Hard Drive Management for Creative Pros
1h 45mIntermediate2018-05-07
Authors

Kevin Ames
Commercial Photographer
Course details
For many photographers, one of the worst imaginable predicaments is a hard drive failure with no backup. Consequently, it's critical for creative professionals to have a solid understanding of how to effectively manage and safeguard their work. In this course, join photographer Kevin Ames as he dives into the hard drive, why it fails, and the steps a photographer can take to protect themselves from data loss. Kevin explores different formats for hard drives, shares practical strategies for organizing your data, discusses digital asset management tools and backups, and more.
Learning objectives
What is in a hard drive?
Formats for hard drives
Using RAIDs for storing digital files
Organizing assets
Using digital asset management tools
Connecting hard drives
How often to backup
Long-term backups
Learning objectives
What is in a hard drive?
Formats for hard drives
Using RAIDs for storing digital files
Organizing assets
Using digital asset management tools
Connecting hard drives
How often to backup
Long-term backups
Skills covered
Photography GearAsset ManagementPhotographyGraphic DesignDeep Dive (X:Y)
Concepts
0. Introduction
- 01 - Welcome
1. Understanding Hard Drives and Why They Fail
- 02 - What is in a hard drive
- 03 - Factors that can hurt a drive
- 04 - The dangers of hard drives on a shelf
- 05 - Obsolescence
2. Formats for Hard Drives
- 06 - Mac
- 07 - Windows
- 08 - Cross-platform formats
3. Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives (RAID)
- 09 - What is a RAID
- 10 - RAID 0 is for speed, not storage
- 11 - RAID 1 - Mirror, mirror
- 12 - RAID 5 - Protected storage
- 13 - Proprietary RAIDs (Synology and Drobo)
4. Organizing Data Workflow Strategies
- 14 - Metadata vs. folders
- 15 - Folder structure approaches
- 16 - Keeping it simple
- 17 - Letting the computer sort it all out
5. Digital Asset Management Tools
- 18 - What is a digital asset manager (DAM)
- 19 - Catalogs are databases
- 20 - Using a file browser
- 21 - Naming conventions
6. Connecting Hard Drives
- 22 - Megabits vs. megabytes
- 23 - Current connections
- 24 - Legacy connections
7. Backups Are Mandatory
- 25 - What is a backup
- 26 - Backup vs. protected storage
- 27 - How many copies of a backup
- 28 - How often to backup
- 29 - Local storage
- 30 - Offsite storage
- 31 - 3-2-1 backup
- 32 - Long-term backups
- 33 - Migration
Conclusion
- 34 - Next steps
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