Monito Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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Without reading pages 2 and 3 of this thread, my strategy:
At least three copies of every file, one each on three disks, one of the disks off-site.
Additionally, use a simple system. By keeping a copy off-site, it protects against fire, theft, and panicked flailing around.
In-system:
500 GB C: System drive; over-ride defaults to keep data off this.
1.5 TB Personal drive: music, code, website source, notes, inspirational images, momentos
1.5 TB Raw photos
1.0 TB Other Photo: work in progress, processed photos, portfolios, notes
3.0 TB Backup for everything. Backed up manually with 8 WinMerge scripts, after important shoots and milestones in work. Sits in a bay with a front opening door for easy removal while system is shut down.
Off-site:
3.0 TB Twin of the backup, kept in safe deposit box at bank, swapped monthly ideally but practically about once every 6 weeks on average.
Additional intention to fit the SDB: A DVD full of as much as fits of portfolio Raws with TIFFs and final print quality JPEGs. A USB stick of a larger set of Raws, TIFFs, & JPEGs. Keep meaning to do this on a systematic basis.
Note: None of the drives are full, so the backup drives are about 70% full currently.
I've been doing this systematically for about a decade; almost as long as I've had DSLRs. (I have some files that are over 20 years old). As drives fill up, I migrate bigger drives down and buy a new pair of biggest drives for the backups. If I were doing such volumes of work that the backup didn't fit on one or two drives I'd probably go to a trio of NAS and do the swap thing offsite somewhere other than a bank.
I only have to retrieve a file or small set of files from the backup about once a year on average (due to careless deletion / overwriting). Never had to rely on the off-site backup, but since it is rotated once a month, it is known to be quite reliable (nothing is 100% reliable; impermanence is the way of all things). Never had a drive fail but a family member did and I had backed her up so almost no loss. Never lost a file due to any bit rot. Have lost about seven photos due to the weakest link: in-camera card writing errors or card download errors.
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