External HD Query

mgbgt1978

Hi all , My wife is looking for an external HD. It will probably only be used to store photos.
She is big into photography and has quite a large collection of photos (as well as future stuff) to be stored. At the moment she is using CD's and DVD's for back up storage, but often finds that when she needs to go back to find a photo that the discs are either corrupted or possibly scratched.
would something like this be suitable ???
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006DZKEAW/ref=gno_cart_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

All suggestions welcomed.

doopa

Have you considered cloud storage options like Flickr, Picassa or even amazon?

For me, if its stuff you really care about you need a couple of copies/possibly raid.

Torqay

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

would something like this be suitable ???
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006DZKEAW/ref=gno_cart_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

This is a portable HDD, if you're looking for storage, a regular 3.5 HDD will do.

Don't confuse storage with backup. One copy of a file is not good enough. I always buy hard drives in pairs and keep them in sync. HDDs are cheap enough these days. 2 TB USB 3.0 drives cost around 80 yoyos (here's a Toshiba for €86 incl delivery from Komplett).

yeppydeppy

I'd look for a solid state hard drive if I were you - almost everyone I know with an external hard drive, the HD has failed, including my own. I'm not sure but I would suspect the SSDs are more reliable.

Torqay

yeppydeppy wrote: »

I'm not sure but I would suspect the SSDs are more reliable.

True but the storage costs are significantly higher (€100+ for a portable 128GB SSD, a bit less if DIY). For a portable drive, I'd take SSD over HDD any day but for a stationary storage drive, HDD is just fine.

The reliability of SSD vs HDD is largely irrelevant because no matter which you go for, you still need a backup strategy.

For an amatuer photographer a reasonable strategy is to store photos on a primary HDD, periodically backup to a secondary HDD, and burn every single photo you take to optical disc.

The easiest way to do that is to start a new folder, when it reaches 4.37GB in size (or whatever discs you use) then close it off, burn it to disc and start a new folder. Obviously that may not work depending on how you like to arrange your files.

Either the secondary HDDs or optical discs will ideally be stored somewhere else.

If you're finding optical discs become corrupt then switch to a better brand and make sure to store them safely and away from heat and UV light. (both the burnt and spindled discs should be stored properly). If you store a disc face-up on your desk in the sun then of course it will not last long. A good, properly stored disc should last at least 5-10 years... many cheap discs will barely last a few months. Part of any optical backup strategy is to date your discs and periodically check them to ensure integrity.

mgbgt1978

Thanks for all the replies folks.
The main reason we are looking at external drives is that she uses both a laptop and a PC for interfacing with her cameras.
Also our PC already has two drives installed, and no room for more.
I think we will probably go with an external drive and copies also uploaded to online storage.
She just seems allergic to CD's and DVD's. Often no problem at home, but the photo printers machines can't read them.....or vice versa.