External hard drive suggestions to keep your images safe!!
External hard drive suggestions for keeping your files safe.
Well for the past couple of weeks I have been busy backing up files and adding a couple new external hard drives to the studio. Funny thing was that when I built my editing computer I thought that having a couple 250GB drives would be fine.
Boy how fast do these fill up!!
So I have been moving all my work files to external hard drives.
Today when picking up another drive I had a chance to talk to a guy about hard drives. He had some good points that I thought that I would pass along.
In addition to the standard back up drives I use for archiving I added a 2TB external work drive to the editing computer. I use this as a daily drive for files that are not ready to go to the back up. My backup drives are shut off 99% of the time and only get powered up when I am backing up or retrieving.
On top of this I added a couple 1TB WD Passport drives to transfer files from the studio to my offsite back up computer at the house.
External hard drive suggestions – Passport drives
The small portable drives used for transporting files.
Experience a higher than normal failure rate. Many people that use them do not realize that they should be kept still when running. They are an actual spinning hard drive and are subject to shock. To keep them running properly you should keep them still when using and on a flat surface. When not in use and transporting do so in a padded case and try not to drop. Also, these drives are designed for occasional use. They are not built to run 10 hours a day as they do not have any cooling system in them.
External hard drive suggestions – External Hard drives
If you are looking for a drive that you are going to use 8 – 10 hours a day get a drive designed to cool itself with an external fan. Also one that stands up is better than one that lays flat. ALSO, if you do use drives that lay flat never stack drives. Running drives build up heat and can cause problems.
A side note
Make sure that you have a back up of some type as well. I do not know how many times in a week I hear about someone loosing photos. They come in saying their drive died or something happened that wiped everything out.
I strongly recommend NEVER putting pictures on a main computer drive (the one with the operating system). Get a separate drive installed in your computer for pictures. Use an external as a back up at ALL times for the main storage drive. If you need a back up program many drives come with one. Or look for a program such as Visa Versa Pro. That will allow you to easily back up files and over write the old files with the newer ones.
A little caution now hopefully will save a lot of lost files later!
If you want to learn more visit my course listings. I teach in person and on-line one on one courses. Photo mentoring available to improve your photography and you business.
Learn more on protecting your images on my YouTube channel
Lethbridge Photolab
