My Neurosis

A New Year brings a process I like to call, "Hard Drive Hell Week". 
It takes me about one week to back everything up on all of my hard drives and transfer 'old' items into storage and free up space for my hard drives that get regular use.

Ok, maybe my digital storage process is little over the top.  ....I've got 10 hard drives.


I have a main hard drive that holds everything. EVERYTHING. Then I have a back up for that.
Next, I've got hard drives for all my personal photos and home videos. And a back up for that.
Of course, I've got hard drives for my client's current photo projects, a back up for that, and a hard drive for clients from previous years.

Now, keep in mind that I have a business to run so I am extra careful with my clients photos.... but I also care just as much about my personal memories ....Shouldn't you care very much about your own?





I once heard "If your photos do not exist in 2 places, they don't exist at all."


This scared me so much that decided that is was imperative to put a system into place STAT. I shudder to think that your precious digital photos only exist on your single computer and no where else. I thought I'd share with you a few concepts and ideas that I've come up with.

You don't have to buy 10 hard drives to secure and back up your memories. But I would suggest to have one hard drive as a back up if possible.

Other ways to secure your photos: You can store them online or burn them onto a disc or print them. ANYTHING that gives you a duplicate copy of your photos will be better than nothing.

Another tip: do not format or erase your photos off of your memory card UNTIL you've secured your backup. I do this with my personal and professional photos. Those lovely faces stay on that memory card until I have all files transferred onto the computer, then onto a hard drive and then also burned onto a CD.

And label everything! With 10 hard drives, I even label the cords that connect to each one.



And finally, if you can, keep your back up in a different place. You can put it in a separate part of your home (I keep my 'extra hard drives' in a fireproof safe) or even keep it somewhere totally different (like a relatives' house or a storage unit). I know that can sound extreme but you would find yourself very grateful to know your memories are not lost in case of a disaster.



You can tell how important photos are to me. I'm sure most of you feel the same way. Yes, there's a balance between being secure and being paranoid. I'm sure I can often walk that line. But my thoughts are "Better safe, than sorry."  :)
Any other great storage ideas? Share them, please!







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