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Author Topic: Using Cloud Storage for media to keep it backed up and in sync  (Read 3601 times)

dbalkunjr

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Using Cloud Storage for media to keep it backed up and in sync
« on: January 08, 2013, 07:53:58 pm »

I am thinking of migrating over to Google Drive to store all my music, photos and home videos.  I will be accessing all the media on 3 PC’s.  I will be using the same file path for the Google Drive folder location.  I have a couple of questions in regards to how to handle Playlists and Cover Art.  I know that the folder location for Cover Art is able to be changed in Options>File Locations.  So I think I should be Ok there?  As far as Playlists go, it does not look like we specify where we store those or am I wrong?  

By using Google Drive I hope to not have to worry about keeping all PC’s in Sync, nor worry about backing up my data as it will be all stored in the “cloud” as well.  There is obviously a fee associated with what I am doing, but from what I have found Google Drive is the cheapest option available.  I am figuring on using 200 Gb to start which will cost about $10 per month.  $120 per year to always have my important media backed up  and auto synced is not a lot in my opinion.  
Does anyone else store their media in the cloud or have any thoughts that I might have missed?
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hulkss

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Re: Using Cloud Storage for media to keep it backed up and in sync
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2013, 08:33:01 pm »

As an example of data storage space requirements, I have 120 concert HD videos (main title video stream only) each with a single 5.1 DTS-HD master audio stream. The video is compressed at high quality settings to H.264/MPEG-4 AVC. They are stored as .mkv files. This consumes 1800 GB on a 2000 GB (2 TB) drive.

This represents about 180 hours of concert video. You will be able to save about 20 hours of HD video (with audio) of similar quality on 200 GB.
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dbalkunjr

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Re: Using Cloud Storage for media to keep it backed up and in sync
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2013, 08:50:46 pm »

Interesting.  I do not plan on backing up any video besides home video(I have most of my movies on Bluray or Dvd and as much of a painas it would be to re-rip those, I have to draw the line somewhere.  With that being said, I may have to scale it back to just photos and music for now.  I just started recording in 1080P for home videos over the last year and I have seen my library increase in size very quickly due to that.  It is funny that you mention it, as I was actually thinking to myself that I might want to scale down my video quality going forward.  It is not a deal breaker to have home videos at like 720p or something.  I will have to give that end of it some more thought.
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Vocalpoint

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Re: Using Cloud Storage for media to keep it backed up and in sync
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2013, 10:30:04 pm »

Does anyone else store their media in the cloud or have any thoughts that I might have missed?

I store basic stuff on Skydrive and it's great - but my media - due to it's size (2 TB+) - probably would never go to the cloud for the simple reason of time.

But your project success will really come down to the size of your library - and your internet provider. As with most of these cloud services - you could be looking at weeks (or months) of upload time just to get it up there. Unless of course you are sporting a fiber connection directly to Google or something :)

But I do suspect your upload speed will feel like a 1993 14k modem vs what you get for download. Again not sure of how many files you are talking - but if you can get it to work and can handle the upload pain - would probably be pretty good.

Cheers!

VP
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struct

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Re: Using Cloud Storage for media to keep it backed up and in sync
« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2013, 11:10:58 pm »


How do you intend to "sync" it all.  Are you going to have mc to point to the googledrive directory on each machine?  With this concept if a change is made anywhere it is synced to others.  Similarly however, if you make a "bad" change somewhere, (i.e. delete a lot of stuff) , it gets replicated everywhere. I think then you probably go through a (painful?) process of recovery/revisions on GD.

Are you going to do a periodic sync to a seperate local directory for a local backup to avoid above?

At the moment I do the reverse, i.e. periodically sync homemovies, photos (but no music as too many $$$) to a nominated googledrive folder and then it let it do the sync to the cloud for a remote backup.  It means I get a more robust (i.e. reviewable) remote backup without the benefits of sync to multiple remote machines, but I don't need this.

Another thing to consider is that googlemusic gives you 20k songs for free if it is just a backup you want.

Craig
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kstuart

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Re: Using Cloud Storage for media to keep it backed up and in sync
« Reply #5 on: January 09, 2013, 04:40:12 pm »

Remember that a backup USB 3.0 external drive costs something like your one year cost, but is only a one time cost.

I have my music collection on a 3TB Seagate Backup Plus USB 3.0 external drive, and I have another identical drive.  I am in the process of correcting the tags on the music, and when an album is done, it is copied to the second drive.   When I am done, I will just have backup software sync the drives in the middle of the night.

A USB 3.0 card for the PC, with two ports for the two drives, was $8.99 on ebay (probably somewhat less performance than a more expensive card).   I get 94 MB/s copying to those drives.

However, the one advantage of the cloud is for irreplaceable files - one's personal photos, etc - since if one had a fire or theft, you could lose all copies.  But if you have any other location in your life - parents' home, place of business, etc. - then a little USB flash drive placed in a closet there could suffice.

Vocalpoint

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Re: Using Cloud Storage for media to keep it backed up and in sync
« Reply #6 on: January 09, 2013, 04:48:15 pm »

Remember that a backup USB 3.0 external drive costs something like your one year cost, but is only a one time cost.

I have my music collection on a 3TB Seagate Backup Plus USB 3.0 external drive, and I have another identical drive.  I am in the process of correcting the tags on the music, and when an album is done, it is copied to the second drive.   When I am done, I will just have backup software sync the drives in the middle of the night.

A USB 3.0 card for the PC, with two ports for the two drives, was $8.99 on ebay (probably somewhat less performance than a more expensive card).   I get 94 MB/s copying to those drives.

However, the one advantage of the cloud is for irreplaceable files - one's personal photos, etc - since if one had a fire or theft, you could lose all copies.  But if you have any other location in your life - parents' home, place of business, etc. - then a little USB flash drive placed in a closet there could suffice.

I have much the same regiment - all files are edited extensive on my local workstation, fully tagged and then a "play copy" is sent to the server while the master archive copy is sent to one of two pairs of backup drives. Then those drives are mirrored to a second identical set. One set remains local (in a firesafe) and another set is offsite at the bank. Rotate things every two months. Works like a charm and I can backup and move GBs of files in an afternoon if need be.

VP

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