A solid backup strategy is essential for your photographs. The most common cause of photo loss is hard drive failure. There are many ways to back up your photos – you can use the 3-2-1 backup strategy, offsite cloning, or even a RAID array. But there are some key things you should remember. Read on to discover the best way to back up your photos. Here are some tips:
Hard drive failure is a common cause of photo loss
There are many reasons why a hard drive might fail. Hardware failure, firmware corruption, media damage, water damage, power problems, and human error can all cause the storage device to fail. While this number is relatively low, it can be catastrophic for a small business or family – it could mean losing everything from wedding photos to years of course work. Hard disk drives also tend to have an annualized failure rate, which is calculated by continuously running a drive for a short period of time and looking at its wear and tear.
Using a 3-2-1 backup strategy
A three-fold strategy for backing up your photos is a good idea. It specifies the number of copies you should have and where to store them. This strategy can protect your photos against most common threats. Make a copy of every photo on your computer, then a second copy on an external drive. Either a USB or Thunderbolt drive can work. Network-attached storage devices also work.
Using an offsite clone
Offsite clones are an excellent ThePhotoStick Omni strategy, but it should only be used for storing important information. Even if you backup regularly, you can still lose everything at once. In such cases, you should use online backup service to send your data over the internet. However, you must make sure that your offsite clone is located at least 30 miles from your house.
Using a RAID array
If you want to have a good backup strategy for your photos, you need to make sure that you have at least two copies. This is not something that a RAID array can do, so you have to make sure that you have two separate devices. First, the internal drive on your computer cannot be your first copy of the photos. It must be an external drive. In addition, a RAID array cannot satisfy the requirement of two separate drives. See the subsection below to learn why a RAID array is not a backup.
Conclusion:
Using a cloud backup service as if it were a local backup can be a great backup strategy for photographers. Most cloud storage services keep backups for thirty days, but you can always extend this for an extra fee. Some cloud backup products also allow you to store multiple versions of files. These are great for reversing any changes you made to a photo, or if you’ve accidentally deleted a file.