file structure question

[crbuckjr]

Lightroom Version Number

15.2

Operating System

1. Windows 11

I use LRC to manage and store about 120,00 photos. I am hoping to find some backup software that would allow me to restore from a previous date..if/when I good something up but don't discover it for a while.
First, question.....do you know of such software that you recommend.

Second question, I am looking at a package called IDrive. It has a "file" based backup system that retains 30 of the latest versions of each file. Amazingly, they consider each image a "file." Seems like a lot to keep track of!!

My question pertains to how LRC uses "files" in its process. Are there, invisible to me, additional files that accompany the image files? If I create a virtual copy and edit it, is that a different file than the original? Other thoughts about images/files that I might not be thinking of.

thanks

Chuck

 

[Replytoken]

Second question, I am looking at a package called IDrive. It has a "file" based backup system that retains 30 of the latest versions of each file. Amazingly, they consider each image a "file." Seems like a lot to keep track of!!

Lots of items to address, but let's start at the top. Each photo you import into LR is a file, so if you imported 120k of images, then you have 120k of files, and most importantly, they exist outside of LRC. Importing them only tells LRC information about the file, like its metadata, file location and a file preview. So any backup solution needs to account for your image files AND all of your LRC catalog files.

Backups can occur locally on NAS/DAS or stand alone drives as well as as in the cloud. Do you halve a preference for one or the other, or perhaps both? There are programs like Macrium and TeryByte Unlimited that can handle local backups of all of your files. There are other software packages as well, but these are two for example. Online storage can be handled by programs/services like Backblaze, Carbonite or IDrive. I use local backups so I am not going to comment specifically on the online options, but a quick search of the forum should bring up lots of useful threads.

Good luck,

--Ken

 

[Califdan]

First of all, are you aware that when you modify images in LrC, the actual image files on disk do not get altered by default? So, if you mess up somthing in LrC's develop module you can go back to any prior edit state without having to restore anything? Also, if your LrC session is still open you can use "undo" to step backwards through everything you've done (with some exceptinos).

First, question.....do you know of such software that you recommend.

Macrium Reflect, I think GoogSync may also have this "back in time" feature as well plus many others. Since you are on Windows, you may also want to look at "File History" which is a tool built into the Windows Operating system so nothing extra to pay for or install (it's Window's answer to Apple's "Time Machine"). DO NOT GO WITH "FREE" sw. DO NOT get succered into thinking that tools such as OneDrive, Google Drive, Drop Box, and the like are Backup tools. BUT whatever you pick (other than cloud based tools) you wil need a place to store the backups which is 150-200% the size of the storage taken by your original files. You may also want to consider a Web based BU tool which can go back up to a year such as BackBlaze (~$100/yr for unlimited data).

Second question, I am looking at a package called IDrive. It has a "file" based backup system that retains 30 of the latest versions of each file. Amazingly, they consider each image a "file." Seems like a lot to keep track of!!

Again, if you keep 30 copies of a "File" (in this case a "File" is anything you can see in Windows File Explorer that isn't a folder or drive) you will need space to store all those copies. I don't know about iDrive specifically but if it stores 30 copies of the file that's enormous. I suspect though that it only stores the 'original' (30 versions ago) version of the full file and then stores up to 29 "iterations" or "increments" of that file which represent ONLY the little pieces of the file that have changed since the full file was saved and if you resotore the file it reconstructs the file as it was on the selected date from the full copy plus some number of those increments.

If I create a virtual copy and edit it, is that a different file than the original?

A VC is not a physical file - it is virtual. As such there is no representaiton of a VC on disk (i.e. you don't get a second JPG or RAW file on disk). What you get is another entry in the LrC catalog which contains the information about the VC, including edits and metadata. So, in LrC it looks and feels like a copy of the original image file but does not actually produce a new physical file on disk.

 

[crbuckjr]

thanks to both of you.....basically you reminded me that keeping versions of he catalog to match versions of the photos is critical if I am going to have useable "versions".....thank

 

[bcarlson78248]

I use iDrive, but I don’t know the specifics of how it handles file versions. I do know that it did a full cloud backup the first time it ran, and after that it often only backs up a small number of files (as low as a handful of files, on up to a few thousand). It only backs up the changed files.

I have my iDrive set to do a cloud backup daily, and a local daily backup to my NAS on a slightly different schedule. I pay a reasonable fixed fee per year (I think the last was $70) for 5 Tbytes of storage, and I use it to cover both my MacBook and Windows laptops. There are plans for up to 100 Tbytes.

 

[Califdan]

You can also take a look at my article on backups here

https://www.danhartfordphoto.com/blog/2019/1/LR011-LR-classic-files-to-backup-and-restore

 

[clee01l]

you reminded me that keeping versions of he catalog to match versions of the photos

You should not have "versions of Photos". Lightroom uses the Original only and creates derivatives based upon LrC Edit instructions in the catalog, You do not need to export every image, only those needed in a different destination (like social media) The main benefit of LrC is that you don't build up multiple copies of derivative edited JPEGs.

 

[Califdan]

basically you reminded me that keeping versions of he catalog to match versions of the photos is critical

Not sure what you mean by versions of photos?

As said, LrC is not saving versions of images (although you can have it save metadata as you go). Is that metadata what you are referring to?

The main exception to the prior statement that you may be thinking about is if you rename/move/delete images or their folders. If you've done a bunch of such structural maintenance and have to revert of a backup catalog, being able to put the folder structure holding the referenced images back to that same point in time could would certainly be useful - especially if you've done a lot of it. Is that what you are thinking of?