• Storage & Archiving

  Solid professional video archiving services?

  Posted by C. blake Davis on January 13, 2017 at 1:40 pm

  Hey all, my client would like me to find a professional archiving/backup service. As a contractor I’ve only ever used personal backup services (like Backblaze).
  I figured someone on here who is nerdy like me has probably already put in that footwork to compare the larger services so though I’d ask before I dive into that world.

  Any thoughts on different services? Pros/cons?

  Thanks!

  Producer working in NorCal and Nashville

  C. blake Davis replied 9 years, 4 months ago 2 Members · 2 Replies
• 2 Replies

• 

  Tim Jones

  January 13, 2017 at 4:38 pm

  There are so many “definitions” of archival and backup. What is the client actually looking to acheive? Are they hoping to record their projects for long term storage offsite with little or no need for restore? Are they looking to protect the projects from system failure? Are they looking for a way to protect data from mistakes or provide versions that can be brought back into the workflow to undo edit changes?

  It’s been said many times in discussions of tape versus disk, but tape (such as LTO) is truly the best solution for long term storage. On the other hand, if they are looking for oops protection or versioning of changes, a disk-based platform may be all that they need.

  One thing that is not a good idea for media production organizations is “cloud-based” backup. While good for home users or small businesses, your network infrastructure will be a major issue. When you consider the amount of data that an average video / movie project generates on a day to day basis, unless you are using multiple large pipes from your facility, you will quickly discover that you are generating more data than can be processed between your site and the cloud service in an acceptable time. Additionally, most cloud services seem like a bargain until you have to restore / retrieve something.

  A solution that provides both local tape and disk storage for combined backup and archival and then partnering with a facility such as a local Iron Mountain for the actual offsite storage of the tapes for true archival will offer the best of both worlds.

  Tim
  —
  Tim Jones
  CTO – TOLIS Group, Inc.
  https://www.tolisgroup.com
  BRU … because it’s the RESTORE that matters!
• 

  C. blake Davis

  January 13, 2017 at 5:00 pm

  Thanks Tim, and you’re right I should have specified more.

  They are looking for cloud based storage. Right now all of their footage is sitting in hard drives in their desk, and they want a digital copy online.
  I agree with you on the bottleneck situations, but they don’t do a LOT of video projects, so I think once we get the initial files backed up, continuing to keep files on the cloud will be workable. Plus their offices have a (surprisingly) fast upload speed.

  I am looking into Amazon cloud storage, but they have large budgets so would like to present a few bigger budget options specifically for videographers and production.

  Thanks again!

  Producer working in NorCal and Nashville

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