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View Full Version : How To Preserve Photos For 500 Years


Suhit Gupta
04-14-2005, 04:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.forbes.com/technology/enterprisetech/2005/04/14/cx_ah_0414photo.html?partner=rss' target='_blank'>http://www.forbes.com/technology/enterprisetech/2005/04/14/cx_ah_0414photo.html?partner=rss</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Before he died in 2001, Jacques Lowe decided to store the negatives from his body of work in a bank vault. Among the archives of the notoriously meticulous photographer were some 40,000 images taken of President John F. Kennedy before and during his 1,000-day term in the White House. The storage location Lowe picked was unfortunate: the underground bank vaults of JPMorgan Chase at 5 World Trade Center ... Lukas Rosenthaler, a researcher at the Imaging and Media Lab at Switzerland's University of Basel, has proposed using peer-to-peer file networks on the Internet--the same technology used to circulate pirated music files--as a way of letting photographers of all stripes store their work."</i><br /><br />In May 2004, the firm found that 59% of digital camera users make backup copies of their digital photos, but less than half have backups for their backups. According to Lukas, copies of encrypted digital files would be distributed across a shared network of servers around the world, which Rosenthaler calls Distarnet. "The idea is not to give everyone access to the data, but to prevent data loss," he says. Very interesting. Currently all my valuable data is on one machine (with mirrored drives) and with one backup on DVDs but I spend many a sleepless night thinking about the worst case scenario. How do you backup your data?

Doug Johnson
04-14-2005, 05:12 PM
(1) Synchronized using FileBack PC to a laptop and another desktop PC on my network.
(2) Backed up to my local server.
(3) Periodically burned to DVDs.
(4) Backed up nightly over a VPN to a computer across the country.
(5) Periodically burned to additional DVDs, which are mailed across the country.

I hope that is enough. :)

Jason Dunn
04-14-2005, 05:24 PM
I use a file sync program to sync my data across four different computers, so I'm very well protected against hard drive failure, but I'm vulnerable to fire/theft of the local computers. Trying to work on fixing that. :-)

ctmagnus
04-14-2005, 06:52 PM
I'm not a speed freak or anything, so I have an OS drive (NTFS) and a data drive (FAT32, roughly three times the capacity of the NTFS drive) in each of my machines. At least once a day I run an automated copy of all my important data to the FAT32 drive. Once a week or so, I backup to removable media. Once a month or so, I image to removable media.

I really should do more, but I've never had a critical HD failure or anything so I just don't worry about that kind of stuff.

bleeman
04-15-2005, 03:06 AM
Our photos sit on our server where they're backed up to tape every night. I have one tape for each day of the week, 4 "weekly" tapes and 12 "monthly" tapes. The tapes are stored in a media rated fire safe at home and after each month end backup we take that tape to the bank and put it in our safety deposit box.

In addition, I periodically burn a few CD's (Haven't taken the plunge to DVD yet) and send those offsite as well.

Filip Norrgard
04-15-2005, 08:23 AM
I guess I'm the only one not doing enough backups then... :oops: But, that is mainly due to the fact that I haven't had enough cash to invest in backup drives and media "thanks" to the levy on storage media we've got here. Seems like I have to travel to Estonia this summer to buy some cheaper storage for backup... :D

I use a file sync program to sync my data across four different computers, so I'm very well protected against hard drive failure, but I'm vulnerable to fire/theft of the local computers. Trying to work on fixing that. :-)
What is the name of that file sync program? It sure sounds interesting... :)

Jason Dunn
04-15-2005, 02:03 PM
What is the name of that file sync program? It sure sounds interesting... :)

www.foldershare.com

duncanhbrown
04-20-2005, 07:40 PM
I use the program FileSync (shareware; check on downloads.cnet.com) to synchronize data directories between my workstation and my network server. Then I burn datafile backups onto CDs, which make it to my office and/or my safety deposit box along with a complete set of software installation CDs, registration codes, etc.

I split my digital photos into directories the size of one CD (700 MB), so I can burn CDs quickly to cover my digital output (I'm up to 12 now).

I test the CDs from my safety deposit box every year or two to insure they're still good. Due to redundant backups, the failure of any one CD is recoverable. (So far none of the tested CDs, dating back 7 years, have failed.)

Duncan Brown