Re: photo storage question

["Emily L. Ferguson" <elf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I back up to DVD.  Two sets, one off site.  RAWs are backed up to 
them as well as keepers.  I am sloppy about system backups, and do 
have some folders which aren't backed up at all, like my business 
paperwork.  Once every couple years or so I pull the entire non-image 
folder and throw it on whatever size non-moving medium will hold it 
all.

I also maintain a folder of jpegs of every one of my keepers, in a 
folder hierarchy that mirrors that on my external hard drive.

I have an external Firewire 500G Western Digital drive which holds 
all my master image files for ready access, but not as backup.

LaCie has a very poor reputation on the Mac-L, Maxtor sort of 
mezza-mezza, Western Digital and Seagate are most frequently 
recommended.

Hard drive are mechanical, non-moving media get superceded and the 
entire backup has to be done every time.  It's been x years since 
DVDs gave CDs a run for their money, x (6?) years since zip 
cartridges were worth bothering with, x (8) years since floppies 
became irrelevant and one can still buy USB external floppy drives 
for those who didn't understand these transitions.

I have more faith in my DVDs enduring as a medium for another 6 years 
after watching the progression from floppies to DVDs over the years!
--
Emily L. Ferguson
mailto:elf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
508-563-6822
New England landscapes, wooden boats and races
http://www.landsedgephoto.com
http://e-and-s.instaproofs.com/