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New computer, new setup. SO CONFUSED!

James Stewart
I apologize if this has been asked already, but I did a search and couldn't find anything. I'm sure it's been asked before though, so if it has then maybe link me to the thread.

I'm getting a new laptop today and plan to do some pretty big changes to my workflow and file management. I'm overwhelmed with all the options available. My old laptop is a single 1tb hard drive that is currently 600gb full of images. I have a 6tb external hard drive with lots of other raw files, etc I plan to use as well as backup. I plan on eventually getting a NAS down the road to replace my single external drive, so will this change anything you might recommend? My new laptop has a 256gb m2 ssd and a 1tb 7200 spinner. What is the best process to handle this and keep speed a premium. Copy over my 600gb of images to the spinner and put the catalog (referenced) on the SSD? Speaking of catalogs, at what point is a good idea to split up catalogs? Is it ever a good idea to split it up based on year, or just leave everything in one catalog?

So many questions!

Bottom line, what in your opinion is the correct procedure from start to finish with starting anew given my new laptop/storage specs?

Many many many thanks in advance.

- James
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  • George Weeks
    First principles:
    1. If you have only one instance of a file it is not backed up regardless of where it is stored.
    2. Both data loss (disk failure, error, etc.) and physical loss (mechanical damage, theft, fire, etc) should be considered.

    With your system as described I would probably set it up as follows:

    On the internal drives:
    - Catalog and working session on the SSD
    - Selected output files on the SSD if you want them readily available.
    - Your current 600 GB collection moved to the internal HDD along with new completed files

    On the external 6TB drive:
    - Two partitions: one for a bootable clone of the SSD and the second to backup the internal HDD. I would probably allow 2TB for the bootable partition and the remaining space for the data partition.

    Some considerations for backup software are:
    - Clone or Synchronize
    - Compressed backup or Not Compressed
    - Local backup storage (USB) or Remote storage (cloud service or NAS)
    - Complete new backup each use or Incremental backups after first use (also differential which seems less useful)

    Clone and synchronize apps put directly readable files on the backup device. Cloning usually is done to an external USB drive which will be bootable when the backup is complete and can be easily tested by booting from it. Synchronizing software writes exact copies as would the operating systems copy command. Both types can be scheduled or invoked manually or automatically when a local usb drive in connected to the computer.

    Backup software that compresses the data writes to the target storage as a series of linked files that are not directly readable but must be accessed using the backup software itself.

    Incremental backups write only the data that has changed since the previous backup. Most programs doing incremental backups allow retrieving old files individually as well as restoring the entire backup to a previous point in time.

    I prefer a combination approach using a bootable clone to local usb drive, which I test immediately after the backup completes, and scheduled automatic backups of my data files to a NAS. These are directly readable backups. I update the bootable clone incrementally as I see fit and redo it completely before OS updates or other major changes. I also do an automatic once-a-day backup of data files to a cloud service.

    Simplicity of use is important for the software and for your backup "system" - really important!

    Capture One can write backup copies of imported images during the import to automate that stage of the process. Using sessions for working on images then a separate catalog to collect output images for viewing seems to work well for me.

    Some software worth looking at: for Windows - Veeam Agent for Windows, Drive Image, Arq Backup, Macrium Reflect.. For Mac, Carbon Copy Cloner, Arq Backup, ChronoSync, Super Duper, and Time Machine. Most have trial or free versions.

    Most NAS devices include a variety of software for backup for syncing your computer files to the NAS and the NAS to cloud services, other NAS devices, or rsync capable computers.

    Hope that ramble helps a bit.
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  • Gregory Edge
    I am a Mac user but my reply is not specific to a platform. I am not a pro photographer anymore. I am just a hobbyist but I try to be organized and prepared.

    I like having one catalog so I can search by keyword. Some prefer to separate catalogs for years or subjects. Do what works for you. I use a reference catalog with my files residing on a "data" drive. I have a drive just for my OS and Applications. This is a smallish SSD. My data drive is a 3TB drive that contains my photos and all documents.

    So my setup and workflow is as follows:

    OS and Applications are on one SSD. 250GB
    All documents, photos, videos, etc are on a 3TB drive.
    External drive that I backup my photos folder to.
    Second external drive that I backup my videos folder to.
    3rd drive with Apple's Time Machine.(Time Machine is basically synchronizing software.)
    I use Backblaze for cloud backup.
    I have an NAS I use for media such as movies, TV shows and music.

    I will probably pickup a large SSD in the near future and combine my OS drive with my data drive. I did this because when I bought the SSD 250GB was expensive and I think 512gb had just come out.

    You need to have an offsite backup if you want real protection. Look at those CA wildfires. Anyone without cloud backup lost everything. You have a theft or even a lightening strike you could be facing everything being gone.

    If you are an Amazon Prime member you can backup photos and videos as part of your Prime membership. Unlimited photos. I have my RAW files backed up there as well.

    If you do go with an NAS I highly recommend RAID 6. You can have 2 drives fail and still recover.
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  • James Stewart
    Many many thanks for the help and info y'all. I got the laptop but haven't had a chance to put C1 on there yet. I also picked up a 3 bay NAS holding 4tb disks set up in raid 5. Next question, is it possible (or smart) to use a referenced catalog and have my images saved to my NAS and my catalog file and backup saved to a cloud drive that I could use for both computers? Does that present some issue I haven't thought of? Both computers would reference the files on the NAS and could view the same catalog and backup files from the cloud drive I have set up on my computers.
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  • Paul Steunebrink
    NN635537529166978184UL wrote:
    Many many thanks for the help and info y'all. I got the laptop but haven't had a chance to put C1 on there yet. I also picked up a 3 bay NAS holding 4tb disks set up in raid 5. Next question, is it possible (or smart) to use a referenced catalog and have my images saved to my NAS and my catalog file and backup saved to a cloud drive that I could use for both computers? Does that present some issue I haven't thought of? Both computers would reference the files on the NAS and could view the same catalog and backup files from the cloud drive I have set up on my computers.

    This could work but you have to test this yourself with your NAS, your network and your cloud service. It is not a one-size-fits-all which you figured probably as well.

    Of course we are interested to hear if and how it works (or not).
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