I was looking at Carbonite- but found out it only backs up whats already stored on your harddrive not archieved files on (for example an external HD)- what method do you use to protect your files?
I use Carbonite. Here is how I use it: Down load to specific folder on the hard drive. Copy ALL files to an external hard drive. Up load all files from folder (internal) to Carbonite. Once up load is complete, deleate all the files from the internal hard drive to make room for the next down load/up load.
A little bit of a pain, but after losing images due to external hard drive failures (Western Digital), it is well worth the trouble. FYI I have switched to a Buffalo external hard drive with 2 x 500GB, set-up in a mirrored format. No problems since I switched.
Thanksso much for the reply- in your opinion whatr would be the easiest way to upload old, old files to the site(files you have on CD or DVD only? Temporarily storing them on your internal?
Edit: I just noticed that you were asking about off site backup only not backup in general. Sorry about the rant on the local backup. I'll leave it as someone may still find it useful.
Hi,
This is something that I spent a long time pondering when I was setting up my backup system.
I use 2xinternal drives with a daily incremental backup scheduled to run at 6am where it compares the files and uploads the changed ones. The software I use is free from Comodo so there is no other costs besides the cost of the Hard Drives or you could just use rsync which is also free. Once a week it does a full backup where it also deletes files that no longer exist on the primary drive. I considered setting them up in RAID 1 or getting a 3rd drive for RAID 5 as I have the controllers but the current way it's set up if I make a mistake editing or delete photos I have until 6am that day to change my mind on the edits and until Sunday to undo the deletes. Also I have had some bad experiences with the consumer RAID solutions where one drive failed but because they required software to be installed on the computer the second drive did not actually contain a mirror just a file table....and all was lost when one of the drives failed despite the software telling me all is fine throughout the use.
The 2 drive non RAID solution also allows me to go in and verify from time to time that indeed there is a 2nd copy of all my files. The only benefit of RAID 1 over 2 drives separately would be increased read speed but even that not so much with the cheaper software solutions, the read speed is not that important with photos either so unless you edit videos there is no benefits to using RAID. If you do chose to use RAID I would only trust a hardware RAID but those tend to be more expensive and are on the fly backup which means you cannot really go back on your mistakes. There are other ways.
Some of the hosting companies will offer to archive your files for you for a small additional fee but I have found it to be impractical for my purposes. At this point I have 30k photos stored most of them RAW so it would take forever to upload all of them and I would have to alter my editing workflow. I only have looked at Smugmug's vault or similar name service which seems like a good deal but I'm sure there are others that offer comparable service.
If I was making my primary income from my photos I would definitely use something like the Smugmug's service in addition to local backup but I would probably not edit or access the files from there, just use it as backup. I would not use offsite service as the only backup either as who knows what might happen to the co-location facilities where their storage actually resides. I think Smugmug says that they will store copies of your data in 5 locations but still what if the company goes out of business.
If you have a studio or office location you may want to keep a RAID array at your studio and one at your house plus online storage. That way you have 2 physical locations that you have access to in case of fire or earthquake in my case and 1 online just for the peace of mind at very little cost but slow access speed.
The BIG problem I see with Carbonite or other off-site out-of-state companies that you do not manage, is what happens when you need to retrieve the data? How long is it going to take to download 500GB of data? A LONG FREAKING TIME.
Sure it's another option, but, I would never use that service to rescue me from a fault or something on my primary backup. Here is my backup situation:
1. 2x750GB as my working drives (one contains only weddings, the other contains all my other business related files, including documents).
2. I then have those drives backed up daily onto seperate internal HD (using SATA is very very fast). These drives are the same make, brand and size in set #1. I use a similar program that abacus described, backups are programmed everyday, and at the end of the week they delete all the files that were deleted on set #1 drives as well.
3. I then have a third set that is kept in a safe-deposit box at the bank a couple miles away. They are also the same make, model and size of both sets #1 and #2. I bring these home every 2 weeks, pop them into the computer with my hot-swap bays and run the backups on those. Set #2 and #3 are alternated at the bank. i.e., I bring set #2 to bank, swap for set #3 (then vise-versa). This way, one set of ALL my necessary data is ALWAYS kept off site.
Works for me, sure it's not perfect, but its quick and easy. I'm considering making a 4th set of drives to keep at parents house or something, but since sets #2 and #3 are only turned on and used for very little time, their failure rate is going to be much lower than set #1.
I couldn't imagine uploading 20GB of data every week to an off-site service like Carbonite.
About RAID. I used to have a large 1+0 RAID array, this way I didn't have to program the backups. Problem was that even my expensive RAID card had corruption problems. I noticed it midway through processing a wedding, that some of the files were going corrupt. Out went the RAID card immediately, and now incremental backups. This seems a little safer for me, as using the motherboard connections have never failed me (yet), atleast for corrupting data while writing/copying.
My off-site back up is simple... I back up my hard drive and all of my archives onto an external harddrive and then take it to my safe deposit box. No need to depend on other servers. Protects me in case of fire and theft.
I was looking at Carbonite- but found out it only backs up whats already stored on your harddrive not archieved files on (for example an external HD)- what method do you use to protect your files?
I think you'll find that to be a problem with most web-based backup services. I use Mozy and they have the same problem/limitation. Also, if you are on a typical broadband connection (DSL or cable), the download speeds are great and the upload speeds are pathetic! Mine averages about 30MB per hour, or about a week of 24/7 computer time for my typical wedding. I have had to retrieve some files before, around 10GB worth. It only took Mozy a couple hours to package them up in a zip file on their servers and download time was minimal.
surfcat wrote:
My off-site back up is simple... I back up my hard drive and all of my archives onto an external harddrive and then take it to my safe deposit box. No need to depend on other servers. Protects me in case of fire and theft.
What happens when your HD in your computer dies in between your last backup?
Fireman Rich wrote:
I use Carbonite. Here is how I use it: Down load to specific folder on the hard drive. Copy ALL files to an external hard drive. Up load all files from folder (internal) to Carbonite. Once up load is complete, deleate all the files from the internal hard drive to make room for the next down load/up load.
As I understand Carbonite (which I use) if it does not find a file on your internal drive 1 month after backing it up it deletes it from the backup! Quote from Carbonite FAQ
"What happens if I delete a file from my PC?
We currently keep deleted files in your backup for 30 days. After that, we'll purge any files that are no longer on your PC."
Either I misunderstood you, you misunderstood Carbonite or I am wrong!
For the low price I use Carbonite as a safety net but not main back-up. If info saved in my harddrive back-up or DVD and something does not look right I still can check carbonite for that file as long as it is in the main harddrive within the 30 day period.Only required it one time but it was sure nice to have when I had to replace a internal HD that failed.
Great thread. I was considering some of the online storage services and was well aware of the upload/download issues relating to speed. Good to hear others opinions regarding this. Currently, I have one external 750 drive that I backup to and I realize that this is not a good situation. I would love a raid array with hot swapping but the price seems high. Anyone have any recommendations for equipment and suppliers?
