Recommended Backup hardware?

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playit

New member
Since everything seems to be available in a similar price range now, what would people recommend for backing up their projects?

I use Cubase SL and have found that I can't burn most projects to CD because it's just not enough space.

I have thought about DVD-R, tape/ZIP/Jazz/??? drives, and external USB hard drives. Is there anything else I'm not thinking of?

Which of these is the fastest? Most portable? Cheapest? Most reliable?

I was considering DVD-R for a long time but I think I am going to skip that idea because it isn't fast.
 
Lacie firewire drives are pretty neat. I work in an audio facility, and they often float around between studios and can hold quite a lot.

I can't give you the exact details, but look 'em up. They seem pretty sturdy too and have a tough aluminum casing. You could back-up your projects pretty quickly.

Personally I've been archiving to CD-R, but then again most of my stuff is MIDI data with a bit of audio over the top...

:rolleyes:
 
I've been doing some more researching this morning. It looks like DVD-R really is the best way to go.

External hard drives are great because your data transfers across fast and they are portable, but I work in IT and I know how unreliable hard drives can be. The possibility of drive failure, however slight, is scary.

As for tape drives, it looks like they are way out of range. And zip and jaz drives don't hold much data either.

DVD-R drives, although they are slow, are reliable. Once the data is burned, I know it's not going anywhere. All I have to do at that point is protect the DVD. Additionally, I can always buy more DVD-Rs if/when I need more space.

I guess I answered my own question. Thanks Agent47 for taking the time to reply. One day I'll get one of those cool firewire hard drives, but not any time soon.
 
What I've had success with when I've had to back up a project that doesn't fit on a single CD is break it in half (or thirds, or quarters or whatever) and save each of these to a CD which I then label '1 of 4', '2 of 4' and so on.

The way I reduce the size of the files is simply deleting audio material until the resultin file will fit on a single CD, then reload the full file and repeat the process until finished. Keep careful notes about where you stand as far as what you've deleted, and make sure your sequencer has some type of 'import audio' function!

I use the backup system I already know works well, with only a minimal investment of time and no out-of-pocket cost.
 
Do you go with a DVD-R that will deteriorate and be unreadable in a couple of years or a hard drive that may not boot up when you need it? For now I've got external USB 2.0 drives, but if anyone comes up with a bulletproof passive medium I'll be first in line.
 
playit said:
External hard drives are great because your data transfers across fast and they are portable, but I work in IT and I know how unreliable hard drives can be. The possibility of drive failure, however slight, is scary.
Click to expand...

Thats just silly. External HD's are no more prone to failure than a DVD-R.

Apparently you've never come across a scratched CD-R or DVD-R. I have already had to re-back up several important projects onto a newer CD or DVD because the first one was having trouble geing read.

You asked for the fastest and that what external HD are.
 
I've never heard of DVD-R deterioration.

Are you implying that simply sitting in its case a DVD-R will soon become unreadable?

Of course I understand about scratching!
 
Actually, assuming DVD-R's are anything like CD-R's, they have an expected shelf life of 20-30 years. That wasn't the original point, but don't expect to be reading those DVD-R's 50 years down the road.
 
playit said:
I've never heard of DVD-R deterioration.

Are you implying that simply sitting in its case a DVD-R will soon become unreadable?

Of course I understand about scratching!
Click to expand...

In CDs, the protective lacquer coating can come away from the edge of the disc. This allows some kinda fungus to burow in there and set up shopon the aluminium surface, potentially rendering the disc unreadable.

If DVDs are made the same way, they could be suceptible to the same bugs
 
I posted a link a while ago warning about CD and DVD rot. The original claim that CD's and DVD's would last 30 years has been proven to not be true as people are finding CD's from the 80's that have CD rot on them.

Here is another article about it:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/05/06/disc.rot.ap/

Personaly I'm using a USB 2 external drive for my backups. It is so cheap now to buy a case and a drive (or the 2 combined) and WinXP's backup software makes it very easy to do backups.
 
That's interesting.

Here's what I'm getting as the answer to my original questions.

Most reliable: toss up
Fastest: External hard drive
Cheapest: CD-R/DVD-R
Most Portable: External hard drive

I will keep mulling the issue over.
 
It pays to get quality DVD media. My Ricoh and Taiyo Yuden unbranded CDs from 1996 still read at full speed on my current drives. Proper research on DVD media will net you good returns. (right now i go with CMC magnetics in various branding and the current generation of Imation DVD+Rs for my current Sanyo-based (Sony and Optorite) burners.)

Pairing your drives with your media is an art that, if mastered, will pay you back tenfold...
 
playit said:
That's interesting.

Here's what I'm getting as the answer to my original questions.

Most reliable: toss up
Fastest: External hard drive
Cheapest: CD-R/DVD-R
Most Portable: External hard drive

I will keep mulling the issue over.
Click to expand...
Just a note on portability. The same USB 2 box that will house an external Hard Drive and allow you to plug it in anywhere with a USB port allows the same thing to be done with a DVD-R drive.
Takes about 15-20 min to burn >4GB on one back-up disc.
 
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