Time to backup
Sandisk 1TB External SSD
Like many others, I have ‘learned the hard way’ that it is necessary to backup your important data, and with it being time to move my Lightroom catalogue to a replacement for my somewhat aged laptop, it is time to rethink my workflow.
Relying on local storage on our computers or smart phones, is taking a risk that our captured memories may be lost should anything happen to our devices. Fortunately cloud backup is becoming cheaper and something we can rely upon for most of our needs. It is very easy however to accumulate a large number of images, which can rapidly take up a great deal of storage space if shooting in RAW format. This can mean our cloud storage costs can rise or we outstrip the internal storage of our devices with each RAW file being 50-60 MB or more. The original 200 GB iCloud plan that I used in conjunction with my iPhone rapidly evolved to most of it being used for my Lightroom catalogue, but with my MAC breaking down and moving to a PC as my ‘daily driver’ there is opportunity to review things.
As an amateur with an emphasis on photography rather than videography, I thankfully so far have a very manageable amount of files in my catalogue. The 1 TB NVME storage that came with my laptop is easily able to cope with the storage size I need for now, and with the accompanying 1 TB of online storage in my OneDrive account, this is a good starting point. I keep a current copy of my photos on my laptop and OneDrive, but also want the ability to archive images I do not wish to have immediate access to but do not want to delete completely. Photos I have taken for friends and family I need to keep, but do not require storage on the laptop itself. With this in mind, as well as adding a further degree of redundancy, I decided to opt for external storage as well. I do have a 2 TB NAS drive at home, but it is not accessible outside of my home, and so a small portable SSD was the direction I chose.
The redundancy afforded by my OneDrive mirroring my laptop should cope with most eventualities but, after loosing data before, I have adopted a ‘belt and braces’ approach to my new workflow with the purchase of an external SSD as well that is pictured above. It can be used to backup my workflow as well as archive the aforementioned other files as well.
The 1TB SanDisk Extreme v2, is very small and lightweight, fitting easily into my bag or it’s own little custom case. As well as giving me easy access to the files I have archived, when I am travelling it is useful to immediately backup my important files, offload images from my SD cards when away for processing later, as well as act as a way of rapidly sharing files with others. I often travel to places with limited access to the internet, so the external drive is perfect in these circumstances.
As my experience and workflow expands, the 1TB internal storage of my laptop is of course not necessarily going to be enough, but further external storage via my NAS or external SSDs like this, is likely to suit my purposes. Laptop internal storage is not cheap, and many manufacturers do not make it easy to upgrade this after purchase, another benefit of the external drive.
This little external drive has become a very useful part of my workflow, with the transfer speeds over USB C being more than fast enough for me. It is pocketable and easy to carry with me. I bought this with the knowledge that there have been issue with some drives of a larger size, but the 1TB version seems to be very reliable and am very happy with this little SSD.