backup solutions

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fugu

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I got a new camera about a year ago and am looking into backup solutions for my photos. I have around 30 gigs of stuff right now, so burning to DVD isn't really an option. I have an external 3.5" USB hard disk and copy stuff over to it every week, but there are a couple possible issues with this

1- I've heard it stated many times that hard disks aren't the best backup devices because they are mechanical devices and not very robust when dropped, etc.

2- Since the disk sits on top my computer, I'm still screwed if the apt. burns down, someone steals my junk, etc.

3- This is more redundancy and less a true backup.

I looked at tape, but I'm a little overwhelmed by the number of formats. This also might be a bit out of my price range since I'd have to spend between $300 and $500 for a drive, and probably more for software. Any suggestions for a sub $500 dollar setup that includes software? Or is this going to cost way more than that? iOmega makes some ~$350 drives, but I'm skeptical about the quality of their stuff.

If tape is going to cost a lot more than this, what's a more cost effective solution?
 
i know you said dvd not really and option, but i use it for all my stuff. you can get 100 dvds for 30 bucks online.
Me personally, i use a hdd and dvds. Keep all the pics in two to 3 places, and it doesnt cost me an arm and a leg.
Also, i dont use a usb drive, i have a removable bay that i can power off and on when needed.
ive seen alot of those usb drives go bad.
 
maybe a 40/80 GB DLT IV tape drive and some tapes. Since it isnt as big as LTO now might be more reasonable. I've seen some drives for 400 - 500 dollars around there and tapes are like 30~ dollars.
 
Honestly, DVD is probably your best option. You said you have 30 gigs--that would fit on about 7 DVDs. Then just stash the DVDs in a safe deposit box at a bank or at your parents house or something.
Another option is getting another external hard drive and keeping the drive off-site.

Bottom line: redundancy is good. Have 2 copies at your house and one copy off site and you will never likely loose your data.
 
DVD is probably your best bet, unfortunately. You could do some fancy tricks with a remote server, but that can get pretty expensive pretty fast - "unlimited" hosting places don't like you trying to use unlimited space ;)

Good luck in your quest, and let us know what you decide to go for.

 
I don't know... for that quantity of data you're in a spot pricewise. Although I too realise that the hard drive system you mention above is not really a 'backup' strategy, I rely on the 'safety in numbers' statistic and use multiple drives (through external connection). Hopefully Murphy's Law won't catch me, but I figure that the odds of 3 backup drives crapping out have got to be on par with some type of tape (or tape drive) failure. I also keep the drives in different locations to try to guard against physical calamity (fire, etc.)

Other than that, perhaps an older (gently) used tape drive on eBay? I just don't have the patience for multiple disk dvd backups, and in my hands hard drives stand a better chance of survival anyway.
 
The other thing is I'd like to be able to expand pretty easily. I've been doing more prints, so the amount of space I'm using is just going to go up more quickly.

I'll try ebay for used drives, maybe I can find something for a reasonable price.
 
Have you considered just adding a third safety net in the form of an external 2.5" drive? Laptop drives are generally more resistant to shock and general wear and tear than most desktop drives...

It's obviously gonna cost you a bit more than a regular 3.5" drive but if your needs are under 50gb right now that won't really be much of an issue. Just make sure you buy an external enclosure with a solid controller so that it never becomes an issue.

I'd probably just keep backing up to the drive you have now along with periodical back ups to the 2.5" which I'd store elsewhere, they're small enough that transporting it shouldn't be a hassle.
 
Why not dvd's? Professional photographers use dvds. With a 16x drive a full dvd only takes like 6-7 minutes max. You would catch up quickly. After that, just save everything on both harddrives until you have enough for another dvd. Or you can just burn each photography session onto a dvd/cd (some people even make 2 copies of each dvd). Store the backups in a fire safe or off site. The key is not having all your eggs in one basket (which a tape drive wouldn't unless you put the tapes in a different location.)
 
Well, as long as he's not actually working or doing anything very essential with the full collection then 'catching up' would indeed not be a problem...

I simply assumed that because he eliminated that choice already it meant he wanted to be able to update the whole collection on the fly w/o having to look thru discs, etc.

Personally, I'm such a lazy sob that I often end up indexing photos from one trip months after the fact, and I'd want to include index files and any projects I create in the same backup location, so I can see why DVD backups would be inconvenient... If you're as horribly disorganized as me that is. :D
 
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