Digital Storage Issue

[jake]

I keep running out of space for my digital music collection - it is now over 800G and is stored on an external 2TB hard drive with most of it backed up to another 1TB external drive, I'm very worried about losing it all and am looking for alternatives.
Solid State hard drives are just too expensive right now - although I did read they are supposed to be coming down in price soon - something to do with the material needed to make them no longer being needed by the cell-phone industry. Lacie do a 1TB SSD for just under $1,000 ..hmmmm.
Apple's iCloud would cost me about $1600 a year to store what I have - yikes!

Anyone have any suggestions?

[Scott Bails]

I store mine on two redundant 2TB drives. I know there are other alternatives out there, but my tech-savvy only goes so far. I have a hard time thinking that both drives would fail at the same time, but of course my method doesn't allow for fires, etc.

[ronmac]

You could convert them to vinyl.

Sorry, I had to.

[Gruno]

I store mine on two redundant 2TB drives. I know there are other alternatives out there, but my tech-savvy only goes so far. I have a hard time thinking that both drives would fail at the same time, but of course my method doesn't allow for fires, etc.

Get another 2TB drive and back-up what you need to and store that HD in a safe deposit box at your bank. Make a habit of revisiting/refreshing the HD a few times through the year. Some say this is an inconvenience, but ask them how inconvenient it is when they need those files after a flood/fire/natural disaster, etc.

With the traveling I have done, I sleep a lot easier on the road knowing my files are somewhat safer by being locked in a bank as well as backed-up at home.

[Scott Bails]

Excellent idea, Gruno.

[Banquo]

I've lost far more important things to "natural disaster", so losing my music would probably be the least of my concerns. When you have actually experienced a flood or a fire, you'll realize then what your priorities should be. A music collection can be replaced. It's always out there in some form or another, so I'm not gonna put a lot of thought or action into saving my physical albums, much less the digital files. Gruno's advice is a fine solution as it applies to preserving irreplaceable documents, photos and other memories.

[Scott Bails]

Gruno's advice is a fine solution as it applies to preserving irreplaceable documents, photos and other memories.

Why not both?

[Banquo]

Why not both?

Well, you can do that, of course. All I would say is to measure the risk against the cost. What are digital music files worth? The answer is: NOTHING.

[Poisoned Youth]

IMO, no need for a safety deposit box. Just store a backup drive at any other location - be it a relative's, or even better, your work location since you visit there often enough to make updates to your backup easily.

In my case, I've got a drive at work. I also have everything backed up on DVD-Rs.

[Poisoned Youth]

What are digital music files worth? The answer is: NOTHING.

Not sure why you have to be snippy about it. I think when music is an important part of your life, there is a great deal of value there. Sure it's not like losing a loved one or suffering a great financial loss, but I don't think Gruno was trying to make such a comparison.

To the OP though, I think you're better off having multiple copies of your drives than spending the money on SSD and other forms of storage. They all have some risk. At least you CAN make copies though, not like the days of physical medium where such things could be much more inconvenient.

[Banquo]

Not sure why you have to be snippy about it. I think when music is an important part of your life, there is a great deal of value there. Sure it's not like losing a loved one or suffering a great financial loss, but I don't think Gruno was trying to make such a comparison.

I wasn't trying to be "snippy", whatever that means. Music is a VERY important part of my life, but NOT the MOST IMPORTANT. Gruno is a collector. He values things differently than probably most. Doesn't mean he's wrong, and my response was not intended to be critical of him, but his perspective may not fit the average situation. I put all of my digital music files on external drives. I'm not gonna spend more money, or devote more time to it than that. But I agree. Just back up the files and send them to your grandma in Sheboygan.

[Gruno]

I wasn't trying to be "snippy", whatever that means. Music is a VERY important part of my life, but NOT the MOST IMPORTANT. Gruno is a collector. He values things differently than probably most. Doesn't mean he's wrong, and my response was not intended to be critical of him, but his perspective may not fit the average situation. I put all of my digital music files on external drives. I'm not gonna spend more money, or devote more time to it than that. But I agree. Just back up the files and send them to your grandma in Sheboygan.

I appreciate things in life, yes. My hobby is music and music memorabilia. There's a lot more to life than that. All my digital files range from hobbies to my work and my family. Also includes important documents and hundreds of thousands of photographs. Include music and family home movies and that about completes my archiving. All of those digital files I have scanned or photographed and categorized. I value my time and would not like to have to redo any archiving I have done. I have 5 active hard drives that run through my computer system. With on-site backup and two 2TB external HDs in a safe deposit box, I am set. Every file is just as important as the other as they are what I have decided to save/back-up.

When you have actually experienced a flood or a fire, you'll realize then what your priorities should be.

I do not have to live through a tragedy to realize what my priorities are. Some need to go through a tragedy to figure it out; others already have a clear grasp on such things.

[Banquo]

I do not have to live through a tragedy to realize what my priorities are. Some need to go through a tragedy to figure it out; others already have a clear grasp on such things.

God bless you. You're a better man than I.

[Gruno]

It doesn't make anyone better than another. Its your choice to look at it like that.

[Yodelgoat]

I use carbonite and all my music is backed up - with the exception of my originals, since they sit on a PC that has never logged on to the internet, I have to back those up manually - usually to a 32gb stick. I should probably buy a backup hard disk and keep it locked away, but what is that music worth? - Absolutely nothing.

[JKL2000]

For those who are doing a redundant copy to two external drives or whatever: are using any kind of backup software, or are you just copying one folder that has everything in it, or what? Are you doing regularly scheduled incremental backups, or just copying the whole collection (which would take a long time). Also, are all albums in separate folders, or is it all dumped in one folder.

[Gruno]

For those who are doing a redundant copy to two external drives or whatever: are using any kind of backup software, or are you just copying one folder that has everything in it, or what?

I use a program designed for Mac. Sometimes I do it manually. My program goes through the files and does not copy over them -- it adds to them. It will recognize what is existing and only add to my backup drive. Saves time.

Every so often I do a fresh manual backup to the hard drive. That definitely takes a long time but I use a different computer to structure that as to not have to disable my main unit for hours.

Are you doing regularly scheduled incremental backups, or just copying the whole collection (which would take a long time).

My on-site backup drives are updated daily.

Also, are all albums in separate folders, or is it all dumped in one folder.

In my music folder, it is categorized by artist. Each artist folder is then broken down into album folders.

[Trane]

You could convert them to vinyl.

Sorry, I had to.

that was my thought when I saw the thread title