Call it the first backup system

[ScrapYap]

Couldn't resist the Spaceship Earth reference.

Just wondering how other WDW/DL photographers handle backups. I don't like online storage, so I stick with SSD and regular external drives.

I'm only now going through and culling old Disney photo folders. So let's say you finally delete all the duds from a 2018 WDW trip, what's your workflow for updating the backups you made in 2018? If you just drag the folder into the 2018 folder on an an external drive that you originally backed up years ago, it will add the new version of files (if you made edits), but it will keep all the duds that are sitting on the drive. (It will also keep both copies if you rename anything.)

So instead you delete the folder from the 2018 backup on your external drive, then drag the newly culled 2018 folder? Then you have to go back and do a disk clean up on the external drive so that the deleted photos won't clog up the memory, sitting in its recycle bin?

I always have a fear that I'll have accidentally deleted a photo - and if I purge the original folder, I won't be able to go back and retrieve it (if I discover the loss later). But I guess that fear should be ignored because slimming down those folders to just the good shots is the way to go?

Ideally, I should have culled right away, before making the first backup. But that ship sailed a long time ago.

 

[OKW Lover]

I keep all my photos in Apple's Photo app. That is synced to the cloud and I can access any photo from any of my devices. In addition, I have automatic backup to a NAS on my home system.

 

[KVH]

Overall, storage is cheap so I do only a cursory review on first load. I used to use a SAN until we moved and things broke. So for now I use multiple externals and rotate among 4 copies - 2 of which stay at a remote location.

I have actually found stills aren't my issue. Only ~100GB with a slow growth rate. Video is the problem, it's amazing how much space those files suck up and 1 file can suck up 3-4GB all at once.

 

[_19disnA]

I also don't care for online storage of my information (pictures/files/etc.), way too many things can go wrong. Company may suddenly go out of business, site could get hacked, etc. I have NO idea who else might have access to view my information and don't want my prior tax returns out in some 'cloud' for others to randomly view or potentially use for identity theft.

I use DVD's for backup since they are portable, easy to use and if you fill one up, you just insert another one so the total amount of storage isn't limited by the device. If don't have huge volumes of data, those hard drive backup devices are also handy. Some others have mentioned that DVD's don't last forever, but honestly they work fine for most home applications. If something is really important, store on 2 separate DVD's and place one in your safe deposit box at the bank. ALL of your backup shouldn't be in the same physical location in the event of some disaster like a fire/flood/etc.

 

[Sheryl2059]

For security Proton is a good option.