How did you organize your archive?
How do you store files? What hardware do you use? What software do you use?
How do you catalog the files in your archive? What software do you use?
I want my archive to be reliable. I want to find files in archive quickly. I want to use automated archiving and cataloging tools, schedule. I want to make few copies of archive automatically. I want to store copies of archive in different locations. I run Windows 10 Home 64-bit.
3D and Blender is just a Hobby for me, so I don’t have a lot of projects. Besides good files and folders naming practice, Dolphin file browser on Linux (KDE) is enough for me. It has a file search feature and basic preview for .blend files. Periodically I manually backup the files to another physical disk.
I second @YAFU. I’m a hobbyist too, so I just make backups once in a while. Nothing fancy here.
As for the hardware part, nowadays ssds are dirt-cheap. If I had the cash in hand right now, I would prefer a super fast nvme as the main drive (OS and apps) let’s say at 1TB drive, and I would definitely go for a large ssd for fast storage, at least a 2TB unit. Either a cheap nvme, or a SATA ssd. For long term storage I would pick a classic hdd raid.
Asset Wizzard i use all the time for every object and every material I create. It creates an optimised Blender file (.blend).
So I can also save everything else in it, e.g. LuxCore materials. Most (large) work files can be deleted after the project. Additionally, i secure on usb-stick. No special backup software or something like that.
@YAFU, @birdnamnam, @MarioPeper, thank you. I took into attention.
Mario, usb-stick is the same as USB flash drive?
Yes, I use it for my daily work
Mario, thank you. I took into attention.
Mario, what is the model of this USB-stick? Letters, figures in the name? I want to read about it.
?!? No special brand, no special model. Just any USB stick.
That can change depending on the type of projects you’re working on,
To be really effective, you need at least 2 different copy, so if ones broke you don’t loose your data.
You can also store you backups on a cloud.
How files are organized ?
That should reflect how your projects are organised, I’ve got a folder for each client I’m working for and a folder for each projects . Once a project is done I get rid of all unnecessary files and I archive the project folder. In my archive drive it’s the same organization , One folder per client that contains one folder per projects.
I use an external disk drive to store data at home, and at work we have a more complicated setup to be able to store more than one copy of the archives.
The good practice in your projects is to separate the data from start so you can easily get rid of temporary files. I work in animation so we only keep the .blends, textures, and final output. So instead of keeping 1To of data, we can strip it down to ~100/200Go .
@MarioPeper, @sozap, thank you. I took into attention.
sozap, what units you have used in text? 1To? 100/200Go? What is it?
it’s Terra-Octet and Giga-Octet it’s the same as TerraBytes and GigaBytes. Don’t takes these numbers too precisely, my point is that on animation projects you can easily get rid of most render data and keep only the projects files that takes a lot of less space.
There are some good open source tools for archiving and backups. The ones below will do snapshots on intervals and offer a web based access and restore.
I recommend these based on my prior experience with them. These two are really good for emergency restores after drive/file losses or corruptions.
I also recommend these if you are comfortable with command line apps. Restic is a good way to actually snapshot and archive your projects securely.