I can't even front that I have a 1/10th of the computer knowledge I should have at this point in my life so ill be very basic. I have stored about 80% (nearly 10 years worth) of all my families video memories onto the hard drive of our old PC (2003 Sony Viao). #1, I'm nervous about that old PC dying on me and second,I'm more nervous about a fire or natural disaster destroying family memories. So I plan to make duplicate copies and store them at two off sites from our house. I have recently been transferring them to DVD's but at an excruciatingly slow pace. The DVD burner on that PC is super slow. My plan is to get all of those files on something much safer ASAP. I know that there are tons of cloud services that will store this stuff. I'm seeking advice on good cloud services but at the same time I'd like info on storage mediums that will allow me the ability to group and stylize the vids I have into chapters or files that I can organize kinda like the DVD's I've already done. I've thought about a separate external hard drive but want it in a more manageable format than just a massive dump site for vids. I've yet to attempt real video editing either. It's all gonna be new but hopefully worthwhile and relieve a lot of angst too.
Other Ideas for better memory storage
- Thread starter Pablo
- Start date
tom21
havin fun
- Location
- clearwater FL
im interested also, as I have lost a few pcs over the years and once the camcorder with like 3gb died and I had not backed up the more recent stuff. I hate not being tech savvy.
Cloud storage for that amount of data won't be cheap.
Buy a USB hard drive dock and several 2Tb hard drives. Make copies onto the hard drives then take them off-site, in a fire safe, wherever and you're good.
I use this dock http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-eSATA-External-Docking-Station/dp/B001J8BPYM/ and these drives http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Internal-Desktop/dp/B004CSIG1G/ at work along with imaging software for all my server backups. You can probably go for a lower cost hard drive than Caviar Black and go on up to 3Tb or whatever size drives you need.
Driveimage XML works great for imaging an entire hard drive and it's free. http://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm
Buy a USB hard drive dock and several 2Tb hard drives. Make copies onto the hard drives then take them off-site, in a fire safe, wherever and you're good.
I use this dock http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-eSATA-External-Docking-Station/dp/B001J8BPYM/ and these drives http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Internal-Desktop/dp/B004CSIG1G/ at work along with imaging software for all my server backups. You can probably go for a lower cost hard drive than Caviar Black and go on up to 3Tb or whatever size drives you need.
Driveimage XML works great for imaging an entire hard drive and it's free. http://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm
- Location
- Idaho
Would a solid state USB hard drive be better than the standard hard drives?
oxnard111
Creative RE Purchasing
- Location
- so Cali, Ventura/Oxnard area
As for online storage... it is not the cheapest, but here is a link for Crashplan 1 year free. Just enter your email address. If I were you, I would install Crashplan onto your main computer, and then have that connect to your second older computer as a shared drive where all of the videos are located. You can point crashplan to the storage on that older computer.
https://www.crashplan.com/carboniteswitcher/
(The link says you need to be an existing Carbonite backup user, but you don't. Just enter any old email address.)
I basically do the same thing. I installed Crashplan on my MacBook Air. I also have a NAS (Network Area Storage) that sits in my closet. I navigate to the NAS and connect to it is a shared drive. I then pointed Crashplan to that shared drive. It took about 1 month to upload about 1.2TB work of data at an average of 1MB/sec with interruptions of my computer not being turned on. I am lucky to have an ISP that doesn't have bandwidth transfer limits.
With this scenario I have local storage and remote storage. So even if my house burned down, all of my data is still retrievable.
Crashplan also has a cool feature that lets you point to a friends/family computer at another location and back up to that computer. Both computers must be running the Crashplan software. And the best part is that it is free. So you could go buy an extra USB harddrive and plug it in at a friends house and back up to that location... again all for free.
Here is a good article on how to setup Crashplan
http://lifehacker.com/5787572/set-up-an-automated-bulletproof-file-back-up-solution
https://www.crashplan.com/carboniteswitcher/
(The link says you need to be an existing Carbonite backup user, but you don't. Just enter any old email address.)
I basically do the same thing. I installed Crashplan on my MacBook Air. I also have a NAS (Network Area Storage) that sits in my closet. I navigate to the NAS and connect to it is a shared drive. I then pointed Crashplan to that shared drive. It took about 1 month to upload about 1.2TB work of data at an average of 1MB/sec with interruptions of my computer not being turned on. I am lucky to have an ISP that doesn't have bandwidth transfer limits.
With this scenario I have local storage and remote storage. So even if my house burned down, all of my data is still retrievable.
Crashplan also has a cool feature that lets you point to a friends/family computer at another location and back up to that computer. Both computers must be running the Crashplan software. And the best part is that it is free. So you could go buy an extra USB harddrive and plug it in at a friends house and back up to that location... again all for free.
Here is a good article on how to setup Crashplan
http://lifehacker.com/5787572/set-up-an-automated-bulletproof-file-back-up-solution
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Tyrant1919
Site Supporter
- Location
- Washington, DC
Get an external hard drive or two for backups. If you want it in a manageable format, you'll have to design an organized file structure for your backup drives. It'll take time, but is doable. There's many ways to do it. I believe this is the best based on what you told me.
Solid State drives would work, but are more expensive and do not hold as much. And therefore are not currently the best long term storage solution.
Source: PC/Server/Network Tech for 9 years.
Solid State drives would work, but are more expensive and do not hold as much. And therefore are not currently the best long term storage solution.
Source: PC/Server/Network Tech for 9 years.
SSD excel at random access, for long term storage there is no reason to use that.
For all you guys that have storage devices in your home, plugged in, you're at risk with lightning strikes or power surges. They do happen. A photographer friend of mine lost several months of work because he got lax about unplugging his backup drives and had a lightning strike take out his computer and both backup drives. It can happen.
For true backups of important info, back it up, unplug it, and store it somewhere safe from fire/flood/etc.
Crashplan looks nice, but what's the catch? Nothing that is worth something is ever truly free...
For all you guys that have storage devices in your home, plugged in, you're at risk with lightning strikes or power surges. They do happen. A photographer friend of mine lost several months of work because he got lax about unplugging his backup drives and had a lightning strike take out his computer and both backup drives. It can happen.
For true backups of important info, back it up, unplug it, and store it somewhere safe from fire/flood/etc.
Crashplan looks nice, but what's the catch? Nothing that is worth something is ever truly free...
Vumad
Super Hero, with a cape!
- Location
- St. Pete, FL
You want something like this. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Seagate...kuId=4771756&st=external Harddrive&cp=1&lp=10 This is a good option as it is simple, closed, plug and play. I have a similar version that is network based, but does not support USB and is stupid slow. it was a horrible purchase. I did the math and at the network transfer rates the 3TB would take 2 weeks to transfer. Buy something with USB 3.0. I'm not suggesting this specific model, just something like it that is USB 3.0 and large in size. The nice thing about this one is the HDD is interchangeable so you can remove it and plug another into the dock. This allows you to save money on duplicate drives by only owning one dock. External drives are really just internal drives in enclosures, so if the dock fails, you can always remove and recover from option 2 (read on).
There are other options at other prices, that link is just an example.
This is another good option... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-NA-_-NA This is a internal HDD docking station. This dock lets you plug any compatable HDD into it for read/write. Again, I didn't do any research, just linked the 1st similar item that popped up. The ebenfit to this is that internal HDD are cheaper than a full enclosed model. However, the down side is that there is no protection because it does not have an enclosure. It is very prone to static discharge damage.
The advantage to SSD goes beyond just speed. SSD has no moving parts and is less likely to be damaged. SSD is just a gigantic SD card like what you use in the gopro. It consumes less power so it can run off USB with no need to plug into the wall. They are smaller, more durable, faster but all at a much higher cost per GB.
a 500GB SSD will cost almost as much as a 3TB disk drive. The disk drive will be sufficient if you do not abuse it. By abuse I mean physical and electrical shock. They both will fail in fire/flood at about the same rate. SSD might be more durable against humidity and such but you should research that.
Assuming you have only filled up your computer, which typically is about 500GB to 1TB, you may be able to just use a SSD. Photos and documents will very easily fit onto a 500/1000GB SSD. Video is going to eat tons of memory, especially at 1080p. If you have any intentions of dealing with HD video, or going crazy with high rez images, you might want to get a traditional drive.
In any case, my recomendation would be to get 2 external drives and one PC drive (I'm assuming you have a desktop). Install a second HDD in your desktop the same size as your 2 back ups (say everything is 2TB). You computer runs slow when the memory is full so install your OS and programs on your primary drive (smaller drive, with faster read rates generally expressed in RPM, or use a SSD drive). Save all your important data to the secondary internal HDD. Keep you docking station on your desk and weekly you can remove your primary backup from your fire/water resistant safe (all safes are resistant, not proof) and back up everything on the PC drive. Monthly or bi-monthly you can get your secondary backup from your safety deposit box or friends house safe and back up the back up.
Having triplicate of the files (1 primary daily use in your PC, a backup and a remotely stored secondary backup) is over kill and extra work, but it will certainly ease your mind.
BTW, Windows now offers something like iCloud called Skydrive (free) that will help you sync your files. I haven't used it yet, I just downloaded it but it looks promising. You do not want to go to a cloud service because you will get raped and still wont possess your files.
Lastly, if you have important pictures, PRINT THEM AND MAKE ALBUMS!!! Date the back of the photos and put the names of the people in them. as formats change and etc, you will loose your data. No matter how hard you try, things will get lost. Print the most important images. We have multiple photo albums. Remember, viruses jump. Backing up your data doesn't mean you wont loose it, but that you are just less likely to.
There are other options at other prices, that link is just an example.
This is another good option... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-NA-_-NA This is a internal HDD docking station. This dock lets you plug any compatable HDD into it for read/write. Again, I didn't do any research, just linked the 1st similar item that popped up. The ebenfit to this is that internal HDD are cheaper than a full enclosed model. However, the down side is that there is no protection because it does not have an enclosure. It is very prone to static discharge damage.
The advantage to SSD goes beyond just speed. SSD has no moving parts and is less likely to be damaged. SSD is just a gigantic SD card like what you use in the gopro. It consumes less power so it can run off USB with no need to plug into the wall. They are smaller, more durable, faster but all at a much higher cost per GB.
a 500GB SSD will cost almost as much as a 3TB disk drive. The disk drive will be sufficient if you do not abuse it. By abuse I mean physical and electrical shock. They both will fail in fire/flood at about the same rate. SSD might be more durable against humidity and such but you should research that.
Assuming you have only filled up your computer, which typically is about 500GB to 1TB, you may be able to just use a SSD. Photos and documents will very easily fit onto a 500/1000GB SSD. Video is going to eat tons of memory, especially at 1080p. If you have any intentions of dealing with HD video, or going crazy with high rez images, you might want to get a traditional drive.
In any case, my recomendation would be to get 2 external drives and one PC drive (I'm assuming you have a desktop). Install a second HDD in your desktop the same size as your 2 back ups (say everything is 2TB). You computer runs slow when the memory is full so install your OS and programs on your primary drive (smaller drive, with faster read rates generally expressed in RPM, or use a SSD drive). Save all your important data to the secondary internal HDD. Keep you docking station on your desk and weekly you can remove your primary backup from your fire/water resistant safe (all safes are resistant, not proof) and back up everything on the PC drive. Monthly or bi-monthly you can get your secondary backup from your safety deposit box or friends house safe and back up the back up.
Having triplicate of the files (1 primary daily use in your PC, a backup and a remotely stored secondary backup) is over kill and extra work, but it will certainly ease your mind.
BTW, Windows now offers something like iCloud called Skydrive (free) that will help you sync your files. I haven't used it yet, I just downloaded it but it looks promising. You do not want to go to a cloud service because you will get raped and still wont possess your files.
Lastly, if you have important pictures, PRINT THEM AND MAKE ALBUMS!!! Date the back of the photos and put the names of the people in them. as formats change and etc, you will loose your data. No matter how hard you try, things will get lost. Print the most important images. We have multiple photo albums. Remember, viruses jump. Backing up your data doesn't mean you wont loose it, but that you are just less likely to.
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