How to keep your photos safe

[morts]

Sime, thanks for fixing my table-breaking image.

Good suggestions so far - I was getting to writing the "keeping your DATA safe" bits. It's currently 06:15 and I haven't slept yet on account of being at work all night...

I disagree with recommending CD/DVD backups on the basis that we are as computer people and photographers are interminably lazy and unless you're that dedicated, you'll skip out on backing up to optical media regularly. Plus it necessitates a slight shift in how you organise your photos as you don't want to be backing up half of one collection on one disk and half on another.

Flash drives will degrade after a finite number of writes due to the nature of the medium.

LoveDLSR, I was going to write just what you said so don't worry - it's coming up!

[Kn1nJa]

Yeah, personally I don't do optical backups because I am too lazy myself. I have just heard of people doing it that way. I usually just back up my stuff to multiple hard drives and hope that they all don't fail

[dakwegmo]

Originally Posted by morts

Conversely, not providing enough power to your drives can also cause them to malfunction so ensure your PSU is up to the task of powering your machine. If you have a beefy graphics card like a GTX 2xx or ATI 48xx series, you need at least a 650W PSU to run it along with the rest of your machine.

An excellent point, but something that may be lost on a lot of people who don't build their own systems. If you don't do your own computer upgrades, ask the technician whether your computer has enough power to support the new parts along with everything else you're already running. Most of the time there won't be a problem, but if you've added a high end video card, or multiple hard drives, you could be taxing your computers power supply.

[rediguana]

Good article Mort.

I'll plug an article I wrote here recently on developing a personal backup strategy - to reinforce what Mort is saying. There is a copy floating round the forums here somewhere as well.

Another thing I'd suggest with respect to laptops, if you can, get them a stand to sit on so that air can flow over and under them. Whilst not proven, I've had a number of hard drive failures in laptops, and I'm fairly convinced that these were caused by the laptop running hot on a flat desk with inadequate ventilation. The additional heat buildup in the laptop dries out the circuit boards, and could eventually lead to failure.

I'm sure you've noticed how hot a laptop can get - just touch the keyboard or underneath surface. My laptop now hardly ever overheats and both keyboard and underneath surface are normal room temperatures when you touch them. It may be a small thing, but I believe that ensuring the laptop doesn't run hot all the time will extend its life, and reduce the risk of failure.

I've currently got the Griffin Elevator.

[B..]

This is an awesome thread! It may be scary to some readers who aren't technically inclined. To those readers, I suggest you ask questions until you understand. Because this is the real stuff!!! (I'm a computer geek by vocation and avocation.)

Originally Posted by Kn1nJa

It may not be the best option, but burning your images to a CD or DVD is a good way to make a backup. They last a long time and can save your rear in the event of a system crash. The only downside is the risk of scratching the data layer (the label side .... the shiny side is actually looking through the tough plastic to the data layer. If you get a scratch that you can see light through, the disc is essentially ruined).

I rely heavily on CD or DVD backup. And I've been burned. And it's not only scratched data surfaces. Some physical CDs or DVDs are garbage and will fail after, say, two years of storage. Others will keep going strong for ten (so far) years. To some degree you "get what you pay for" but not always. So if you're relying on CD/DVD backup, do a survival check on your disks every year or so.

Better yet is to have an additional backup of your important stuff.

[Darren Rowse]

Great series of posts morts - once this is finished I'll be promoting it on the blog - more ppl need to read it :-)

thanks so much for the work you've obviously put into this

[Jamesc359]

I think DVDs and CDs have gotten a bad reputation for backup because of inadvertent abuse. I've got cheap discs that I purchased and burned many years ago that are in perfect condition, while discs off the same spindle that I burnt for some family members had catastrophically failed within a couple of years. It doesn't take much effort to protect your optical discs, but it does take some.

I think the most important thing to remember is that optical media is made possible because of a thin layer of organic dye that is smashed between two plastic discs. While this dye is significantly more advanced than the pigments Leonardo used to paint the Mona Lisa, they still share one very common trait - exposure to light slowly degrades it. Ultra-Violet light in particular exacerbates the aging process. How do you protect your discs from UV light?

1. Never leave a disc in the sun, this can destroy even the best of discs in a matter of weeks. Short term exposure can also warp discs.
2. Always store your discs with the data side down so the label can absorb the majority of light.
3. Place your discs in a case with a opaque bottom.
4. Store in a cool area that receives as little light as possible or in a opaque container.

Because I handle them by their edges and always lift and lower my discs into the drive tray and case, scratches has never been a problem for me - with the exception of discs I've lent. Sliding a disc into the case or tray will cause scratches.

Originally Posted by rediguana

Another thing I'd suggest with respect to laptops, if you can, get them a stand to sit on so that air can flow over and under them. Whilst not proven, I've had a number of hard drive failures in laptops, and I'm fairly convinced that these were caused by the laptop running hot on a flat desk with inadequate ventilation. The additional heat buildup in the laptop dries out the circuit boards, and could eventually lead to failure.

They make laptop coolers that sell for anywhere from $20-$30 on up. These are a thin case you place your laptop on that contains fan[s] to circulate air under it, metal coolers also act as a giant heat sink. Most also have a USB hub and some features drawers for storing small items. Given the size of a stand, coolers are more convenient when traveling, plus active cooling is also far more effective.

One word of caution though, unless your plugged in they will drain your battery quicker.

[morts]

Edit != Quote

[dakwegmo]

Originally Posted by morts

Disks CAN fail through overheating because the processor on the chip will start throwing errors, much like your CPU will when it overheats, leading to bad sectors. It can also cause internal components to expand beyond their operating tolerance, leading to malfunctions.

That said, drives will happily run at 70 - 80 degrees without too much complaint.

This is especially important to remember for external hard drives. Poorly designed drives that are running all the time can overheat quickly, dramatically reducing their lifespan. Manufacturers won't replace a drive that is damaged due to overheating, so if you install the drive in an external enclosure, make sure it isn't getting too hot.

For external hard drives I typically keep them off and unplugged, from anything, until I need to power them up for backup or restore.

[Kn1nJa]

The biggest thing to remember with external hard drives is to make sure they are "safely removed" before unplugging the data or power cables.

One time I was backing up my laptop (over 5GB worth of data) and I accidenally hit the power strip switch in the middle of the backup. The drive went CLUNK and was rendered essentially useless. The only silver lining to this was the fact that I had an extended warranty which allowed me to get another drive.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with "safely remove", it is a little icon down near the clock on your computer that looks like a drive with a green arrow. When you are done using a drive, you need to click the icon and then click the drive that you want to remove. This ensures that the drive is not in the process of writing anything so that you can avoid unplugging it in the middle of it doing something. If it gives you an error that it cannot be ejected, close all windows that may be related to the drive and try again. Not safely removing a drive is the #1 cause of flash drive failures in my experience.

Also, since I probably forgot earlier, thanks a bunch for the post morts! It got me thinking again about data security and safety.....something I should always be conscious of.