USB flash drive vs external hard drive

Erika

Erika

n00b
Joined
Jan 17, 2024
Messages
12
Could you give me some advice on the best way to store photo and video files?
I'm wondering, which option is more reliable: a USB flash drive or an external hard drive?
 
If reliability matter for important photo-video files having them on multiple mediums and maybe 2 different location could be the way to go.

Say on your computer hard drive on an external hard drive (or key) and on a cloud backup service, I imagine if the USB flash drive is considered there is not a giant ton of data size wise to store ? So it would not need to be expensive in storage space and cloud storage service price.

https://www.backblaze.com/blog/the-3-2-1-backup-strategy/

If they are not that important but still a bit important, a single backup could still be interesting.

external hard drive would tend imo to have a better track record in my very limited experience than thumbdrive but it is maybe because I only used very cheap thumbdrives, much more of them and for so long and transported them-used them more roughly than ssd external drive (never had any issue with those), I would not trust a single thumb drive for important data.
 
Last edited:
Store as in backup? or just store and use often?

As LukeTbk noted, if it is important, always follow the 3-2-1 backup rule.

USB Flash drives while simple in design, are meant to be used now and then, in my mind, vs an external say NVMe in a USB3 enclosure.
 
Don't use flash drives for a back up as they can be quite volatile. If portability is a concern, then use something like a Western Digital My Passport. Is this backup drive going to be portable or remain at your desk?
 
MrGuvernment said:
Store as in backup? or just store and use often?

As LukeTbk noted, if it is important, always follow the 3-2-1 backup rule.

USB Flash drives while simple in design, are meant to be used now and then, in my mind, vs an external say NVMe in a USB3 enclosure.
Click to expand...
It's mostly about family videos and photos, so they're quite important to me. I wouldn't say that I plan to use them often, but I will sometimes. The problem is that right now they're stored on the computer and partly on flash drives and the phone. I want to gather everything in one place.
 
LukeTbk said:
If reliability matter for important photo-video files having them on multiple mediums and maybe 2 different location could be the way to go.

Say on your computer hard drive on an external hard drive (or key) and on a cloud backup service, I imagine if the USB flash drive is considered there is not a giant ton of data size wise to store ? So it would not need to be expensive in storage space and cloud storage service price.

https://www.backblaze.com/blog/the-3-2-1-backup-strategy/

If they are not that important but still a bit important, a single backup could still be interesting.

external hard drive would tend imo to have a better track record in my very limited experience than thumbdrive but it is maybe because I only used very cheap thumbdrives, much more of them and for so long and transported them-used them more roughly than ssd external drive (never had any issue with those), I would not trust a single thumb drive for important data.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your reply! I will make 2-3 copies.
 
Shoganai said:
Don't use flash drives for a back up as they can be quite volatile. If portability is a concern, then use something like a Western Digital My Passport. Is this backup drive going to be portable or remain at your desk?
Click to expand...
I don't plan to use it for information that I need to carry with me all the time. So the backup drive will mostly stay at home.
 
Yes multi backup, but a 3,5" HDD is the best long term option as long as it is stored and used properly.
 
LukeTbk said:
If reliability matter for important photo-video files having them on multiple mediums and maybe 2 different location could be the way to go.
Click to expand...

100% this. I have my photos in so many places (local and cloud)!
 
I would say an external hard drive or SATA SSD. I don't trust flash drives for continuous-on use, and presumably you'll be adding photos and looking at them occasionally.
 
My back-up system:

A) Internal SSD (not the OS one) updated weekly
B) Internal SSD - on wife's computer (not the OS one) updated weekly
C) External enclosure containing a 4TB m.2 (updated weekly)
D) External enclosure containing a 12TB HDD (stored offsite @location #1) updated monthly
E) External enclosure containing a 12TB HDD (stored offsite @location #2) updated monthly
F) 512GB flash drive....for non-critical/miscellaneous stuff only, updated as needed

Note the absence of any cloud storage, as I simply refuse to trust ANY cloud service with my critical data/personal info, and NO you can't talk me out of this, so please don't even try :)
 
Thank you so much for your responses! Your insights have been incredibly helpful!
When it comes to cloud storage, I haven't given it a shot yet. But perhaps it's worth a second thought. I'll take some time to dig deeper into this method. It looks like a lot of people are on board with it!
 
dogDAbone said:
My back-up system:

A) Internal SSD (not the OS one) updated weekly
B) Internal SSD - on wife's computer (not the OS one) updated weekly
C) External enclosure containing a 4TB m.2 (updated weekly)
D) External enclosure containing a 12TB HDD (stored offsite @location #1) updated monthly
E) External enclosure containing a 12TB HDD (stored offsite @location #2) updated monthly
F) 512GB flash drive....for non-critical/miscellaneous stuff only, updated as needed

Note the absence of any cloud storage, as I simply refuse to trust ANY cloud service with my critical data/personal info, and NO you can't talk me out of this, so please don't even try :)
Click to expand...
It is a good stance, because even in their agreements, they state they could lose all your stuff and they are not liable for it.

However, there are options like backblaze and others, which first you encrypt your data locally, and then upload it, now they can not know what is in it and you have your offsite covered, for those who do not have other off site options.
 
MrGuvernment said:
It is a good stance, because even in their agreements, they state they could lose all your stuff and they are not liable for it.
Click to expand...
EXACTLY why I don't/won't do cloud storage in any way, shape or form !
MrGuvernment said:
However, there are options like backblaze and others, which first you encrypt your data locally, and then upload it, now they can not know what is in it
Click to expand...
My data is already encrypted and password protected, by me, on my own system, where I don't have to worry about anyone else being able to get into it, except ME, myself & I, hehehe :D
 
Shoganai said:
Which is very odd for a company whose sole purpose is backing up data.
Click to expand...
Yes and no, can you imagine the challenge of coming up with a data value, sound more something for an insurance company (data loss/cyberattack insurance policy do exist I think), even then for family picture-video..... type of data, you can't put a number on it like for a company where you can put a number of the legal-IT-customer fees involved in a data loss.

They could reimburse last x month of service fee (some do) but other than that ?

And how would go around to proof that it was the only backup of the data that existed and that the damage are real, that a big difference with a physical bank safe storage.
 
Backup around here means a Synology NAS running redundant drives. Running on a UPS / power conditioner. Fast, all our machines can get to it....really like it. A couple files (encrypted password database) get put on SSD's every few months, and tossed in the desk.....just in case.
 
Shoganai said:
Which is very odd for a company whose sole purpose is backing up data.
Click to expand...

For ones like Backblaze, it may differ, this is more for MS OneDrive, Apple iCloud, as they dont consider those backup solutions, just cloud sharing to access things everywhere! kind of thing. But many people use OneDrive / iCloud as a backup because they presume it is safe, the cloud and all.....
 
LukeTbk said:
Yes and no, can you imagine the challenge of coming up with a data value, sound more something for an insurance company (data loss/cyberattack insurance policy do exist I think), even then for family picture-video..... type of data, you can't put a number on it
Click to expand...
Well, this reminds me of the situation a long time ago, when I was moving and the moving company (UncleSam) lost all the boxes that contained all my photo albums (15 years/1000's of family/friends photos) and some other stuff.... when I filed my claim, the very 1st thing the butt-headed adjuster said was "well we don't provide reimbursement for photographs since they don't have any "intrinsic value"... I was so upset that I re-filed my claim, deleting the amount I wanted for the photos themselves, and added in an amount for the price of all the rolls of 35mm film and the costs to get them developed + mileage to & from the stores...

I argued with the adjuster for hours about it and ended up going over his head, but finally got his boss's boss to agree that the price of the 35mm film & it's developing cost were "physical/material" values just like damaged furniture or appliances, and was therefore reimbursable... and they paid me about 3x what I was originally asking for the loss of my cherished memories, and I was a little bit less pissed off.

Thereafter, I vowed to NEVER, EVA trust anyone with anything of mine that I deemed as valuable, critical, or irreplaceable, which of course is the root of my distrust of cloud storage for my data...

NOPE, not doin that !!!!

Yea that was a different time & different stuff, but the principle is the same IMHO :D
 
MrGuvernment said:
For ones like Backblaze, it may differ, this is more for MS OneDrive, Apple iCloud, as they dont consider those backup solutions, just cloud sharing to access things everywhere! kind of thing. But many people use OneDrive / iCloud as a backup because they presume it is safe, the cloud and all.....
Click to expand...

https://www.backblaze.com/company/policy/terms-of-service​

Disclaimers​

Backblaze is provided "as is" without any warranties, express or implied

I think you are right, aws, OneDrive, iCloud and OneDrive for business are I imagine presumed to be incredibly safe and I would image for good reason, how often do we hear of a dataloss due to them loosing it (or github), they can have dangerous auto-sync option that can occur too. I imagine they can be a very (one of the 3) solid part of a 1-2-3 backup strategy and be in average more reliable than the 2 other place the data will be put in.
 
I have 700,000 photos and videos in my archive. I wouldn't use a flash drive or usb drive by itself.

I use 3x enterprise sata drives in external usb2/esata enclosures that I compare regularly to check for bit rot and an online backup at smugmug of the same.

Now that I have nas units, I'll probably also use 2x different NAS units and put the same data on each of those as well, and one at a site in a different state. And then run compares between all 5 regularly to find bit rot.
 
Erika said:
It's mostly about family videos and photos, so they're quite important to me. I wouldn't say that I plan to use them often, but I will sometimes. The problem is that right now they're stored on the computer and partly on flash drives and the phone. I want to gather everything in one place.
Click to expand...
I would first copy them to an external usb drive like the WD easystore. In fact, I would 2x of these. Then I would get a NAS unit and copy them there. And I would take one of the WD easystore and take it off site. Also, I would NOT delete the files from the various original locations--these will also serve as a backup.
 
dogDAbone said:
Note the absence of any cloud storage, as I simply refuse to trust ANY cloud service with my critical data/personal info, and NO you can't talk me out of this, so please don't even try :)
Click to expand...
I'm like you, but have been happy with rsync.net.
 
Shoganai said:
Which is very odd for a company whose sole purpose is backing up data.
Click to expand...
Not if you know your customers don't read the terms of service, which 90% don't. You want some real fun--read your ISP or cell phone terms of service...:eek: And if you want a heart attack, read your mortgage paperwork...
 
LukeTbk said:
Yes and no, can you imagine the challenge of coming up with a data value, sound more something for an insurance company (data loss/cyberattack insurance policy do exist I think), even then for family picture-video..... type of data, you can't put a number on it like for a company where you can put a number of the legal-IT-customer fees involved in a data loss.

They could reimburse last x month of service fee (some do) but other than that ?

And how would go around to proof that it was the only backup of the data that existed and that the damage are real, that a big difference with a physical bank safe storage.
Click to expand...
That's what general liability insurance is for and I know for fact that most of these policies will have clauses for 'business losses' etc, but the companies will never use it unless forced to by a judgement from a law suit.
 
dogDAbone said:
Well, this reminds me of the situation a long time ago, when I was moving and the moving company (UncleSam) lost all the boxes that contained all my photo albums (15 years/1000's of family/friends photos) and some other stuff....
Click to expand...
Oh man, that's horrible!!! After moving 5x times in the last 10 years, I've learned that if it's important, you move it yourself. Anything that someone can write you a check for, let them handle it. And that's why I'm up until 5am the night before still packing and moving stuff on the last 2x moves...

Same with nearly anything these days. I work on my own brakes because I don't want someone else's mistake to become my problem. I handle my own IT because I don't want someone else's 'solution' to become my problem. I do my own accounting and book keeping because I don't want someone else's mistakes to cost me at tax time. And it goes on and on. And you can do this if you know what you want and are capable of doing it all. But I don't look forward to aging where I won't be able to any more and then have to hand stuff over to the same MFs I've been avoiding for decades...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top