Media storage help

Questions & Answers
#1

I’ve seen a few chats on the subject but I am starting to rack up disk space with pictures and projects so I thought I’d ask a straight forward question…where do I put it all? I don’t really want to have lots of onsite storage but that is an option, I could put it all in the cloud, but which one?

I create all my content for personal use, I like to go back and look at photos and video and I like the ability to share but ideally simply share a link so friends and family can download it themselves.

I currently live with Apple everything, iPhone, iPads and MacBook Pro, I don’t do any heavy editing, just cut, trim, grade, save.

Ideally I’d backup onsite and in the cloud, but I don’t want to spend a fortune and I don’t know what’s best, I like to think I’m tech savvy but personal data storage is not something I’ve ever really got to grips with fully, thumb drives, folders plug-in hard drives and iCloud but there must be a better way and I’d love to know what it is, I want automation in my life but data sovereignty is important to me, I don’t really want it all sat with Apple.

I would really appreciate your thoughts.

Cheers all

Videos, to keep or not to keep?
#2

Same here, I use a combination of Google photos and Apple iCloud to store my video and pictures. They are cheap and easy to use, I just synch as required and try to keep my devices free unless I need anything then I just save back to device from whichever service I decide. Have to say, I am using Google photos more and more, auto synchs and easy to retrieve if req, cost effective as well.

#3

I use iCloud , Google Photos too (use a Mac but Also use an android Phone - selling my soul to Apple isn’t on my agenda but I understand why people do.

However regardless of that do not keep everything …

After a flight I review what I have and delete the various duplicates etc . In terms of video I’m not fussed about keeping it 4K (I’m not a photographer and my audience is limited). I try to make a short video with nice transitions of my days videos , then when complete I delete the original videos.

Yes it would be great to keep everything but space is an issue like you said.

I also have a 4TB western digital storage device is keep everything on at home (it’s mirrored by a 2nd Drive in a 2nd device) as a belt and braces approach.

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#4

Hi, I have a Ravpower FileHub to transfer my files to external drive , I have a iPad mini 5 so I found the Ravpower filehub is the easiest way to move the files free of charge even out and about as you don’t need power , internet or any form of computer, less than £50 on Amazon just waiting for the sales to get a ssd external drive , take a look at the Ravpower filehub on YouTube .

#5

Filehub is ok, but a little on the slow side in the field

I recommend one of these for anyone wanting to get SD contents quickly to an i device (much easier too)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MUSKY-Camera-Adapter-Compatible-Required/dp/B071GQP25Z/ref=sr_1_3?crid=37JJCRIXFW2FJ&dchild=1&keywords=ipad+sd+card+reader&qid=1593851273&sprefix=ipad+sd%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-3

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#6

Also a fully Apple house, I store all my photos & videos on external hard drive. I use ‘backblaze‘ as my backup service. Has proved invaluable recently when I lost one of my drives and the ability to recover all lost data.

#7

Agree this is good, got one for my ‘Apple’ daughter when she went on world travels.
Worked a treat :+1::+1:
Cheers
Steve :slightly_smiling_face:

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#8

You can get 3 TB external drives now for under £30 on eBay they mostly come from Hong Kong

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#9

I use a 2 terrabite hard drive, it cost as about £30 Can store umpteen thousands upon thousands of photos and videos, connects to the laptop or even the TV and I can easily transfer stuff onto the cloud if I need to or onto the laptop for editing or sending off to Instagram. It’s like having a massive photo album which you can delve into and get your favourite photos out or look back at times past.

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#10

I use Dropbox. But lots of other alternatives as others have said.

#11

I will throw my two penneth in here as I have the same issues. Like you, I’m Apple everything so I pay 99p a month and allow my life to be uploaded to the iCloud every time I fart.

I do however find that ICloud is less accessible than other places so I do two things (1) I upload video to my free YouTube account and mark it private with the exception of a few I want to share. (2) I upload pictures I like to Flickr and do the same privacy bits.

Hard storage is great but I’m also conscious that technology moves on and will make such devises redundant and Inaccessible in the future.

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#12

Cheers all, great comments and I’ll have a play around and let you know what I settle on.

#13

What do people use to store their 4k videos? I’m primarily looking at online storage but there is so much choice and I’m on a budget.

#14

Moved your post to an existing thread asking a very similar question.

#15

Cheers Alec.
I didn`t think of that, uploading a vid of myself paragliding in turkey a couple of years ago.

#16

A quick comment on some of the points made above:
a. on returning home from flying, I transfer the captured movies and stills quickly, since I’m generally excited about how it all went. I always combine the separate 3.6G parts of the same “take” into a single entity, and then look through each take to consider which offered the smoothest and best view. I immediately delete the others.
b. my move to all-4K filming, including that from my iPhone, has resulted in a greater need for backup storage. The films stay on the Mac’s Fusion drive (digital/hard disc hybrid) until used in a film. I then back up to at least one hard disc, and delete the original transfer.
c. I have invested in four 8T hard discs:
image
These don’t claim to be the fastest discs in the world, but offer high reliability, good prices and a single USB3.0 connection:
image
The three discs are at the top of the picture:

image
image1158×1372 1.38 MB

each daisy-chained via USB. The unopened box at the bottom is a fourth drive…

Whilst we pay £2.49/month for 200G of cloud storage, that is generally used to keep the family’s phones and iPads happy, and two months of Mavic footage could consume all the capacity.

My on-line storage is restricted to the 1T given as a “freebie” by BT, so this is only used for “final product” - the films I produce for my family and friends. Now, if I could only get any of them to watch the films, I’d feel it was all worthwhile…

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#17

Has anyone tried one of them “Raid” Nas systems ?
Ive seen them on youtube and though initially expensive they seem to offer a long term answer to high memory storage. I would value anyones experience before I run the risk of shelling out a lot of wonga. Looking at Amazon, the reviews seem all over the place regarding the HDD quality and longevity, thus my search for decent info.

#18

I run a 2 bay NAS with a raid set up, it just adds that extra bit of safety if one drive fails.

Only problem is it’s double the cost, my 2TB raid is 2 x 2TB drives :slightly_frowning_face:

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#19

i was looking at a 3 bay - 2 for mirroring each other so its belt & braces, leaving the third for general stuff.
I have so much footage back home on innumerable HDD’s that I now psychologically need to put everything in ONE place ( mirrored ). Im guessing the Raid idea is the mirroring ? so i want to leave these alone to do just the one job really. I just want quality tbh - reading Amazon reviews spooked me at the vast difference in quality between the various drives that can be used in the case.
How did you find setting it all up Chris ?

#20

Ok so after taking a look at the set up one of my buddies has running I think I’m going to go with a Synology NAS with a decent amount of storage, Raid protection etc, then with Synology you can do automatic backup to either the Synology cloud service or practically any public Cloud, Dropbox, Box, Amazon, Google Drive, OneDrive etc etc…That way if a drive goes down you replace it and all is well but if you somehow kill your Synology then it’s backed up ready to access and restore. It also gives me the sharing options I wanted, I can create folders that I want to share and provide access without having to send large files etc.

I think you can save files to the cloud remotely from your device too which are then replicated on your local NAS, it all sounds like the simplicity I was after.

I’ll let you know how it goes :grin::crossed_fingers:t3:

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