The DAM Book, 2nd Edition

Chapter 5. Choosing Hardware for Image Storage

In this chapter, we’ll look at how to set up your computer system to host your working image files and your image archive. We will first take a look at the fundamentals of storage technologies and get an understanding of how they work and how to choose the right one. We will then look at some different generic configurations. Finally, we will look at some specific configurations that I use.

The methodology that I outline in this chapter will provide for a scalable system (one that can grow with you from a single hard drive of images up to many terabytes stored on a client/server network) that protects your photographs and provides you with quick and reliable access to your images.

• Choosing the Appropriate Storage Media

• Hard Drive 101

• Purchasing a Hard Drive

• Hard Drive Handling

• Drive Configurations: JBOD, RAID, Drobo, or NAS?

• Other Storage Media

• Media Cards

• Network

• Monitors

• Uninterruptible Power Supplies

• System Configurations

Choosing the Appropriate Storage Media

You will need to configure hardware to store and back up your working files and your permanent image archive, and you will need to choose components to connect your system together. For maximum protection and cost efficiency, you’ll want to choose the right configuration for the task at hand. We’ll discuss the following components of your system in this chapter:

• Working file storage. As we’ve ...