Possibly off topic- Is 500gb too small for a hard drive?

[gastrof]

I don't do a lot of video editing. Some, not a lot. Mostly I use my word processor and do internet browsing. Still, I do some audio and video stuff. Not professionally. Just personal stuff.

A 500gb hard drive can get filled up pretty easy, tho', if you're starting two or more video projects before finishing the first one.

Should I consider getting a 1TB drive for my computer?

Side question, but related-
Is there still any freeware hard drive cloning software out there? In particular that'll work with Windows 10?

[usually_quiet]

Keep your OS on one smallish hard drive and use a second large hard drive for storing video projects.

No matter how much storage capacity you have, you will probably fill it up in time. I have two 2TB storage drives and one 1.5 TB storage drive and still manage to keep them pretty full.

[gastrof]

Keep your OS on one smallish hard drive and use a second large hard drive for storing video projects.

No matter how much storage capacity you have, you will probably fill it up in time. I have two 2TB storage drives and one 1.5 TB storage drive and still manage to keep them pretty full.

That's been considered, but I'm afraid that's not really an option.

I want to eventually get a laptop in sync with my PC and daily (or maybe weekly?) connect them so they'll end up as mirrors of each other.

Laptops don't have space for a second hard drive.

As for "eventually filling up a drive", I don't think so, since eventually any videos made would be offloaded to optical disc. It's the "in between" period that's getting difficult.

[usually_quiet]

Keep your OS on one smallish hard drive and use a second large hard drive for storing video projects.

No matter how much storage capacity you have, you will probably fill it up in time. I have two 2TB storage drives and one 1.5 TB storage drive and still manage to keep them pretty full.

That's been considered, but I'm afraid that's not really an option.

I want to eventually get a laptop in sync with my PC and daily (or maybe weekly?) connect them so they'll end up as mirrors of each other.

Laptops don't have space for a second hard drive.

As for "eventually filling up a drive", I don't think so, since eventually any videos made would be offloaded to optical disc. It's the "in between" period that's getting difficult.

Then get the 1 TB drive and maybe partition it to an OS partition and a data partition, since you can only mirror the data on another PC.

I offload to optical disc as well, or simply watch and delete, but things still pile up.

[gastrof]

...I offload to optical disc as well, or simply watch and delete, but things still pile up.

I hear ya'!!

[Bjs]

Laptops don't have space for a second hard drive

Simply replace the optical drive with a caddy for adding an extra hd ... simple

[gastrof]

Laptops don't have space for a second hard drive

Simply replace the optical drive with a caddy for adding an extra hd ... simple

And then what do I do for an optical drive on the laptop?

[redwudz]

I just picked up a refurbished Dell laptop running W7 32bit with a 160GB HDD. I bought a 750GB WD hard drive (~$60US), then made three partitions, one for the boot at 150GB and two others at 250GB each. I used EaseUS freeware to clone the existing boot drive to the new partition. No real problems.

You don't have many more options with a laptop. One other easy way is to a USB 2 or 3 external HDD. The 1TB ones are reasonable.

For desktop computers dealing with video, I use a 120SSD boot and three or four 1 - 2 TB storage HDDs. Most cases have enough room for a couple of extra drives.

[lingyi]

Laptops don't have space for a second hard drive

Simply replace the optical drive with a caddy for adding an extra hd ... simple

And then what do I do for an optical drive on the laptop?

Replace your primary drive with an SSD (120GB works fine for me), replace the optical drive with a 1TB or larger drive in caddy, then get an external USB drive case for your optical (or do what I do, don't screw in the caddy and swap the optical and hard drive caddy as needed).Get an additional portable drive or make a shared drive on the network to transfer your files.

MOST IMPORTANT...BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP!!! An extra copy of everything on your laptop is good, two copies are better, three or more copies is best. Also, don't do any editing on your laptop drive until you've saved a copy of the file(s) you're working on.

[SameSelf]

I have long been down on spinning disks. Recently I majorly soured after one hdd corrupted and I nearly lost a ton of video files. As a result, I have moved all my master video files to dual layer blu-ray discs. They hold 50 GB each which is perfect for master video files since they are typically too large for a DVD or even single layer blu-ray. And the cost is about$0.04USD/GB. I have 3 TB of hdd, but before moving the files to blu-ray, I was feeling pinched for space. I was looking at adding another hdd, but this scared me given how flaky hdd are. Now, I have 3 TB of space that is mostly empty except for when I am working on a project. Unless I am working with really long HD video, I could probably get away with just 500 GB of space. I much prefer it that way and don't worry about hdd space anymore. All my master files sit neatly in a drawer next to the PC. And if an hdd ever goes kerflooey, it won't bother me a bit.

The important thing to recognize is that spinning disks are not truly backups but a form of redundancy. Backups really should employ WORM and be suitable for cold storage.

[gastrof]

...Backups really should employ WORM and be suitable for cold storage.

Uh...

Translation?


PS-
What's the life span of a blu-ray optical disc? I've heard horror stories about CDs and DVDs.

[Krispy Kritter]

I have long been down on spinning disks. Recently I majorly soured after one hdd corrupted and I nearly lost a ton of video files. As a result, I have moved all my master video files to dual layer blu-ray discs. They hold 50 GB each which is perfect for master video files since they are typically too large for a DVD or even single layer blu-ray. And the cost is about$0.04USD/GB. I have 3 TB of hdd, but before moving the files to blu-ray, I was feeling pinched for space. I was looking at adding another hdd, but this scared me given how flaky hdd are. Now, I have 3 TB of space that is mostly empty except for when I am working on a project. Unless I am working with really long HD video, I could probably get away with just 500 GB of space. I much prefer it that way and don't worry about hdd space anymore. All my master files sit neatly in a drawer next to the PC. And if an hdd ever goes kerflooey, it won't bother me a bit.

The important thing to recognize is that spinning disks are not truly backups but a form of redundancy. Backups really should employ WORM and be suitable for cold storage.

Regardless of media type, if it's important and you don't want to lose it, you should have at least one backup copy.

When you moved everything to Blu-Ray, did you burn more than one copy? Did you perform a verification of each disc after it was burned?

ALL media can fail. Simply switching to a different media isn't protecting you.

[usually_quiet]

...Backups really should employ WORM and be suitable for cold storage.

Uh...

Translation?


PS-
What's the life span of a blu-ray optical disc? I've heard horror stories about CDs and DVDs.

WORM = write once, read many.

I haven't read a concrete answer on BD-R lifespan. As with DVD, the answer probably is "it depends" (on the quality of the media, the quality of the burn, and how the media is stored after burning).

I'm using Panasonic BD-R for storing recordings that I really want to keep because it fared best in an independent study which simulated aging by subjecting discs to an extreme environment for a few months. http://club.myce.com/f33/french-study-bd-r-archival-329441/

I'm using Verbatim HTL BD-R for less important video because even though it burns well, it fared poorly in the above test.

[SameSelf]

...Backups really should employ WORM and be suitable for cold storage.

Uh...

Translation?


PS-
What's the life span of a blu-ray optical disc? I've heard horror stories about CDs and DVDs.

As usually quiet said, Write Once Read Many. Don't be spooked about the lifespan of optical media. I have CD-R burned in the 90s that are perfectly fine and from what I can see look exactly the same. I am not saying that BD-R will last forever, but even ten years is much longer than you can expect for a hdd in cold storage. I have seen hdds not spin up after only six months on a shelf.

My comments may seem like I cowboy it with my data per some of the responses. But the concern of data corrupting on a hdd unbeknownst to me is what ultimately drove me to blu-ray. In fact I have a simple question? When was the last time you ran a checksum verification on your hdd assuming you even have a checksum to verify against?

Maybe if I get some time I will post a thread on how I archive my data. It is pretty involved but if the data is important to you, it is worth it.

[gastrof]

...I have a simple question? When was the last time you ran a checksum verification on your hdd assuming you even have a checksum to verify against?...

It's at times like this I start talking like Frankenstein/Tarzan.

I've HEARD of checksum...but me no know what is.

[SameSelf]

...I have a simple question? When was the last time you ran a checksum verification on your hdd assuming you even have a checksum to verify against?...

It's at times like this I start talking like Frankenstein/Tarzan.

I've HEARD of checksum...but me no know what is.

My apologies if my brief comments are flying at 20,000 ft. I am not intentionally trying to be obtuse, I assure you. It's just these things are way off topic for this thread. I was simply trying to give you confidence in the path you are currently on. Data integrity is a very complex topic all by itself. If you are truly interested you can start with this:

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/01/bitrot-and-atomic-cows-inside-ne...n-filesystems/

But, getting back on topic. You asked originally if 500 GB is too small. Since you are already offloading finished projects to optical media, I am surprised you are running into hdd space limitations. As I said before, I employ a similar strategy as you. I find that only my largest HD projects approach that kind of file size. IOW, a lossless 30 minute HD file takes up about 300 GB of space for me. So if I were you, I would avoid spending money on yet more hard drives and look closely at why your projects are so big that 500 GB is cramped. But it also sounded like you feel like buying another hard drive/laptop kills two birds with one stone by offering you some sort of backup of your data that you don't currently possess. I stand by my earlier comments that a RAID 1 (mirror) is not a form of backup but rather is a form of redundancy. The key distinction here is RAIDs don't protect your data but instead prevent operational downtime—something that is very important for servers for example, but completely out of place in a home. I would refer you back to the link above.

EDIT: I would rather have one single good copy of a file than ten copies of the same file that I have no idea if they are corrupt or not.

[deadmeow]

You can buy 3 TB drives for under 100 dollars. That would be my suggestion.