Backup solutions

Auraomega · 1 Sep 2011 at 16:56

I've decided to start backing up my photos, I'm a bit late on the uptake but so far I've not had any major crashes and lost what I've taken (touch wood!). I'm looking for a simple method to back up all my images, preferably through Lightroom, to an external hard drive automatically when I use Lightroom, is there any such plugin available to do the job 'out the box' or would I be better off getting a plugin which caused another program to back up the images on the closure of Lightroom? Whatever I use it's got to work on Windows and preferably be free!

What backup methods do you guys have?

Scam · 1 Sep 2011 at 18:07

I'm quite a fan of Robocopy, although I don't actually have anything set in place to backup my photos (nor an external drive :eek:

). I can't remember the details, but it seems to already be present on some Windows version, but not others. You might need to download it. (edit: It seems to be pre-installed on Vista and above)

You could make a .bat file in about 2mins to mirror a folder of your choice to a folder of your choice on your external drive:

Code:

robocopy "c:\my_photos" "e:\backup" /mir

Copy that into a text file and save with the extension as .bat and you're away. Just run it when you're done. No need for bloaty software

http://www.mydigitallife.info/robocopy-syntax-command-line-switches-and-examples/

You can even put switches in to give you a text log, and it can even monitor changes between the original/backup and run again when there are changes.

Phate · 1 Sep 2011 at 19:10

Auraomega said:
What backup methods do you guys have?

Floppy disc.

It does the job, although soon I'm going to need to split it across 2 of them :eek:

DoubleCheese · 1 Sep 2011 at 22:56

I backup to two separate discs, one internal HDD and an external USB drive. I use SyncToy to do the job every time I finish using LR3.

Auraomega · 2 Sep 2011 at 04:58

I don't know why I didn't think of a batch file, it's what I use for my music backups! What's the difference between robocopy and xcopy?

a1ex2001 · 2 Sep 2011 at 10:15

I used synch toy for years it was ridiculously simple and reliable, I just had a shorcut on my desktop that ran the synch for my folder pairs the external usb drive lived in my desk draw and cam home once a week or so for backups.

I only stopped using it when I got a windows home server as I now use the built in back up on that but the disk again lives in work!

Not having a back up of things like photos is madness having had a few friends loose all their holiday pictures etc I wouldn't want it to be me.

bigredshark · 2 Sep 2011 at 10:50

Personally I like amazon S3 storage for backups, off site, cheap and flexible enough you can roll your own solution to put your stuff their. I use a bunch of tools to keep multiple versions and only sync new and changed stuff, all Mac (or unix really) based though so I can't advise on Windows options.

Also, I usually have my laptop with me at work so I just let it sync then, Gigabit internet connection to burn so upload times aren't too much of an issue...but I've also synced new stuff from home and it's not terrible. Leave overnight at worst.

Nexus · 2 Sep 2011 at 11:16

I only really started taking my backups more seriously recently when it kind of dawned on me that it would be so easy to loose all my photos forever.

I'm using a Mac and Aperture which has backup 'Vaults' which you can sync whenever the drive is connected.

I have my main Aperture library on a 1.5TB Raid 0. This is backed up to a Drobo. I have a Time Capsule which is making backups of my system and laptop, but I also make it backup my photo library. Finally, I think it was as a result of the riots that it made me realise how easy some ***** could come along and burn down your home. So I've got a LaCie Rugged drive which I also backup my Aperture library too and leave that at my parents place.

So hopefully that's me covered.

neil_g · 2 Sep 2011 at 13:31

multiple copies with offsite copy is the order of the day..

for example i run:

main working storage - synology NAS raid5 (7.3tb or thereabouts)
backup storage (running from the synology USB) - icybox twin HD raid0 (3.4tb ish)
offsite copy - blu ray stored in my desk at work

A.N.Other · 2 Sep 2011 at 18:49

SyncToy here and a service to run it automatically. At work it mirrors all the folders I've selected to the RAID 1 NAS everyday at 12.05 (we go for lunch at 12.00). It only updates the files that have changed, so it doesn't take long.

GSXRMovistar · 3 Sep 2011 at 19:14

I currently use Synkron on the Mac to back my photos (and other stuff). Previously used SyncToy and RoboCopy when I was just Windows based.

SynKron regularly backs up my whole Photos folder (including Lightroom catalogues/settings) to my home server (which is replicated via multi disks) but more importantly I also backup adhoc to removable drives (encrypted) which I take out of the house and leave at work.

All well and good having multiple backup but leaving them all in the same building doesn't help if robbed or house burns down.

Oh and if using encryption don't forget to make sure the key/password is also held offsite.