I'm planning to create long-form videos and expect to accumulate several hundred gigabytes of footage and project files. I already have a 1 TB external hard drive that holds older media, but I'm concerned it won't be large enough for everything I plan to record. The drive doesn't need to be portable, though I'd prefer something durable. SSDs and hard drives both seem expensive right now, so I'd like advice on the best storage option and how to protect the data without overspending.
3 Answers
For storing large video files, a regular external HDD is usually the best value. SSDs are faster and more resistant to bumps, but you’ll pay significantly more per terabyte. Since portability isn’t important, look for a larger desktop-style HDD and keep it in a safe, well-ventilated place.
Whatever drive you choose, don’t treat it as the only copy. A drive can fail without warning, so keep at least two copies of anything important. The ideal setup is three copies on two different types of storage, with one copy kept somewhere else or in cloud storage.
Cloud storage is another option, especially for finished projects or files you don’t need to access constantly. It can become expensive for hundreds of gigabytes over several years, though, so a large HDD is usually cheaper for your main archive. A hybrid approach—local drive for active projects and cloud storage for critical files—can work well.
That makes sense. I was mainly thinking about capacity, but losing all the footage would be much more expensive than buying a second drive.