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Best storage options for images

S

str

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Original poster
Mar 25, 2022
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We currently have about 44,000 images on our older iMac, backed up to a time machine and also to iCloud.

we are moving to a macbook pro which doesn’t have enough memory to hold all of the images so we need to review how we store the images.

we had thought about using Amazon photos as another online storage option but are running into issues in amazon photos seeing all of the images when we try to upload.

anyone have any other suggestions?
 
Online storage is very different than local storage, and of course there are security issues and privacy issues and just what you do if you need to move them off. I'd never use free storage myself, so I'm biased, but you might look at Photos and iCloud Photo Library. It costs, but now Apple has bundled higher storage limits with some of their other subscription offerings like music. Might be worth it.

Or use Lightroom Classic and store the images on local hard drives, or on NAS. With smart previews you don't even need to have the external drives or NAS connected to edit the images. Might look at Mylio as well; it too can access images stored locally.
 
A pair of matching external drives, if one goes down you buy another and upload from the other. In twenty-five years, I've only lost one drive but imagine if I didn't have redundancy. I also delete the RAW files from my main machine after delivering the project to clients so it runs lean and keeps the storage running efficiently.
 
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str said:
We currently have about 44,000 images on our older iMac, backed up to a time machine and also to iCloud.

we are moving to a macbook pro which doesn’t have enough memory to hold all of the images so we need to review how we store the images.

we had thought about using Amazon photos as another online storage option but are running into issues in amazon photos seeing all of the images when we try to upload.

anyone have any other suggestions?
Click to expand...
I have been moving gradually from external HDDs to external SSDs for my backups and temporary storage of current images. Each month I take one set of backups and drop them into my bank safe deposit box and bring home the older set that has been in there for a month and update those for a return trip the following month. I also have active working external SSDs for current projects as well as backups for the older projects and other important data. Redundancy is key.

For me it is just simpler and easier to keep everything local as opposed to storing backups and such online. This way I know where my data is and that it's safe and any changes/updates are easy to do at any time.

I use Samsung T5 and T7 external SSDs which have a capacity up to 2 TB, and also SanDisk external drives which have a capacity of up to 4 TB. At this point in time I still have older files stored on older HDDs but have been making the transition to external SSD and probably in another few months or a year that transition will be complete.

When I have done a shooting session either at home or away from home, I download the images first into the computer, take a quick look to be sure all is OK and perhaps process a few images. I also copy the file(s) to at least one external drive immediately before eventually returning the memory card to the camera and reformatting it. Depending upon how extensive the shooting session was I may go ahead and process images while they're still in the computer, but most of the time I want them on another drive and I work with them from that drive instead. This keeps my computer and its internal drive "lean and mean," so to speak, not filled up with files which aren't needed there all the time.
 
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tcphoto1 said:
A pair of matching external drives, if one goes down you buy another and upload from the other. In twenty-five years, I've only lost one drive but imagine if I didn't have redundancy. I also delete the RAW files from my main machine after delivering the project to clients so it runs lean and keeps the storage running efficiently.
Click to expand...
Same. I’d add I keep one drive off-site though. That way I’m protected against fire/theft/flood at home.
I’m not as good as @Clix Pix with my update intervals for my offsite drive, but the images I care about the most are safe. Actually my most precious images of my daughter are also backed up on a memory stick that lives on my key ring.
 
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I prefer external hard drives for long term storage of images, but SSD's are much faster. However, I save duplicates of my photos and some documents to different hard drives, and so far I haven't had any internal or external hard drive failures (crashes). I started using hard drive in the '80s. :)

Computer-powered hard drives (the ones that don't have enclosures) are relatively inexpensive. A Seagate 5TB USB-3 one at Costco costs $89.00. It includes a "free" 2-year data recovery plan.
 
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I use mostly external HHDs. I keep 2 copies on site and one copy off site. I still using HHDs over SSDs mostly because they offer better read/write endurance. I do use SSDs for my "working" files because I like the speed.
 
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dimme said:
I use mostly external HHDs. I keep 2 copies on site and one copy off site. I still using HHDs over SSDs mostly because they offer better read/write endurance. I do use SSDs for my "working" files because I like the speed.
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Agree with you about HHDs. Besides, new hard drives are faster, some are dimensionally small (the size of a SSD), and more durable than older hard drives.
 
i recently upgraded to a 4 bay synology nas system. two drives for storage/time machine and the other two mirror the first pair for redundancy.
 
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Apple fanboy said:
Even if its just for your most valuable images. I keep a HD in my desk drawer at work. I like to know its an extra bit of protection for my most valuable images.
Click to expand...
I do have jpegs of final images stored on smugmug, but I'm a few months behind on those. I need to catch up now that I've cleared out space on my iMac.
 
That’s why I have a third-party cloud provider (as well as iCloud), as I’ve actually had the pleasure of being burglarized before. Local storage is great, but a good cloud backup gets you back in business when you have a complete loss of local storage. pCloud behaves more like a file system, where you can just copy folders over and organize it however you want. It actually doesn’t work as well as iCloud photos for viewing unless you have it sync a local copy, but then you can just use whatever program you want to do the viewing.
 
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str said:
We currently have about 44,000 images on our older iMac, backed up to a time machine and also to iCloud.

we are moving to a macbook pro which doesn’t have enough memory to hold all of the images so we need to review how we store the images.

we had thought about using Amazon photos as another online storage option but are running into issues in amazon photos seeing all of the images when we try to upload.

anyone have any other suggestions?
Click to expand...
Upgrade your storage space on iCloud. Also buy an external USB backup drive.
 
Apple fanboy said:
Even if its just for your most valuable images. I keep a HD in my desk drawer at work. I like to know its an extra bit of protection for my most valuable images.
Click to expand...

Effective at-home and off-site storage should be part of everyone's backup system. Since I am retired and not working in an office somewhere, no office or desk of my own in a separate location, I have been using a system of backups kept here in my home (redundant ones, not just one copy of each) and an off-site location (my safe deposit box at the bank works just fine for this purpose). Many of my image files are also safely stashed online as well. That way if something disastrous happens at home I will still have my images and other important files safe, protected and available away from home. Gives me peace of mind.
 
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