Computers and technology

Hard disks, storage and backup devices

Backing up data is crucial for all professions. But for graphic designers, where each job can involve many dependent and irreplaceable documents, data loss is something that needs to be avoided at all costs.

Procedures for backing up data will generally vary depending on whether you are a freelance graphic designer, a small creative agency, or a large publishing or production company. A self employed designer may well get away with manually backing up work files onto an external hard disk, CD, DVD, or removable disk drive.

But as creative organizations get larger, backup procedures may need to become more sophisticated, such as network backups using automated software solutions. Of course, there are many uses that designers have for external storage devices. Some, such as hard disks, can be used as scratch disks for Photoshop. Whilst the CD format, DVD, REV and Zip disks are great for transporting documents to the printer, or to clients. The following are just some of the more popular types of systems that can be used for storing and transporting data.

External hard drives

External hard drives are the fastest form of backup storage. Indeed there is no difference between the disk inside the case and the disk inside a Mac or PC. The only factors to think about are the connection speed. Cheaper external hard drives will have USB2 connections, whilst more expensive ones will have Firewire 400, 800 and even fibre or SCSI. Some have all, or a combination of these connectors.

If you are going to be using an external hard disk as a scratch disk for Photoshop or digital video, then you may want to consider Firewire or SCSI drives, otherwise USB2 should be fine. There are also a number of portable hard drives options. The downside of external hard drives is that they eventually fill up and are somewhat cumbersome to store. It is also not easy to catalogue the data on them and they are not ideal mediums for transporting files to and from the printer. Which is where removable storage drives and disks come in.

Removable storage drives

There are numerous brands of external storage drives that take a variety of removable media. But principally these are divided into two types – magnetic tape, or Digital Audio Tape (DAT) and removable disks of various types.

Removable disk drives are supplied by many companies and come in differing capacities. These include Magneto-Optical disks (MO), as well as REV, Jaz and Zip disks from Iomega and numerous other models. Removable disk drives have the advantage of being fast, although probably not fast enough to used as scratch disks. They are also ideal for temporary storage and for transporting documents to pre-press bureaus and printers.

DAT tape drives are an older back-up medium. DAT backup solutions have been used by large organizations for many years and are considered by many to be one of the most reliable formats for archiving. DAT drives are slow and require specialist backup software to function, making them impractical for casual storage.

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Some design, computing and technology discussions in the forums

• Setting up Photoshop scratch disks
• Macintosh forums
• Windows graphic design forums
• Studio management forums
• Backing up a design studio
• Backup systems for designers
• Buying an external hard drive