How to backup photos

Once your camera or smart­phone breaks, you’ll quickly realize how crucial it is to back up your photos regularly. But where should you store your photo backups – on a hard drive, an external storage device, an optical medium, or in the cloud? We outline the different options and explain when choosing a cloud solution is the best decision.

Why is backing up photos important?

Precious holiday memories are one thing to lose, but for pro­fes­sion­al pho­tog­ra­phers the loss of photos is the worst-case scenario. Whether due to a technical defect, care­less­ness, or theft: if the stored images are gone forever, this also includes the loss of many beautiful memories and snapshots – or indeed income for pro­fes­sion­al pho­tog­ra­phers. Therefore, regular backups are something that should be routine.

What are the ad­van­tages and dis­ad­van­tages of cloud vs. offline?

The process of backing up data, including photos, has evolved sig­nif­i­cant­ly with ad­vance­ments in storage media. This is partly due to the in­creas­ing file sizes of digital photos.

In pro­fes­sion­al pho­tog­ra­phy, cameras with full-frame or film-sized sensors are commonly used. These high-quality cameras produce ex­cep­tion­al­ly large file sizes, as the raw, un­com­pressed image formats (like RAW and full-frame) generate digital images that, depending on the color depth, can require over 30 megabytes of storage space per image.

However, even beyond pro­fes­sion­al use, high-res­o­lu­tion images have become wide­spread, largely because of the pop­u­lar­i­ty of smart­phones. On average, each photo takes up 5MB of storage, meaning that 1 GB of phone memory can hold about 200 photos. As storage fills up over time, al­ter­na­tive media and storage solutions are required for picture backups. Today, the most common storage media include:

• Cloud storage
• External hard drive (HDD or SSD)
• Internal hard drive of a PC or laptop
• USB flash drive
• Memory card (e.g., SD card)

What are the ad­van­tages and dis­ad­van­tages of the different storage media?

The best storage medium for saving images depends on factors such as weight, space re­quire­ments, storage capacity, and power con­sump­tion. The table below provides an overview of the ad­van­tages and dis­ad­van­tages of each storage medium:

Who should use a cloud to back up pictures?

Whether vacation photos, family cel­e­bra­tions, pictures for blogs, social media accounts, or pro­fes­sion­al photos, a photo backup is in­dis­pens­able to store photos. For private purposes, external hard drives are fine, but an ad­di­tion­al cloud storage is more secure. For pro­fes­sion­als, the question of photo backups is probably a topic well covered. It’s hard to avoid backing up digital images to the cloud, and not just because of the amount of data involved.

The cost of cloud storage is similar every­where, but the service offered varies. The average price for 1 terabyte cloud storage without ad­di­tion­al service is around $4-16 per month for most providers. For this, you are usually very well po­si­tioned in terms of data security.

Backing up photos securely in the cloud using HiDrive

Backing up photos to the cloud is a practical and forward-thinking approach. But not all clouds are created equal. And this is where IONOS comes in with its HiDrive product. It’s not just about storage space, but also combines automatic backups from various storage locations with sched­ul­ing and different security features.

Ad­van­tages of storing photos with IONOS HiDrive

The main features of HiDrive include access and syn­chro­niza­tion of files from anywhere, thanks to automatic syn­chro­niza­tion across devices and a dedicated app for iOS and Android. For team col­lab­o­ra­tion, HiDrive allows shared file access and man­age­ment of read and write per­mis­sions. Files can also be uploaded via email.

When it comes to security, HiDrive offers data en­cryp­tion, ISO 27001-certified data centers, and two-factor au­then­ti­ca­tion to protect data from unau­tho­rized access. Ad­di­tion­al­ly, HiDrive supports various protocols such as SFTP/FTPS, WebDAV, and SMB/CIFS and provides in­te­gra­tion for NAS devices, enabling automatic backup of NAS data.

IONOS HiDrive Cloud Storage offers various storage options ranging from 100 GB to 2 TB, sup­port­ing different numbers of users. For instance, the 100 GB plan is ideal for in­di­vid­u­als, providing automatic cloud backup and two-factor au­then­ti­ca­tion. For larger teams, the 1 TB plan ac­com­mo­dates up to five members and offers end-to-end en­cryp­tion. The largest plan, with 2 TB, supports up to ten accounts and includes advanced security features.

Through your IONOS customer account, you can view and share stored files, upload email at­tach­ments from any mailbox, manage team projects or backups, and even scan documents with your smart­phone camera and upload them directly. This ver­sa­til­i­ty makes HiDrive an ideal solution for in­di­vid­u­als and teams alike who need a reliable and secure cloud storage option.

Close

How to store photos offline

If you prefer an offline storage solution for securing your files and photos, there are several options available. As mentioned earlier, even a small number of high-res­o­lu­tion image files can result in large amounts of data. For this reason, internal and external hard drives are excellent options for backing up a larger col­lec­tion of photos or creating a com­pre­hen­sive backup of your files.

• Internal hard drives are built directly into the computer and offer faster data transfer rates and lower costs per GB. However, they require technical skills for in­stal­la­tion. External hard drives, on the other hand, are portable and flexible, easily connected via USB or other in­ter­faces, but they are generally slower and more expensive per GB. External drives are available in two types: HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and SSD (Solid State Drive).

• HDDs offer larger storage ca­pac­i­ties and are more cost-effective per GB compared to SSDs. However, their me­chan­i­cal com­po­nents make them more vul­ner­a­ble to physical damage and in­her­ent­ly noisier during operation. Their slower speed results in longer loading times.

• SSDs (Solid State Drives) are faster, quieter, and more durable because they have no moving parts. They provide quicker access times and higher speeds, which pos­i­tive­ly impact system per­for­mance. However, they are more expensive per GB and generally offer lower storage ca­pac­i­ties compared to HDDs.

The choice between HDD and SSD largely depends on in­di­vid­ual needs. If you pri­or­i­tize storage capacity and af­ford­abil­i­ty, an HDD is a great option. On the other hand, SSDs are ideal for those seeking top per­for­mance and speed, es­pe­cial­ly for tasks such as running the operating system, gaming, or handling data-intensive programs. Another crucial factor to consider is lifespan: While HDDs are more prone to me­chan­i­cal damage, SSDs can wear out over time due to frequent write op­er­a­tions. However, modern SSDs are equipped with wear-leveling al­go­rithms that extend their longevity.

If you want to be on the safe side and secure your photos beyond the lifespan of your own hard drives, a backup solution like My­De­fend­er from IONOS could be the perfect choice for you. All data, including your photos, is stored in certified data centers, ensuring com­pli­ance with data pro­tec­tion reg­u­la­tions. Thanks to a con­stant­ly updated malware database and AI-based behavior detection, you are protected against malware, ran­somware, cryp­to­min­ing, and emerging threats, known as zero-day attacks. With complete, automated system backups, your photos and other files are safe­guard­ed from data loss caused by hardware failures or ac­ci­den­tal deletion.