Adding photos to iphoto, how do i update each external hard drive?

[san001]

Hi

I have 3 external hard drives as a back up for all my photos on iphoto, however how do i keep them all updated when i add new photos?
The only way i can see is to update one, then copy whole library to the next EHD and replacing that library, but this takes a long time and seems long winded.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[960design]

Study and implement RAID for your drives to prevent yourself from going crazy.

3 backups? Seriously? For pictures?

 

[Weaselboy]

Hi

I have 3 external hard drives as a back up for all my photos on iphoto, however how do i keep them all updated when i add new photos?
The only way i can see is to update one, then copy whole library to the next EHD and replacing that library, but this takes a long time and seems long winded.

Any advice appreciated.

You could setup "scheduled tasks" in the app Carbon Copy Cloner to automate that. You would need to setup a task for each drive to copy your ~/Pictures folder and you could have it run automatically at a set time or even auto run when it detects the external drive has been attached.

There is a free trial version of the app you can test this with then register the app if this works for you.

 

[snberk103]

I use SuperDuper! and CarbonCopyCloner does essentially the same thing. I have it set up to do a Smart Update every night. It will only copy those files that are changed - not the entire drive. That's one back up and it will lag behind at most 24hrs. This goes to an external HDD.

I also use Time Machine ... the lag there is at most one hour. This is an internal HDD.

I don't format my memory cards until I put them back into the camera, and since I have a few cards and rotate them... that can be a week or more.

This system protects me from most data loss up to and including catastrophic system failure. That is... if the computer implodes and takes out the internal and external HDDs. I will still have the memory cards to fall back to.

To protect myself from an onsite disaster - like a fire - I rotate my external HDDs to a safety deposit box. This means that I will lose everything I did since the last rotation if the house should burn down. I can live with that risk... though it does remind me that it's time to rotate the backup.

Hope this helps.

I have heard from too many people that RAID is not a back up solution. If you lose the RAID array, you lose all your back ups as well.

 

[glenthompson]

Study and implement RAID for your drives to prevent yourself from going crazy.

3 backups? Seriously? For pictures?

RAID is a fault tolerant solution not a backup solution. When a power surge takes out the entire RAID array, where are you going to go to restore your data?

I consider 3 backups of a system to be the minimum. For irreplaceable times like my scanned records and my photos I currently have 5 backups.

 

[flynz4]

Study and implement RAID for your drives to prevent yourself from going crazy.

3 backups? Seriously? For pictures?

IMHO... this is very bad advice. RAID should not be considered backup. It does provide some safety against drive failure... but it also introduces new failure mechanisms that are not present in single drive configurations. My recommendation is to consider a RAID array to be as fragile as as single spindle drive.

RAID has two main advantages... both of which are dwindling in importance:

1) Single volume larger than is attainable on single spindle. With HDDs about to bust through 4TB... this is seldom the case anymore.

2) Performance... more IOPs than one can achieve from a single spindle drive. Currently... almost a completely obsolete advantage since SSDs outperform HDD IOPs by about 100X.

/Jim

 

[san001]

Thank you for all your help.

I think I will go the Carbon Copy Clone route ($40).

I am not very technically minded, therefore is this easy to set up and have it back up my 3 External Hard Drives (I keep iPhoto and iMovie only on EHD as don't want to use space on the Mac)

I do in fact also keep the SD cards as well, my husband thinks I am paranoid, but I have over 18,000 photos that I would be devastated if I lost all those memories.

Thank you again for any help

 

[Weaselboy]

Thank you for all your help.

I think I will go the Carbon Copy Clone route ($40).

I am not very technically minded, therefore is this easy to set up and have it back up my 3 External Hard Drives (I keep iPhoto and iMovie only on EHD as don't want to use space on the Mac)

I do in fact also keep the SD cards as well, my husband thinks I am paranoid, but I have over 18,000 photos that I would be devastated if I lost all those memories.

Thank you again for any help

So all the source data is in one HDD and you want to auto copy to a couple others yes?

Just fire up CCC and select the source external on the left (Test in my example) and the destination on the right (Untitled in my example). Then click Schedule this task...

and you will get this screen.

Name your task whatever you want (Photos in my example). Then select when you want it to run. My example is set for 6:05AM. There are other options there also. I normally use the option that auto runs when it detects the destination drive has been attached. You can click through the options there are set it however you like. Click save in the lower right there once you have it all set.

Now go back to the main CCC screen and setup another task for the second and third externals. You need to make a new scheduled task for each one.

When you get it all set and you have manually done your first copy to test things, you can quit the CCC app. The tasks will fire off without the app running. There is a small utility that runs in the background that manages this.

Let me know if you need more config. help.

 

[san001]

So all the source data is in one HDD and you want to auto copy to a couple others yes?

Just fire up CCC and select the source external on the left (Test in my example) and the destination on the right (Untitled in my example). Then click Schedule this task...

and you will get this screen.

Name your task whatever you want (Photos in my example). Then select when you want it to run. My example is set for 6:05AM. There are other options there also. I normally use the option that auto runs when it detects the destination drive has been attached. You can click through the options there are set it however you like. Click save in the lower right there once you have it all set.

Now go back to the main CCC screen and setup another task for the second and third externals. You need to make a new scheduled task for each one.

When you get it all set and you have manually done your first copy to test things, you can quit the CCC app. The tasks will fire off without the app running. There is a small utility that runs in the background that manages this.

Let me know if you need more config. help.

That's brilliant, thank you so much for your help.

I will give this a try and let you know how I get on.

 

[snberk103]

Thank you for all your help.

....

I do in fact also keep the SD cards as well, my husband thinks I am paranoid, but I have over 18,000 photos that I would be devastated if I lost all those memories.

Thank you again for any help

All of this is imho only of course. There are lots of opinions on backup strategies. Read a few and then work out one that works for you...

When it comes to keeping precious memories... no, you can't be too paranoid. Well .... maybe you can, but you are far from that point.

Best practice is to ensure you have at least one semi-current copy of the photos off-site. In my case the local credit union's vault is 'safe enough' for me. A few years ago, though, I read about a few young professional photographers who wanted to ensure their images against a true catastrophe. In their case they lived on 3 different continents - and so on a monthly basis there as an exchange of external HDDs to ensure that a even a continental wide catastrophe would not destroy their work. Themselves, perhaps... but not their work. That is going to far, for my needs at least.

I've got 3 external HDDs in my backup rotation. One connected - and written to nightly. One in the safety deposit box. A spare so that if one of the externals breaks (when it breaks) I can keep the rotation going until I get a replacement.

Also... it may not be enough to keep back up copies. There is a good reason to also make and keep archives. Back up copies.. what we are doing .. will faithfully keep a copy of whatever is on the source drive. If, at some point, a random error (what's called silent corruption) creeps in then the backup will faithfully copy that error. Or it might be a user error... and whole folder accidentally deleted. An archive is a copy that once written is kept and never written to. So if you make the archive copy before the error occurs you can go back to that copy when you notice the problem. Often these archives will be made to CD or DVD since you only need a write only media.

I don't make archives... but I should.

At a minimum you need to keep one copy somewhere safe off-site. How 'save' that off-site location is depends on a realistic assessment of the kinds of hazards your community faces. A safety deposit box protects you from most hazards, generally speaking.

 

[san001]

So all the source data is in one HDD and you want to auto copy to a couple others yes?

Just fire up CCC and select the source external on the left (Test in my example) and the destination on the right (Untitled in my example). Then click Schedule this task...

and you will get this screen.

Name your task whatever you want (Photos in my example). Then select when you want it to run. My example is set for 6:05AM. There are other options there also. I normally use the option that auto runs when it detects the destination drive has been attached. You can click through the options there are set it however you like. Click save in the lower right there once you have it all set.

Now go back to the main CCC screen and setup another task for the second and third externals. You need to make a new scheduled task for each one.

When you get it all set and you have manually done your first copy to test things, you can quit the CCC app. The tasks will fire off without the app running. There is a small utility that runs in the background that manages this.

Let me know if you need more config. help.

Hi Weaselboy

I am about to clone however one query, on my source destination i have only selected iPhoto & iMovie to be cloned.

With regards to handling of data, i have selected delete anything that does not exist on the source.

Will this only do this for iMovie & iPhoto as i have selected those, i am just worried it would then delete other things i have on my destination EHD.

Many thanks for any help

 

[Weaselboy]

Hi Weaselboy

I am about to clone however one query, on my source destination i have only selected iPhoto & iMovie to be cloned.

With regards to handling of data, i have selected delete anything that does not exist on the source.

Will this only do this for iMovie & iPhoto as i have selected those, i am just worried it would then delete other things i have on my destination EHD.

Many thanks for any help

Yes, it will delete everything at the destination folder/partition. So if you have other data on the external you want to keep, you will want to make either a specific folder or partition on the external for this then everything else on the external will be left alone. Either will work fine. Just make sure you select that folder or partition as the destination in the drop down in CCC.

Glad to help.

 

[san001]

Is anyone here able to help with below, i posted this a week ago on the Apple tV forum but have had no response:

I have just backed up 3 External hard drives with CCC, however i have gone into iTunes to make sure one of them is selected for Apple TV to view from, but it will not let me pick the iPhoto library, it is light grey, not bolded, suggesting i cannot apply it.

Please help as i cannot now see any photos on ATV, where as i had it nicely set up before.

I seem to go one step forward, and 3 back.

Any help appreciated

 

[Weaselboy]

Is anyone here able to help with below, i posted this a week ago on the Apple tV forum but have had no response:

I have just backed up 3 External hard drives with CCC, however i have gone into iTunes to make sure one of them is selected for Apple TV to view from, but it will not let me pick the iPhoto library, it is light grey, not bolded, suggesting i cannot apply it.

Please help as i cannot now see any photos on ATV, where as i had it nicely set up before.

I seem to go one step forward, and 3 back.

Any help appreciated

Can you see the iPhoto library in question in Finder? Try holding the option key when you launch iPhoto then when the selection box comes up, pick the library you want to be active. Then go back to iTunes and in the File/Home sharing menu select the same library.

 

[san001]

Can you see the iPhoto library in question in Finder? Try holding the option key when you launch iPhoto then when the selection box comes up, pick the library you want to be active. Then go back to iTunes and in the File/Home sharing menu select the same library.

Yes can see all the libraries, it is only when i file share through iTunes that it does not allow me to select the library

I have looked everywhere how to solve this and really dont know how to move forward