Long term storage for Video and Photo

[Drew_Geraci]

I've seen a lot of questions regarding the best way to back up, store, and manage content (both photos and videos). If you haven't already looked into a DAS (Direct Attached Storage) or NAS (Network Attached Storage) there are a ton of options out there and it's super beneficial, especially if you're shooting with high-resolution sensors. 

 

A NAS offers the ability to create multiple data pools where you can store/access all of your content via ThunderBolt3/4, 10GBe ethernet, or via the web. It's probably my favorite storage solution. If you use a 10GBe connection you can even use it to work off of (transfers around 800-1000MB/Sec) which makes it great for 8k footage use across multiple workstations. 

What storage solutions do you prefer using?  

[tonygale]

I have a small NAS for working files so I can access them remotely if needed, but mostly I use a RAID 5 direct

[LeeJH]

I'm currently using a 5TB HD and working off of a 1TB SSD with a Tbolt 4 for video and a 1TB SSD for photo storage. However I discovered that I'm running out of space so I'm trying to decide between expandable DAS and NAS. I'm using a Mac Mini for FCP, LR, and PS. Any suggestions? 

[TrekRover]

Hi Drew, is there any particular brand you recommend for a NAS setup? What RAID setup do you use?

[davidmclain]

I use a "dumb" system. 

When I am in the field shooting I back up on these super-fast solid-state drives because it makes backing up at the end of the day really fast.

Drive: https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Rocket-Internal-Performance-SB-RKTQ-4TB/dp/B087N7HLRV/ 

Mount: https://www.amazon.com/Thunderbolt-Certified-Tool-Free-Enclosure-EC-T3NS/dp/B08FT59SB6/

When I get back home all of the RAW and or Pro Res footage is backed up on cheap SATA drives. I have SATA drives that are 12 years old but they still work because whenever the connection changes (from firewire to USB3 for example) all you do is buy a new port for the SATA drives.

You might be saying, well that's great but SATA drives are too slow to edit 4k footage from. The answer to that is that all of the editing is done via proxy files. Because proxy files are small the project just lives on my laptop. The only time you connect to the original files is when you color grade and output. There is no need to edit from the original 4k footage. The second you discover the power of proxies it saves you a ton of time and money.

[DJYoshi]

I'm a storage hoarder.

For projects I'm working on, music, video and photo, they're all on independent 4 or 8TB portable drives so I can work on the go.

those drives are also copied and mirrored on my home NAS

I also have cloud storage as a just in case... then I have a few 8TB drives of data in my office so those are off-site

I once had a drive crash on me while out on a project so after that I made sure that I had redundancy

[LensBrew]

I have a NAS system for large storage and remote access. I also started using small external ssd's for each year as additional backup and I will be leaving those at my brother's house. The third would be a cloud cold storage, Synology cloud service. But there are other options that I'm considering now, Smugmug and Blaze.

@TrekRover I recommend Synology DS options. Linus (LTT) has a great video about them and how to configure them.

[TrekRover]

I have a NAS system for large storage and remote access. I also started using small external ssd's for each year as additional backup and I will be leaving those at my brother's house. The third would be a cloud cold storage, Synology cloud service. But there are other options that I'm considering now, Smugmug and Blaze.

@TrekRover I recommend Synology DS options. Linus (LTT) has a great video about them and how to configure them.

Thank you! I will check them out!

[CarolineJensen]

Following...looking for a better system!

[DJYoshi]

Following...looking for a better system!

Get a NAS that fits within your budget.  They can be as cheap as $300 and scaled up to $2500 within reason