My data is over 200Gb worth and growing weekly, with each digital shoot.
Trying to keep image files backed up will drive you wacky and consume huge amounts of media. I don't use Retrospect for images. I use it for everything else. Also, be aware that Retrospect is smart enough to realize that if it for example copied Photoshop from one computer, it doesn't need to archive an identical copy that's on another computer. When backing up multiple computers that save's quite a bit of back up media and time.
Here's my strategy:
I keep a partition on my main shooting computer just for images of jobs that I'm currently working on (about 40GB). I keep an identical partition on two other computers; one of which is a laptop that goes home with me every night. I use synchronization software to keep those partitions in sync. A change to one is applied to the others. I use ChronoSync for this but there are many other options. I make sure the partitions are in sync before I leave each night. This way I always have three copies of current jobs and one of them goes off site with me when I leave. When a job is completed I archive it to CD or DVD depending on how big it is and make two copies. One is stored off site. I then move that job out of the current jobs partition and lock it so that no changes can be made to it. I also use the labels function (standard in OS-9; you need extra software to do this in OS-X) to clearly mark the folder as a job that's completed and archived. I keep the job on the computer as long as space permits. That way if a client has a re-order I can quickly access the job without going to a file cabinet full of CDs. Since the folder is locked I'll create a new folder in the current jobs partition to contain the new versions of images pulled from this archived folder...and start the archiving process over for this "new" job. When an archived job gets old enough; or hard drive space gets tight, I know I can safely delete any of the locked/labeled archived files since multiple copies are safely on CD/DVD.
I do not archive any material, therefore my drives are ever expanding.
I don't see how you can do that without buying terabytes of hard drive storage; and I see little advantage. Once a job is complete archiving gets it out of the way to allow more room for current projects. You can still easily access it by pulling a disk out of a file cabinet. I file my disks pretty much like I filed film... by client and date. If you put multiple client's work or multiple jobs onto one CD/DVD to save space/media you end up creating a nightmare to keep track of all the stuff and find it later. There's software that can do that well, but why bother when my method is so simple. Yes I have some CDs that have as little as maybe 50MB written on them but they're easy to file and find. And with the cost of CD/DVD disks so inexpensive now, why bother trying to save a little space.
By not keeping old jobs on the computer you have loads of space to work on current ones. You don't have to worry about saving multiple versions of an image; or saving it at multiple stages of production. Make production life much easier.
Bob Smith
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