{"id":4095,"date":"2018-09-15T09:31:29","date_gmt":"2018-09-15T17:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/?p=4095"},"modified":"2018-09-26T16:27:24","modified_gmt":"2018-09-27T00:27:24","slug":"what-would-happen-if-your-hard-drive-failed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/2018\/09\/15\/what-would-happen-if-your-hard-drive-failed\/","title":{"rendered":"What Would Happen if Your Hard Drive Failed?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever asked yourself what would happen to your picture files if your hard drive failed? \u00a0I ask this question because a week ago, I lost a hard drive.<\/p>\n

When I was just getting started, I would have lost everything. \u00a0I had a desktop computer with a single internal hard drive and everything was on it.<\/p>\n

\"Backup<\/p>\n

So what did I do? \u00a0I went out and invested in an external drive. \u00a0Now I could at least back up my important files. \u00a0That would include more than just the photo files but it definitely included them. \u00a0The advantage was that now I had two copies of my important files and it was unlikely that both the desktop hard drive and the external drive would fail at the same time. \u00a0But there was a downside\u2026.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Backup<\/p>\n

However, there were several shortcoming to this setup. \u00a0 If there was a huge power spike that fried everything (use a surge protector) or, worse yet, if the house burned down, all would be lost. \u00a0Another drawback was having the discipline to manually backup your files on a regular basis. \u00a0Ideally you have some automated way of doing it or, failing that, you are extremely disciplined about backing up your data. \u00a0Fortunately, desktops tend to get left on for days at a time so, if you have the right software, backups can be scheduled to run at night.<\/p>\n

The situation gets more complicated if your only computer is a laptop.<\/p>\n

\"Backup<\/p>\n

You have the same advantages and disadvantages of using an external drive as you have for a desktop. \u00a0But there\u2019s an additional disadvantage – the laptop, being as portable as it is, is turned off more frequently. This makes it more complex to turn on and connect everything.<\/p>\n

As a photographer it is not uncommon to have both desktop and laptop computers. \u00a0The laptop goes with you on outings but the desktop is where you do most of your finish work. \u00a0At least, that\u2019s how many people do it. \u00a0So there\u2019s the added complication of synchronizing the data between the laptop and desktop.<\/p>\n

\"Backup<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s make it even more tricky. \u00a0Suppose your desktop is a Windows machine and you laptop, a MacBook. \u00a0Windows and the Mac have different formats in which they write data to a hard drive, \u00a0It\u2019s as if Windows used one digital language and the MacBook used a different one and they couldn\u2019t translate each other\u2019s language, \u00a0That can be a show-stopper. \u00a0There is one language (or format), however, that both systems can read call ExFAT. \u00a0So if the external drive is formatted using ExFAT then everything is OK, at least as far as this issue is concerned.<\/p>\n

Now you need to synchronize the two computers. \u00a0This means that files need to be transferred from the laptop to the desktop and vice versa. \u00a0The external drive becomes the connection between the two. \u00a0This can be done manually but is very tedious at best. \u00a0Fortunately, there is software that can synchronize data as well as backing it up.<\/p>\n

\u2026\u00a0you need to synchronize the two computers.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What\u2019s the difference? \u00a0Backup is in one direction – from the computer to the backup device, in this case the external drive. \u00a0The logic is very simple. \u00a0If there\u2019s a new file or a file has changed, back it tip. \u00a0Synchronization is bi-directional. \u00a0For example, what do you do if the file changes on both computers? \u00a0How do you resolve that? \u00a0And that\u2019s just one of the many conditions that need to be handled. \u00a0But, as I mentioned above, there is software that does both backups and synchronization.<\/p>\n

This is getting difficult. \u00a0Enter the home or office network. \u00a0There is a class of storage devices called Network Attached Storage or NAS for short, \u00a0These devices generally have several compelling features. \u00a0You can add storage capacity to them because they hold anywhere from five to eight or more internal hard drives, \u00a0If you need more storage, add another drive. \u00a0The second advantage is they are redundant. \u00a0Here\u2019;s what that means. \u00a0Say you have a NAS device with five hard drives and one of them fails,. \u00a0(This is what happened to me.). But, because the storage is redundant, you don\u2019t loose any data and can keep right on working. \u00a0Once you get a replacement for the failed drive, you just pull out the bad one and insert the new drive. \u00a0Being attached to the network is a third advantage. Instead of attaching it to the desktop, you attach it to your wireless router using an Ethernet cable. \u00a0Now you can access the data via Ethernet and WiFi.<\/p>\n

\"Backup<\/p>\n

This is a significant step up from using external drives. \u00a0The NAS device sitting between the two computers now becomes the \u2018source of truth.\u2019 \u00a0If a file changes on the desktop, software syncs it to the NAS. \u00a0Later, the same software syncs it to the laptop. \u00a0Now you have the same version of the file in three places. \u00a0With this setup, you can start working on a file on your laptop and finish it on the desktop, as long as you go through the synchronization process,<\/p>\n

\u2026 you can start working on a file on your laptop and finish it on the desktop, as long as you go through the synchronization process,<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Also notice that the external drive that once connected desktop to laptop is now only attached to the laptop. \u00a0This actually works out very well as the laptop and external drive become your portable system that you take with you when you travel.<\/p>\n

With this setup (In which the NAS was the \u2019source of truth\u2019) it made a lot of sense to put all my photo files on that device. \u00a0It had way more storage than my desktop and the storage was redundant. \u00a0B\\utt that posed another problem. If two drives failed at the same time on the NAS, I would lose all the data. \u00a0So I needed another backup, this one for the NAS..<\/p>\n

Fortunately, I already had a second redundant storage device that I could use as the NAS backup.<\/p>\n

\"Backup<\/p>\n

That made me feel much safer. \u00a0The illustration shows the NAS and its backup device directly connected. \u00a0That\u2019s not quite how it works. \u00a0The backup device is physically connected to the desktop which runs the software that does the backup.<\/p>\n

But everything is still in one site – your home or office. \u00a0And if it burns down, you still lose it all. \u00a0So there\u2019s one more step to take and that is to get your critical files off-site. \u00a0Some prefer two sets of external backup drives. \u00a0They keep one in the house and the other at the office or some other remote location and rotate them on a frequent basis, say weekly.<\/p>\n

But the growing alternative is to use the cloud.<\/p>\n

\"Backup<\/p>\n

This is the set up I\u2019ve developed over the years. \u00a0Let me put some specifics to it and provide some brand names,<\/p>\n

My desktop is an old Dell tower. \u00a0I use it for final processing and printing (on my Epson 4900 printer). \u00a0I have a Dell monitor that has an Adobe RGB color space so it\u2019s perfect for doing the final enhancements. \u00a0The Dell is connected to the home network via Ethernet cable. It\u2019s connected to the printer via USB.<\/p>\n

My laptop is a new MacBook Pro. \u00a0That\u2019s may travel computer but I also use it a lot at home. \u00a0In fact, I\u2019m writing on it right how. \u00a0It ha as 1 TB solid state drive (SSD) and 16 GB of memory. \u00a0It\u2019s a monster and extremely fast. \u00a0The external drive is a LaCie Porsche. \u00a0It is a conventional hard drive but also has 1 TB of storage, \u00a0The MacBook Pro is connected to my home network via WiFi.<\/p>\n

The NAS device is a DROBO5N. \u00a0It has five drive bays and the N indicates it\u2019s attached to the network. \u00a0It currently has about 15 TB of usable storage. \u00a0On it I store all of my photo files – all 15 years worth. \u00a0I counted once and determined I have over 600,000 files. \u00a0It is also where my Portfolio files are. These are the finished, printable files.<\/p>\n

As I mentioned above, the only place my photo files live is on the 5N. \u00a0So I attached a DROBO5C to my desktop for backup.<\/p>\n

For the cloud service, I found a very affordable one named BackBlaze. I use their B2 cloud service which is extremely affordable. \u00a0I have about 4 TB.in the cloud now and am paying less than $5 per month. \u00a0Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Apple and all the rest can\u2019t come close to that.<\/p>\n

I can say with confidence that the cloud is current, the 5C is current and the 5N is current. \u00a0How can I say that? \u00a0Because of the glue that holds it all together – the software that does the synchronizations \u00a0and backups. \u00a0I discovered this software quite a few years ago and I have expanded my use as it has grown as a product. \u00a0The name of the software is SyncBack Pro. \u00a0It runs on my desktop. \u00a0I create jobs and schedule them to run at night. \u00a0All I need to do is leave my desktop on over night and starting at midnight, the jobs kick off. \u00a0Basically the desktop and laptop are synchronized to the 5N. \u00a0Next, the 5N is backed up to the 5C and lastly the 5C is backed up to the cloud.<\/p>\n

I can say with confidence that the cloud is current,\u2026.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, I have two copies of my photography files in the house and one copy in the cloud. \u00a0Of the other important files like QuickBooks and my website files I have three and even four copies in the house and one more in the cloud. \u00a0It\u2019s the deluxe setup but, for me, it\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve tried to show different levels of sophistication. \u00a0You may not need to go to these extremes and one of the less exhaustive solutions I mentioned may be just right for you. \u00a0But whatever you do, protect your most precious files by developing a system that ensures you have at least one backup copy.<\/p>\n

Over the years, SyncBack has the foundation on which my backup strategy has evolved. \u00a0It is published by 2BrightSparks. \u00a0They have a free version that I used until recently. \u00a0I upgraded to the paid Pro version because it supports backing up to the cloud. \u00a0In fact, I chose BackBlaze as my cloud provider because they are one of the premier cloud solutions supported by SyncBack. \u00a0It has worked so well for me that I have no reservations in recommending that you check them out. \u00a0Here\u2019s their link: \u00a02BrightSparks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Join us on one of our photography workshops. \u00a0Click here for more information.<\/a><\/p>\n

(144)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Explore the various ways to back up your important data from a simple solution to a comprehensive one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1436,1437,8],"tags":[1432,1430,1429,1433,13,1431,1434],"class_list":["post-4095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-landscape-photography","category-nature-photography","category-workshops","tag-2brightsparks","tag-backblaze","tag-backjup","tag-drobo","tag-photography","tag-syncback","tag-syncback-pro"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9Nl7-143","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4095"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4099,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4095\/revisions\/4099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}