While backing up my data last week I posted the quick snapshot above, which led to a lot of interest in what gear I use for backups, so I decided to share that info for those it might be helpful for.
For day-to-day storage I use a Drobo 5D 5-bay Storage Array, Thunderbolt/USB 3.0, in which I’ve placed five WD Red 3 TB NAS Hard Drives and one Crucial m4 256GB mSATA SSD for speed boost. The Drobo is set to RAID-5.
I investigated cloud storage options for off-site backup, but they would take months to “seed” over most normal internet connections, and those that allow you to mail in a seed hard drive are limited to 1TB. With each of my still shoots generating at least 4GB of data, until I’ve got a fiber connection cloud isn’t there yet. So I use the oldschool “sneaker net” method and backup to external drives which are then walked to a trusted friend’s house nearby. I back everything up as needed (usually weekly,) and this gives me a good reason to see my friend, as well!
This off-site backup gear is pictured above, using the same WD Red 3 TB NAS Hard Drives, loaded in to a StarTech 4 Bay eSATA USB 3.0 to SATA Hard Drive Docking Station, which mounts them all on my desktop at once. I then point Retrospect backup software at them, which allows me to stripe one big single source (my Drobo) across many smaller sources (these drives.) After Retrospect runs, the backup drives are put in a nearly indestructible Pelican 1400 Case and are ready to travel.
For location gigs I use an assortment of small WD My Passport 2TB Portable External drives, two at minimum, one to back up the other, and then dump them onto the RAID when I get back home, at which time they enter the normal backup flow.