Futureproof way of saving files and photographs.

[andyfraser]

Any manual process is susceptible to user error. Better to have an automatic process which you check every so often is still working.

This is the perennial problem of computer security. Most people won't backup up, or at least won't do it regularly, if it's not automated. You really do have to check that an automated system is still working otherwise you run the risk of finding out only when it's too late.

My files don't change that often and I have some scripts that I've developed over the years to make life easier so it's no more effort to backup manually for me. I'm disciplined enough. I just have to make sure Dropbox is still working.

 

[User33236]

I've always used the 3-2-1 approach to backing up important data
3 copies
2 different types of media (in case one becomes redundant)
1 offsite copy e.g the 'cloud', drive in a firesafe at work etc

 

[PeteXXX]

I'll work on a few of these suggestions, thanks all, and check out some more about the Personal Cloud.
And I will continue use the 'paper' option for lots of pics, but not everything I want to save would work properly. (It's tricky to print a video!)

 

[Crackle]

Home nas, two drives and a cloud acct., like Mozy and I've used them all for recovery purposes.

 

[Dan B]

Home NAS (actually just a big PC with redundant disks) and an assumption that I will need to swap one of them out every two or three years. Offsite to rsync.net or Amazon s3

 

[John the Canuck]

3 external HDD
#1 - on desk - backed up every night via Karens Replicator - very fast
#2 - one in fire safe - weekly backup as above
#3 - with brother - monthly backup

i therefore have complete control and access

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Paper? Or Vellum? Known to last for centuries if not millennia......

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Paper? Or Vellum? Known to last for centuries if not millennia......

except that the images printed on them won't last anywhere near that long.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

except that the images printed on them won't last anywhere near that long.

I'm guessing inks have changed. There are some beautifully illuminated mediaeval manuscripts still about.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

I'm guessing inks have changed. There are some beautifully illuminated mediaeval manuscripts still about.

Given the time and effort involved in creating just one of those manuscripts, they probably wanted to make them last. It's so easy to print something on paper these days that people place less importance on longevity of the inks.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Given the time and effort involved in creating just one of those manuscripts, they probably wanted to make them last. It's so easy to print something on paper these days that people place less importance on longevity of the inks.

We are all trapped by the limitations of our technology I suppose. If stuff is deemed to be highly important then the less accessible (but more robust?) technology gets used.

 

[Beebo]

What is there on your computers that is so important that you have not sent it to other people? 90% of it is recoverable from colleagues, business partners and friends. The other 10% you might well wish to stay lost anyway.

I'm with slow mo, what in life is that important.
I see personal property loss everyday as part of my job. Material things come and go, nothing is that important.

 

[andyfraser]

I'm with slow mo, what in life is that important.
I see personal property loss everyday as part of my job. Material things come and go, nothing is that important.

You're right. I have an innate urge to protect some data. My photos are important to me so I make sure they're ok. Music is also important to me and even in these days of Spotify and always on internet connections I still make sure my digital music is safe too. There's no logical reason for it[1].

[1] Not everything I have in my library is in Spotify but I could live without it if I had to.