In
the big scheme of things, this really isn't very expensive and it gives me
instant access to all of my old files which are all backed up against hard
drive failure.
I sort of combine your approach to that of archiving to CD/DVD. While I'm working on a job, It stays on a partition that is mirrored on at least one and usually two other drives on different computers. One is a laptop that goes home with me at night. These aren't RAID systems, just drives that I keep in sync using file sync software (ChronoSync is my favorite on OS-X). This volume is large enough that I rarely feel pressured to immediately archive a job to make room. I archive to disk during slow time. Or set a disk to burn before leaving the office on an errand. Once a job has been archived to CD/DVD, I lock the folder on the hard drive so that it can't be altered, change its label to clearly indicate that its been archived, move it to another larger disk and erase it from my current jobs partition. It remains on a drive where I have fast easy access however since its backed up to CD/DVD, I no longer worry about keeping multiple copies on hard drives or doing routine backups. Since its locked I'm forced to save into another area (as a new job) if I want to alter one of these files. This gives me the best of both worlds. Back up to a non magnetic medium that can easily be stored off site... and still have quick access to older files.
By the way, for filing an ever growing library of CDs and DVDs I have probably at least two thousand filed into a two drawer standard lateral legal filing cabinet. I built some special partitions to hold several rows of disks and have simple cardboard labels to sort them sort of like an old library card catalog system. I file them by client and date, just like I'd handle film. I can usually find any particular file within minutes. The system is easy to maintain, takes up little space and doesn't cost a fortune.
Bob Smith
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