skippy (28)
Active User
Posts: 1
Registered: May 19, '07
Location: out there
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Ok, here's my two cents...I'm a 15 years in IT guy.
So far, everything I see here makes sense in terms of file management. Drives are getting cheaper and cheaper, but they also occasionally fail.
I have about 3TB of on-demand data, mostly images, so it is a really huge number of files. (I just ran a file properties size scan and it is 3.1TB, 1,221,000 files...) Now, with the improvements in speed and quality, especially the advent of HD, most videos prior to about 2005 and any images from before about 2002 are probably not going ot fill your screen. I have about 500GB of older stuff that is archived.
I've got a couple of things that most people don't, but they arent that tough to do if you have a little extra hardware or are ready to upgrade your PC. I have an A/V server with 15TB in it. It also acts as a backup server for all of the computers in my house. You can by Windows Home server, which will manage backups automatically, for about $60.00. It is a crippled version of Windows 7 server.
I also have a Blu-Ray burner. You can cram 50GB onto one of those.
So all of my old stuff goes onto Blu-Ray. My new stuff gets backed up on a server.
These days, you pretty much have todownload entire zip files to get the pictures you want, so I am also constantly going through and culling images I don't want. I keep the original zip files, so I still have the file if I change my mind later.
Oh, one more thing. When you upgrade your PC, be sure to keep your drives. As long as you are not using an advanced drive partitioning scheme, you will be able to plug it in to a newer computer and it will probably spin right up and become accessible. (Assuming you are on Windows and using SATA drives). You can also buy an external SATA drive housing and just drop it in there. As long as you have an external SATA connector, you can plug it in when you need it. |
