Digital backups: where do I put them?

[Keitha]

Does anyone else keep digital photos 'backed up' on USB sticks and/or memory cards, and if so, where do you put those for safekeeping? I tend not to empty my memory cards; they're so cheap, when one gets full I just keep it as an additional back up. I've also got USB sticks with photos that have been shared from family, which I also keep as a backup.
Cleaning out the top desk drawer - that repository for everything imaginable that will fit in it - has yielded some digital photos. I will label the sticks and then need to figure out a permanent home for them. It might seem obvious, but I thought I'd ask in case someone has a clever idea I haven't thought of.

[pamcook]

Does anyone else keep digital photos 'backed up' on USB sticks and/or memory cards, and if so, where do you put those for safekeeping? I tend not to empty my memory cards; they're so cheap, when one gets full I just keep it as an additional back up. I've also got USB sticks with photos that have been shared from family, which I also keep as a backup.
Cleaning out the top desk drawer - that repository for everything imaginable that will fit in it - has yielded some digital photos. I will label the sticks and then need to figure out a permanent home for them. It might seem obvious, but I thought I'd ask in case someone has a clever idea I haven't thought of.

We have a small safe that’s fire-resistant.

[pbp908]

I store everything on an external hard drive in separate files for the month or the occasion. After I'm through printing them, they go onto CDs and then to storage. I really need to put them in the bank box just in case.

My issue is that tech is constantly changing, so what do we do if the medium we're using for storage becomes obsolete? Not quite sure at this point if I trust "the cloud."

[nchoney]

I keep a couple external hard drives - save to both of them. I need to remember to bring one to the office so it's not in the house. But... my duplication is more for device failure.

SD cards will, over time, fail. Thumb drives.. little USB drives will, over time fail. External hard drives can also fail.

So... my photos are on a couple different external drives and are also uploaded to SnapFish. I'll be keeping track of them, though... I had some online with another company that went out of business years ago.... so I don't want to think SnapFish will be a forever thing, but it's nice to have them stored online too.

There are a variety of places online that offer storage for a reasonable price - but let that be a backup... don't store them online and think they'll be there forever.

[Keitha]

Yes, I back up to EHDs as well, and am wrapping my head around the idea of putting everything in the cloud as I pay for Google storage anyway (which I need for work). The SD cards and USB keys are just another backup; I have had several EHDs fail over the years, but so far (touch wood) the only SD card that failed was the micro card that was in my phone a few years back. I agree that you can't rely on any one source - and online companies aren't forever.

[fuzzylover]

I have everything on an external hard drive. Those little cards and even the thumb drives are so easy to misplace (ask me how I know). From there, I use Carbonite which back up my whole computer, so all my pics are backed up there also.

[Keitha]

...Those little cards and even the thumb drives are so easy to misplace (ask me how I know)...

Yes! That's exactly why I asked the question, LOL. I do want to keep them as an additional backup, but that's only useful if I can actually find them if I need them.