{"id":15257,"date":"2018-10-11T08:00:26","date_gmt":"2018-10-11T12:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/honeybook.site.strattic.io\/?p=15257"},"modified":"2022-07-28T18:58:35","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T01:58:35","slug":"how-to-back-up-your-files-like-a-boss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hbbadmin.dev.reliablepenguin.com\/blog\/how-to-back-up-your-files-like-a-boss","title":{"rendered":"How to Back Up your Files Like a Boss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prior to my wedding photography journey, I worked in software engineering and technical support for years. One thing I learned in those jobs is that it\u2019s not a question of if<\/em> your hard drive will fail, but<\/strong> rather when<\/em> it will fail<\/strong>. While technology has been getting better and more reliable, we\u2019re still working with machines. Even the most cared-for hard drive can fail.<\/p>\n

In addition, we are all human and we make mistakes. Every day I see photographers on Facebook groups desperately searching for recovery software after they accidentally reformatted their drive or memory cards. That\u2019s why, as someone who shoots about 200GB of photos per wedding, I need a solid backup system to protect my client\u2019s most precious memories.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Things I use<\/strong>: SanDisk Extreme Pro SD cards, Lacie Rugged external hard drive (x5), Seagate Desktop External Hard Drive (x4), CrashPlan<\/p>\n

Here are the 5 elements of my backup system:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

1. Start with your camera<\/strong><\/h3>\n

My backup strategy always starts in my camera. My camera has both CF and SD card slots, and I make sure that I write full RAW images to both cards simultaneously. I don\u2019t wipe these SD cards until the gallery has been delivered to the client. Yes, this means I have a ton of SD cards (around 60!). But I would rather hold onto extra cards than find myself without the files in an emergency situation (or a situation like that one time where I accidentally made the time stamp the same <\/strong>on 8000 photos\u2026*insert crying emoji*).<\/p>\n

2. Work from an external drive<\/strong><\/h3>\n

After a wedding or a shoot is complete, I use PhotoMechanic to upload the files to my \u201cWorking\u201d hard drive (#2 on the diagram) and my \u201cBackup\u201d drive (#4). I should note that my images and Lightroom catalogs actually never live on my computer\u2019s internal drive\u2014they only live on a portable external hard drive (#2) that is plugged into <\/em>my computer. Not only does this help manage space on my computer, but it also allows me to switch between my iMac and my MacBook Pro with no issues. I just plug the drive in and go! When my external drive fills up, I simply purchase a new one and put the old one in a safe place.<\/p>\n

3. Time Machine is your friend<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This step is specifically for those who use a Mac. Any time my Lacie hard drive (#2) is plugged into my iMac, it automatically performs a Time Machine backup to my Seagate desktop external hard drive (#3). This drive is always plugged into my iMac, and Time Machine runs a backup every hour on my iMac and any drive that is plugged in (except for drive #4, which I chose to exclude for space reasons). This Time Machine backup is critical. No matter how late it is when I come home from a wedding, I always make sure that my cards are imported to drive #2 and #4 and the backup to #3 has started before I go to bed.<\/p>\n

4. Redundancy is key<\/strong><\/h3>\n

So why a \u201cTime Machine\u201d drive (#3) AND a \u201cBackup\u201d drive (#4)? I added #4 to my system because step #5 is a painfully slow step that is easier to manage when the data is syncing from a hard drive that\u2019s always plugged into my iMac. On this backup drive, I manually create a folder for each client. I then copy only <\/strong>the RAW files and LR catalog to this drive. At this point in the process, I have my RAW files on 3 separate drives plus any unformatted SD cards.<\/p>\n

5. Have a cloud solution for catastrophic events<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The final step in my backup process is a cloud backup via CrashPlan (Backblaze is a great option, too). Think of this as my last-resort emergency backup in case of a fire, tornado, or other disaster. CrashPlan is syncing with drive #4 at all times. This process is slow, but oh so critical!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Don\u2019t wait until you have a data loss emergency before you put a backup system in place. This specific system isn\u2019t perfect, but it works well for me. I originally wrote this article pre-Hurricane Harvey, but after seeing the devastation the storm caused, having a solid backup strategy feels more important than ever. It\u2019s especially important to have an off-site or a cloud-based solution for those sorts of catastrophic events. Digital storage is cheap\u2014take advantage of it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prior to my wedding photography journey, I worked in software engineering and technical support for years. One thing I learned in those jobs is that it\u2019s not a question of if your hard drive will fail, but rather when it will fail. While technology has been getting better and more reliable, we\u2019re still working with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":405,"featured_media":76954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-best-practices"],"acf":[],"featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":["https:\/\/hbbadmin.dev.reliablepenguin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Back_Up_System.001.jpeg",1000,500,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/hbbadmin.dev.reliablepenguin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Back_Up_System.001-150x150.jpeg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/hbbadmin.dev.reliablepenguin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Back_Up_System.001-300x150.jpeg",300,150,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/hbbadmin.dev.reliablepenguin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Back_Up_System.001-768x384.jpeg",768,384,true],"large":["https:\/\/hbbadmin.dev.reliablepenguin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Back_Up_System.001.jpeg",1000,500,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/hbbadmin.dev.reliablepenguin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Back_Up_System.001.jpeg",1000,500,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/hbbadmin.dev.reliablepenguin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Back_Up_System.001.jpeg",1000,500,false]},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"

Prior to my wedding photography journey, I worked in software engineering and technical support for years. One thing I learned in those jobs is that it\u2019s not a question of if your hard drive will fail, but rather when it will fail. While technology has been getting better and more reliable, we\u2019re still working with machines. Even the most cared-for hard drive can fail. In addition, we are all human and we make mistakes. Every day I see photographers on Facebook groups desperately searching for recovery software after they accidentally reformatted their drive or memory cards. That\u2019s why, as someone…<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"Business best practices<\/a>","author_info_v2":{"name":"Dawn Richardson","url":"https:\/\/hbbadmin.dev.reliablepenguin.com\/blog\/author\/dawn-richardson"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","yoast_head":"\nHow to Back Up your Files Like a Boss - HoneyBook<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s not a question of if your hard drive will fail, but rather when it will fail. Here's how to be prepared when it happens.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hbbadmin.reliablepenguin.com\/blog\/how-to-back-up-your-files-like-a-boss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Back Up your Files Like a Boss - HoneyBook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s not a question of if your hard drive will fail, but rather when it will fail. 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