Photo Storage

Morning all

I thought I would post this in response to the request for website info/storage for images. As most will be aware I run an online book business and as such have lots of data that I need to make back up copies of, not least scanned images, in case of computer or web server disasters. I used to back up my shop, images, text etc to CD discs but this takes time and means that should a problem occur in the house the discs are stored elsewhere just in case. Earlier this year I chatted with Ian Kimber of UK moths fame who is IT specialist. He suggested I buy one of the new small portable hard drives (PHD) now available. The one shown in the image cost me around £80 and has 100 GB which stores a lot of images ! They maybe cheaper online but I support my local computer store in Brighouse as they help me out with problems over the phone free of charge, so I try and give a some trade back.

In use you simply plug it into a USB port and drag and drop your images or whatever else you wish to save into the PHD and that's it, its takes literally seconds to make back-ups. I bought another one for Sue for backing up her college work and we also have one as our "photo album" to save all our digital images so they do not take up loads of space on the computer. You can create folder "albums" on the drive just like on your main computer and simply drag and drop straight from the camera into the folders and edit them when you get the time.

I know this is not strictly a bird report but if you do want a cheap portable storage system for photos then this is a dead easy method of doing so. I take mine on holiday with me as it has all my backups in case the house burns down while we are away ! The drive its self is around 5 x 3 inches and weighs a mere 6oz so its easily portable in your pocket.