WD External drive to replace my 1TB that was about half full already. It came with a software to backup your existing files, however I do not want to back up all of my files. It will allow me to choose to backup only my pictures...but I have a lot of personal pictures that I really do not need backed up. Is there any good software that will allow me to choose my "Customer" folder to be backed up?

You can always look into getting a NAS(network attacked storage) device. Then you will have the best of everything. Network access, upgradablility, and fast speed.

Something as cheap a http://www.amazon.com …TF8&qid=1280244​740&sr=1-4 would work. Like others have said, I wouldnt be a fan of online storage for alot of reasons. The one you would likely run into the most is if your ISP goes down, or their servers go down, you are out of luck. With a NAS device, it would be on your local network, and you wouldnt have that issue.

But even then you need to have a back for the server.

TheLostVertex wrote in post #10611419
You can always look into getting a NAS(network attacked storage) device. Then you will have the best of everything. Network access, upgradablility, and fast speed.

Something as cheap a http://www.amazon.com …TF8&qid=1280244​740&sr=1-4 would work. Like others have said, I wouldnt be a fan of online storage for alot of reasons. The one you would likely run into the most is if your ISP goes down, or their servers go down, you are out of luck. With a NAS device, it would be on your local network, and you wouldnt have that issue.

local backup is okay, but you are screwed if there is a fire/flood/theft.

If you have a lockable drawer at work, you could leave your backup HDD there. I have a friend who has two externals that he backs up to, and he rotates them from home and work.

If you are paranoid about leaving something like that at work, consider encrypting it.

I personally just have a backup internal HDD and I also use mozy... so i have 3 copies of everything... mozy took 3 months for the initial backup, and another 3 months when i upgraded to windows 7 (not sure if there was a way to 'connect' to my original backup)...

loganz wrote in post #10613981
local backup is okay, but you are screwed if there is a fire/flood/theft.

If you have a lockable drawer at work, you could leave your backup HDD there. I have a friend who has two externals that he backs up to, and he rotates them from home and work.

If you are paranoid about leaving something like that at work, consider encrypting it.

I personally just have a backup internal HDD and I also use mozy... so i have 3 copies of everything... mozy took 3 months for the initial backup, and another 3 months when i upgraded to windows 7 (not sure if there was a way to 'connect' to my original backup)...

I know how it goes, been ther 3 times after a format (2x) and then after XP > Win 7... even maintaining the same drive letters and structure (all personal files are on a separate disk) it will backup everything again.

I think the way out is to keep an external drive (eSATA or NAS) and include it on the Mozy backup.

jmalonear wrote in post #10610907
I actually just bought me a 2TB WD External drive to replace my 1TB that was about half full already. It came with a software to backup your existing files, however I do not want to back up all of my files. It will allow me to choose to backup only my pictures...but I have a lot of personal pictures that I really do not need backed up. Is there any good software that will allow me to choose my "Customer" folder to be backed up?

This software is really good, extremely flexible and FRE. It should work like a charm for you.