Backup of multiple photos libraries.

[Ohiomacfan2]

I have multiple Mac photos libraries containing thousands of photos and videos that I want to backup. Ideally, I’d also like to be able to access these photos and videos remotely on mostly iPhones, Macs, and iPads. I’m willing to pay, but below I list problems with all possible solutions that I have explored thus far.

1. Currently I have the libraries backed up on multiple external drives. (no access when those drives not plugged in).
2. Currently I have the photos uploaded to Amazon Prime Photos (no videos and annoyingly numerous duplicated photos).
3. I had FLICKR but was unhappy with it’s service (they had major issues when they transitioned to SmugMug). It would upload the videos but only if they were under 1 minute long).

Possible Solutions and the problems I have found.
1. Do what Apple wants and create one large library for iCloud photos and pay apple.
a. Major Problem , if I create a monster 1+TB library, I have no backup . . . iCloud is the sole repository of all my photos. What if something happens? How do I backup iCloud photos? We all know it could happen. I don’t own any machine that could store a 1TB+ library to maintain a copy on my machine as well as in iCloud. If that library gets corrupted, then what?
b. What about the videos inside photos library? I would assume those too are backed up to iCloud, but I have major concerns about 1 giant library.

2. Create an NAS at home.
a. NAS don’t do photos libraries without corrupting the libraries (I have read about horror stories)
b. Even if I copied the photos library to the NAS, how would I access it remotely?
c. Anyone having luck with an NAS that can display photos remotely? How did the NAS handle the library without corruption? What is the setup?

3. Convert to Adobe Lightroom and use their cloud service (very expensive and if I don’t pay, I’m locked out of my photos, plus I’m not a real big fan of Adobe).
4. Try FLICKR again . . . anyone using it now?
5. Pay for additional storage on Prime for the Videos. Has anyone relied on Prime Photos as a legitimate backup?
6. Go with Google photos (lesser quality) or pay for full resolution photos and video storage. I’m not certain how it would handle the videos. Anyone using this as a legitimate backup?
7. Go with Microsoft One Drive. Not certain how it handles videos and how well it would upload all of my photos libraries. Anyone using this as a legitimate backup?
8. Go with a backup service such as iDrive or Carbonite. Seems like those could potentially corrupt the libraries as well and I wouldn’t really have offsite access. Unless I’m wrong and those will display photos from a remote device.

Like I stated earlier, I’m willing to pay to backup my photos and videos. It just seems like there really isn’t a streamlined service that doesn’t have really big downsides. The library corruption issues are really the frightening part. Should I download all my photos and videos out of Mac Photos libraries and store them in folders then back up the folders that way? . . . I don’t even want to contemplate that workload.

Thanks for any suggestions or things you think I missed.

 

[HDFan]

It is a conundrum. Libraries are always subject to corruption. Just now I tried opening my Lightroom catalogue and got an unexpected error. For this reason I always manage my photos by reference. Makes it much easier to handle issues like missing, corrupt, or duplicate files. I can use the finder to find them since I rename them on import "Schitt$ Creek Photoshoot image.001". I always keep the original filename in the expanded one since it helps with file management, such as a missing file in a series.

The drawback is that if you setup Photos by reference they will not be included in iCloud and therefore inaccessible from your other devices.

I use a hybrid system, using both a Photos library and Lightroom "by reference". My Apple device photos are automatically loaded into my Photos library. I also export them via Image Capture into lightroom, along with photos from my DSLR, so I keep 2 copies of Apple created photos (in Photos library and Lightroom by reference) and 1 copy of DSLR photos (in Lightroom). In theory I could export my DSLR photos into Photos so that it would be available elsewhere, but iCloud doesn't have a storage option large enough to keep all of them.

Having the files kept by reference makes a 3-2-2 backup strategy easier to manage.

Dunno about the other options you proposed.

 

[Tagbert]

You should start by making sure you have a Time Machine backup to an external drive. I also recommend an offsite backup. I prefer backblaze for that. It take a while for large photo libraries but gives you protection in the case of major catastrophe. It allows unlimited backups per computer for $5/month but will not backup network drives.

Beyond that, I don't have a good option for accessing the non-primary library on mobile devices. I keep the most recent several years on the main photo library linked to iCloud. You do have to pay Apple for additional iCloud storage but it isn't too expensive.

I then keep one additional library for older photos. that one is only accessible from my main computer. I wish it could be made available. I have considered publishing those photos somewhere that I can access them since they don't change very often.

I do have Google photos setup on my phone to capture all photos in the main library. You can use their free tier and the only limitation is that they store reduced resolution copies. I consider that a backup of last resort.

BTW if you are working with multiple library's, I find PowerPhotos from fatcatsoftware.com to be a big help. it will let you split and merge libraries and will find and remove duplicate photos.