how do you archive/backup your AVCHD and RAW

dubcat · 2 Apr 2010 at 10:15

Hi -

I have a Panasonic HD camcorder which produces large AVCHD files and a Canon camera which produces large RAW files. I would like to find the best way to protect myself from hardware failure/corruption as well as physical loss of hardware due to theft/fire/flooding. Can you guys share how you do it with me please and tell me what you think of my strategy?

I was thinking of putting all my movies and itunes folder on a NAS which is mirrored so that at least that data is protected from disc failure and i can use the NAS to stream to my PS3. I was then thinking of keeping all my AVCHD, RAW and personal data (like cv's, receipts, etc) on my internal hd which I will back up to the cloud using Mozy Home. In addition to this I was thinking I will attach an external USB drive to my computer and use synctoy to keep a backup of my AVCHD and RAW files on. As I fill up my internal disc i can keep wiping it as i will have an archive of the data on the USB drive. As the USB drive fills up i can store that in a fireproof safe and attach a new drive..

Cheers,
Dub

dubcat · 2 Apr 2010 at 10:55

Since writing the above I have read that HDD is not a good way to archive data as the lubricant dries up and you have to pay a fortune to get your data back from a specialist company. I'm really unsure as to the best way to go =/

DoubleCheese · 2 Apr 2010 at 12:08

You could back everything up to a Windows Home Server rather than a NAS using several hard discs. It replicates the data across the discs so if one fails then you just swap it out and replace it. Or something like a Drobo?

Pushing GB's of data to the Cloud will take some time!

Wings · 3 Apr 2010 at 20:15

I also get through many many Gb of photos and AVCHD files. I store them on my laptop, backed up with Apple Time Machine, on to an external Seagate FreeAgent. My laptop has 320Gb of space, and the FreeAgent 1Tb, so the lesser used files are exclusively saved on the FreeAgent. The FreeAgent is then itself backed up on to 2 older SATA drives in an IcyBox.

So I have 2 copies of all my files except the more recent or more valuable ones, which I have 3 copies of. If any hard drive fails, priority would be to re-backup and then reinstall from Time Machine if necessary.

I wouldn't back up online because it would take forever. I don't know about you but I can get about 100Mb per minute of footage from the quality level I use on my CX105.