Computer specs for storage.

[bushman]

I'm just about to rebuild my PC and add more memory, larger hard drive etc. Just as a matter of interest, what does everyone else use in terms of size, CPU, memory etc.? I find myself running out of memory on the front end, which slows everything down and my 30 gig hard drive is over half full. I've just backed all my pictures up to an external hard drive while I change things round. Any advice would be welcomed.
Cheers, John

[sandman]

John
I've just done an upgrade too, i put in 2 160gg hard drives one for my progs,applications etc, the other just for images .
I also got a Maxtor ''one touch'' 160gg external H/D for backup, and i always download my original shots straight away into it , then download them again into the internal for editing .Takes time but it's worth it for safety .
Then i unplug the external and put it away from the computer (i've already lost 10,000 negs and slides due to a house fire).
Finally i burn the edited shots onto C.D. when the folder reaches 600 mbs and take them down to the garage for storage.

Saying all that i have'nt raised my camera in anger at all this month due to family problems , but i will be active again soon

Brian

[vmic92]

Hi John,
Me too, for storage I've a 160 Giga external hard drive. Why external ? because when I use my computer for other activity (text, internet...) my pictures are inaccessible, no danger.
But for a maximum security, I burn copies on DVD (4.7 Go) and stock this DVD copies on another place : at work.
If a serious problem happens at home (fire, water, ...), a problem who would demolish my hard disk, I have copies on DVD in another city quarter, in a drawer in my work office. And inversely, in case of problem in my office.
:cheers:
A data DVD can countain more than 1000 pictures (JPEG 4256 x 2648 pixels).
If you don't have one, now you can find a DVD recorder for a good price anywhere.

[Swampy]

I do 3-5 times protection myself. Depending on where things are shot, like the past Colorado trip, things were in 2 places until I got home. When I got home, I put them two other places and soon, they'll be in the 5th place. Although, the original 2 places will probably be deleted before they get in the 5th place.

So, an away from home trip - they go from the card to my laptop, then a second copy to my flashtrax.

When I get home, they go on my main PC and in the middle of the night, they get copied to my local server that I have running here. They're now in 4 places. My laptop usually remains in my car, so there's an "off site" back up there. However, once a month, I burn to DVD (highly recommended over CD because of capacity). Those DVD's get stored in a leather case that sits in my 4x6x2 foot fire safe which is downstairs in the least fire prone area of the house as well as least water damage prone area and are about 4 feet off the foundation.

Anyway, as you can tell by me and a few others here - backup's are critical. You never know where they'll end up. I've also started keeping an external drive with a duplicate copy of everything I have burned for near online storage. I just plug the drive in and I'm good to go with older images.

As for processing, memory and hard drive capacity for a new system, well, that's all up to your budget. Memory is very key to editing photos. So, 1gb is a minimum recommendation. I use 2 @ 800mhz (versus 533mhz) myself and you can go with 1.25 or 1.5 or 1.75gb in between the 1 and 2 if your budget is tight and you want to get as much as possible.

Processing power is second. I run a P4 3.2Ghz HT processor. I'd have 3.4 or 3.6 if it was out and if I could blatently spend the cash, I'd have a P4 extreme. Although, those prices have come down quite a bit since the begining of the year so it's not all that out of the question now. :)

Hard drives? It's one more component that will speed things up for you in certain areas, so, 7200 rpm is minimum. 10k rpm SATA drives are nice. Size? Your guess there. I run 2 striped 36gb 10k rpm drives (72gb total) for my main boot drive and programs while I have a second 160gb 7200rpm SATA drive for my photos and other data. The drive size(s) you'll need, you'll be best to answer that.

What am I saying here? Buy the fastest and most you can afford. Everyone knows a computer is like throwing money away. It's much nicer to have a new ferrari right now that will be smoked in a year by something new, but that 1 year old ferrari of yours is still very nice to drive after the first year.
Do this instead of doing a faster drive now, then a faster processor later, then upgrading the memory even further down the line. You'll appreciate it much more in the long run.