As photographers it is IMPERATIVE that we have a fail-safe backup workflow to protect our work and clients images. It is our worst fear that we may lose images – often at no fault of our own – just the words ‘failed harddrive’ and photographers go into a cold sweat.
So how do we protect our images the best way possible? I’ll share with you my ‘triple-lock’ system which will give you peace of mind that you are doing everything you can to protect your clients images. If you are only using a hard-drive and cloud back-up you need to read this now!
1 – Hard-drive backup
If you have a good workflow set up then you should be importing your images onto 2 drives.
This may be:
• Computer hard-drive and an external hard-drive.
• TWO external hard-drives.
• Or a RAID/DROBO system which mirrors your drive backups.
( if you need help setting up a good workflow for importing your files then hop over and read this previous post on workflow or book onto a QUICK FIX with me! )
2 – Cloud
Having a cloud storage back-up such as BACKBLAZE which is a mirror back-up of your main computer drive and any hard drives that you have permanently plugged into your computer.
A huge thing to remember with Backblaze that if you hard-drive fails and deletes any data without you realising (yes I’ve know this to happen) then this will be mirrored on the cloud. You cannot totally rely on it without the other back-ups in place.
The added bonus of a cloud storage system is that it is also backing up all the files you have saved on your computer.
3 – External
I don’t want to be all doom and gloom BUT – to fully be confident in your backup systems then having a workflow system that means you always have an off-site copy. This protects you against fire and theft. So periodically making a full copy of your external hard-drive back-up onto a larger drive that you keep off-site (ie: a neighbour/family member/studio etc)
I hope this post has helped you realise how getting into good practice of having a systematic workflow is so important. Not only makes your life easier during your editing process, but gives you the security and peace of mind that you have protected your images.