Photographer
Looknsee Photography
Posts: 26342
Portland, Oregon, US
I'm an old computer scientist, and I learned early on to create, organize, and store redundant backups of all critical data. I also have a couple of businesses, and I like to send key data to my partners at least annually. Finally, there is some data (like my password vault) that I just don't want to store on any of my hard drives.
I've been using CDs or DVDs for quite a while. I am also compulsive about labeling each CD/DVD, because as soon as you have more than one lying about, labels become important. Other advantages:
... CDs/DVDs are of a standard size,
... There are lots of options to store multiple CDs/DVDs,
... One can create useful labels (using Avery labels, for example),
that can be informative & attractive),
... They are easy to mail -- heck, there are mailers for that.
On the other hand, I like thumb or flash drives, and you can order all sorts of lovely drives emblazoned with your logo. But I have a few problems with that:
... How do you put a label on a flash drive? (Not a logo that is on
all your flash drives, but a specific label to indicate when it was
created & what is on it)?
... How do you store & organize multiple flash drives?
... How do you mail a flash drive?
Further, I understand that CDs/DVDs might have problems with severe heat, but do flash drives have problems being near other magnetic fields (e.g. sitting on top of a computer)?
What do you do to organize & label your flash drives?
Photographer
Schlake
Posts: 2935
Socorro, New Mexico, US
Looknsee Photography wrote:
What do you do to organize & label your flash drives? A metal keyring and a metal or plastic tag work well. Most drives these days are made for a lanyard or keyring.
Photographer
Schlake
Posts: 2935
Socorro, New Mexico, US
Photographer
F-1 Photo
Posts: 1164
New York, New York, US
They can be somewhat cumbersome and unwieldy to store. I wind up tossing them into a large coffee mug and small vase! Ha! And I like the key ring idea that the above poster mentioned, though again, now there is even more space taken up.
Model
Alabaster Crowley
Posts: 8283
Tucson, Arizona, US
Looknsee Photography wrote:
... How do you put a label on a flash drive? (Not a logo that is on
all your flash drives, but a specific label to indicate when it was
created & what is on it)? ![https://www.imagesupply.com/dymolp100features.jpg]()
Looknsee Photography wrote:
... How do you store & organize multiple flash drives? In a drawer. Maybe with a desk organizer.
![https://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/03/04/02/22/0003040222131_500X500.jpg]()
Looknsee Photography wrote:
... How do you mail a flash drive? In an envelope.
Photographer
Jerry Nemeth
Posts: 33355
Dearborn, Michigan, US
I just picked up 3 32Gb USB3 flash drives on sale at Best Buy.
Photographer
Vintagevista
Posts: 11804
Sun City, California, US
I store flash drives in small cardboard boxes designed for jewelry. Pick them up 10 at a time in a craft type store. Keeps them sorta magnetically isolated - dry and free from dust. Label the boxes and they stack about - um - a thousand in a shoebox.
Photographer
Looknsee Photography
Posts: 26342
Portland, Oregon, US
I like the keyring idea. I'm actually creating an "In Case Of Emergency" set of files, in case I die or am incapacitated (not a fun exercise, but something we all should do), and I might want to include a house key with a flash drive. The problem with any kind of flash drive label is that the label, pretty much by definition, will be too tiny for my aging eyes (and it couldn't include a lot of info in the first place), but a plastic tag with a place to insert some paper might be good -- the tag can be somewhat larger than the flash drive itself. I'm efficient with my labeling, but for example, the backup files from a photo session would include the model's name, the date, the location, and the name of the root file. The label for my "In Case Of Emergency" file would probably contain a lot more information. That's too much for one of those tape label makers. I have a vision of a peg board, or a board where you can hang keys, but I probably won't do that. Mailing flash drives in a simple envelop doesn't feel right to me -- too easy for it to get beat up, and because of its unusual shape, I can see the envelope tearing open easily, especially if it is sliding around inside the envelope. And will it go through with only first class mail? Has anyone actually done this? I have some little plastic boxes from my local Storables -- I use them to hold my rechargeable AA and AAA batteries. Maybe something like that would be good for mailing -- maybe they have something even slightly smaller. I also like the desk drawer organizer idea, if they have enough compartments. Keep those ideas flowing, guys. This is helping a lot.
Photographer
Tony Lawrence
Posts: 21526
Chicago, Illinois, US
Looknsee Photography wrote:
I like the keyring idea. I'm actually creating an "In Case Of Emergency" set of files, in case I die or am incapacitated (not a fun exercise, but something we all should do), and I might want to include a house key with a flash drive.
The problem with any kind of flash drive label is that the label, pretty much by definition, will be too tiny for my aging eyes (and it couldn't include a lot of info in the first place), but a plastic tag with a place to insert some paper might be good -- the tag can be somewhat larger than the flash drive itself.
I'm efficient with my labeling, but for example, the backup files from a photo session would include the model's name, the date, the location, and the name of the root file. The label for my "In Case Of Emergency" file would probably contain a lot more information. That's too much for one of those tape label makers.
I have a vision of a peg board, or a board where you can hang keys, but I probably won't do that.
Mailing flash drives in a simple envelop doesn't feel right to me -- too easy for it to get beat up, and because of its unusual shape, I can see the envelope tearing open easily, especially if it is sliding around inside the envelope. And will it go through with only first class mail? Has anyone actually done this?
I have some little plastic boxes from my local Storables -- I use them to hold my rechargeable AA and AAA batteries. Maybe something like that would be good for mailing -- maybe they have something even slightly smaller. I also like the desk drawer organizer idea, if they have enough compartments.
Keep those ideas flowing, guys. This is helping a lot. I stopped putting images on disks. Have you considered using Dropbox. Its reliable and offers a lot of storage.
https://www.dropbox.com/ This would avoid disks getting lost in the mail or destroyed. Their are other cloud based options besides dropbox. If security is a concern many are very secure. Many newer computers just don't have disk drives anymore.
Photographer
Looknsee Photography
Posts: 26342
Portland, Oregon, US
Tony Lawrence wrote:
I stopped putting images on disks. Have you considered using Dropbox. Its reliable and offers a lot of storage.
https://www.dropbox.com/ This would avoid disks getting lost in the mail or destroyed. Their are other cloud based options besides dropbox. If security is a concern many are very secure. Many newer computers just don't have disk drives anymore. Thanks for the suggestion, but no, that's not for me.
1) In my opinion, anything that is online or attached to a computer that has online access can be hacked. When using any cloud storage, I'm never confident that I know who gets to see the data, even if it is encrypted.
2) I'm looking for something that is for long-term off-line storage, like my photography archive. The longer stuff is stored in the cloud, the more likely it will get hacked.
Good thought, but I'll keep using multiple external drives, DVDs, and maybe flash drives, stored here at my place or in a locked drawer in a trusted friend's place.
Photographer
Jerry Nemeth
Posts: 33355
Dearborn, Michigan, US
Looknsee Photography wrote:
I like the keyring idea. I'm actually creating an "In Case Of Emergency" set of files, in case I die or am incapacitated (not a fun exercise, but something we all should do), and I might want to include a house key with a flash drive.
The problem with any kind of flash drive label is that the label, pretty much by definition, will be too tiny for my aging eyes (and it couldn't include a lot of info in the first place), but a plastic tag with a place to insert some paper might be good -- the tag can be somewhat larger than the flash drive itself.
I'm efficient with my labeling, but for example, the backup files from a photo session would include the model's name, the date, the location, and the name of the root file. The label for my "In Case Of Emergency" file would probably contain a lot more information. That's too much for one of those tape label makers.
I have a vision of a peg board, or a board where you can hang keys, but I probably won't do that.
Mailing flash drives in a simple envelop doesn't feel right to me -- too easy for it to get beat up, and because of its unusual shape, I can see the envelope tearing open easily, especially if it is sliding around inside the envelope. And will it go through with only first class mail? Has anyone actually done this?
I have some little plastic boxes from my local Storables -- I use them to hold my rechargeable AA and AAA batteries. Maybe something like that would be good for mailing -- maybe they have something even slightly smaller. I also like the desk drawer organizer idea, if they have enough compartments.
Keep those ideas flowing, guys. This is helping a lot. I have used a padded envelope to mail CD's and DVDs First Class without problems.
Photographer
kickfight
Posts: 35054
Portland, Oregon, US
Looknsee Photography wrote:
Mailing flash drives in a simple envelop doesn't feel right to me -- too easy for it to get beat up, and because of its unusual shape, I can see the envelope tearing open easily, especially if it is sliding around inside the envelope. And will it go through with only first class mail? Has anyone actually done this? Not in a regular envelope, but in a small bubble-padded envelope. Have done it many times, works like a charm.
What you probably want in terms of media is the Sandisk Cruzer Orbit. It is flatter than any thumb drive I've found, has a big hole through which you can string pretty much anything, and the actual connector slides in and out from a metallic protective sheath. Here's a pic:
![https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/CzmduLpjE3o/0.jpg]()
Photographer
Stephen Fletcher
Posts: 7501
Norman, Oklahoma, US
CD's are cheap, easy to label and store. Also easy to ship in the mail. I use them for 600 meg or so. More than that and Flash drives beat them hands down and can be erased and rewritten on.
Photographer
Jim Shibley
Posts: 3309
Phoenix, Arizona, US
I have been using DVD's for backups to my hard drives. But with the increasing size of Raw files I'm moving to flash drives then when filled copying to M-disk blu-ray.
Photographer
T Brown
Posts: 2460
Traverse City, Michigan, US
Local backup external drive and also to a cd/dvd keep on off site, also a cloud based option.
For customers to send data, yeah the cloud is the way to go, why bother to send them physical media, just give them a download link then its on them to decide how they want to archive the data.
You can even set up your own FTP server onsite and they can access the files directly form you once they have them it no longer your responsibility to maintain the data.
Photographer
CNP Photography
Posts: 2579
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Looknsee Photography wrote:
. . .
Mailing flash drives in a simple envelop doesn't feel right to me -- too easy for it to get beat up, and because of its unusual shape, I can see the envelope tearing open easily, especially if it is sliding around inside the envelope. And will it go through with only first class mail? Has anyone actually done this?
. . . I mail flash drives often. Use the bubble envelopes that you would mail a CD/DVD in. Never had an issue.
Photographer
DougBPhoto
Posts: 39248
Portland, Oregon, US
I have CDs, DVDs, and flash drives, I've even mailed them too!!
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