# Photo Storage - External Hard Drive?



## Mia331

I am looking for a way to store digtal photos other than on my computer and was thinking about a portable external hard drive. Is this good for storage or do you have any other suggestions or is there a specific brand? I was looking at a Seagate Free Agent 320 GB which I think should be plenty of space to start out with and seems small for portability and doesnt seem to take up much space itself. 

I just got into photography this summer and before I have too many photos I want to get them organized and stored as I take them so it is easier and less time consuming to manage. 

Any suggestions or feedback are greatly appreciated!


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## SCraig

USB drives are rather slow as compared to internal SATA drives.  The average transfer rate for a USB-2 drive is about 30 MB/sec whereas an internal SATA-2 drive will average around 100 MB/sec (based on benchmarks of my drives).  I have a 1tb USB drive that I use for backups and it is significantly slower than my internal drives ((1)2tb and (1)1tb).

Other than that they do work quite well and provide a lot of storage space inexpensively.


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## fjrabon

If in doubt, always buy bigger.  You can get portable 1TB drives relatively cheaply these days.  That sounds big, but with a 320, if you shoot RAW and shoot a lot, that thing will be filling up in no time.  And since it's a headache to have your photos spread across multiple HD's, it's better to just buy big first instead of having to constantly upgrade.  If you buy 1TB now, which is kind of the sweetspot value wise at this point, you won't need to upgrade until 3TB flash drives are common and cheap a few years from now and all computers are on USB 3.0 or thunderbolt.


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## KenC

Definitely buy something bigger - they are so cheap now.  Many of us use a desktop external drive and back that up with a portable stored in another location.  Some on here even use multiple levels of backup and have drives stashed all over the place.


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## 480sparky

Power supplies also make a difference.  You mention 'portable' drive, which uses the power available through the USB cord.  While it works, I think the data rate is much slower then an external drive with a cord that plugs into 120/220v.

I use Seagates GoFlex FreeAgents, which run on 12vDC.  Usually plugged in to AC power, but I have, on occasion, used a 12vDC cord into a vehicle cigarette lighter when running a laptop in the field.

And yes.... buy the largest drive your budget allows.


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## ghache

buy the largest hard drive you can, possibly 2 and make backups.


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## 12sndsgood

yeah i'd also suggest 1tb or bigger. there not to bad on price. and they do fill up quick.  as far as speed goes. i just do a backup and then go watch tv or go do something. never had the need to sit there and wait for it so speed may not be an issue for you.


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## Kolia

I use a Western Digital My Passport USB drive.  It is very compact, mine holds 1TB and the included backup software works very well. 

Data transfer rate isn't an issue if all you want is a back up. I plug it once a week, run the back up in the back ground and the put the drive elsewhere in the house. (backups are useless if they are near your PC). 

I also have a Seagate USB drive for general backup and didn't like it's backup software. I use the Windows application with this drive. 

You might also consider a DVD/BR backup for longer term. These are easier to store at a friend/family for increased safety.


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## fjrabon

Kolia said:


> Data transfer rate isn't an issue if all you want is a back up. I plug it once a week, run the back up in the back ground and the put the drive elsewhere in the house. (backups are useless if they are near your PC).



well, I wouldn't say they are useless.  99% of backups are used when the main hard drive fails or the computer otherwise loses the data, not because of a fire or something.  Though to be safe, yes, you should periodically do off site hard drives of your most valuable data (or all of your data if it's practical).


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## Aquaforester

480sparky said:


> Power supplies also make a difference.  You mention 'portable' drive, which uses the power available through the USB cord.  While it works, I think the data rate is much slower then an external drive with a cord that plugs into 120/220v.
> 
> I use Seagates GoFlex FreeAgents, which run on 12vDC.  Usually plugged in to AC power, but I have, on occasion, used a 12vDC cord into a vehicle cigarette lighter when running a laptop in the field.
> 
> And yes.... buy the largest drive your budget allows.



I just bought this. 

Home Network Storage | Backup Storage | GoFlex Home | Seagate

Wireless backup and can link all computers, smartphones thru router.  Hope it works well.  The 2T was only $129 at Costco.


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## volmon

I use a Amazon.com: Thermaltake BlacX eSATA USB Docking Station: Electronics

You just plug in internal hard drives when you need them. Throw some scotch tape on the side to indicate what it is (or what number it is) and pop it out for another when full. Internal hard drives are usually much cheaper than external, and even though they look funny the are sealed. As long as they are not dipped in water or have electricity put through them, they should hold forever. I usually carefully cut the anti static wrapping they come in, and use those as "sleeves" for each drive. Just store it in a box somewhere for when you need it. Also, for children of the 80s, this looks a lot like an old Atari... haha. 

Also, I personally stay away from seagate. WD Black, 7200+ RPM is where you want to be for quality. But That may be the computer builder in me talking.


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## Vtec44

I recently bought a Sans Digital ESATA 4 bays external chasis (JBOD) with built in port multiplier.  I just write myself a small batch script to have Robocopy mirror all the drives there.  Before this, I just backup my drives through my home network using the same script I wrote.


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## 480sparky

volmon said:


> ........ As long as they are not dipped in water or have electricity put through them, they should hold forever...........



Seriously?  Since when?

So I can load up a hard drive, drop it into my bank box, and in 100 years my great-great-great-grandchildren will be able to get the pix off it?


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## busyworld

I think you can try USB flash drive for storage your photos.They are portable and easy to use.Buy the maximum GB of USB drive to feel relax for your precious photos.


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