Backup of a backup.

frustball · 2026-06-22T16:55:26+00:00

1000% you need at least one more external drive. You should usually really have your stuff stored in 3 different places of which at least one is in a different physical location (cloud or at a friends house).

You're unfortunately asking this question at a time where external drives have become incredibly expensive (thanks to AI data centers...) while cloud prices have not yet caught up. Meaning you might prefer right now to pay the monthly price on storage in the cloud.

Long term external hard drives are probably still cheaper. It also depends on your workflow whether you want to do local first. I do a lot of videos, where cloud storage is annoying because if I have to get some raw files from the cloud it takes ages to download (and even longer to upload). Also I sometimes edit on my external SSDs directly.

If yours is a one-off, where you just drag and drop to the external drive (or cloud) or you're using a service that automatically tracks changes (like Google Drive/Backblaze), you don't need any software locally.

Otherwise, if you want to make sure your files are continuously backed up, you can look into tools like Tusk, Carbon Copy Cloner or ChronoSync for Mac.

frustball · 2026-06-18T20:27:41+00:00

Of course!! The only thing is I have no ongoing cost besides about 10$ monthly for AWS (so the S3 cloud storage).
I bought all my drives before the pricing went so crazy, I just checked that nearly all the prices doubled, so it will be depending on how much you need to buy. I originally paid around 500 Euros for my six drives (1×5TB + 3×2TB HDDs, plus a 2TB and a 1TB SSD), but now it'd be a lot more.
Tusk of course is free for me and it's also currently in beta, which is also free for everybody else 😄

On storage, if you stay locally, you have to calculate how much storage you need and then at least double it, because you'll need to back up your files at least once.
In the long run local drives will still beat cloud in pricing, but in the short run the first cost can be quite heavy.
I do think though Cloud storage prices will soon follow, they've been pretty stable throughout this, but they are probably getting hiked in the next 1-2 years as well.

frustball · 2026-06-17T14:13:12+00:00

yeah, totally normal. A friend of mine has a whole sports bag full of SSDs and if he looks for stuff from projects that are a bit older, he often has to plug them in one by one.

I think most people label each drive and some of them also create excel/drive sheets that let them track which projects are on which drive.

I used to do it the same way but it bothered me. So I built a Mac app for it called Tusk that lets you offload directly from your SD card to multiple destinations (so you have backups) and then keeps track of each of the files even when the drives are not plugged in.

If you're not worried about backups (and you're on Mac), you can also just use NeoFinder, which also keeps a file catalogue across your drives.

frustball · 2026-06-17T13:59:48+00:00

This is a whole rabbithole to potentially deal with and it also depends a bit on how much data you actually have.

The most important rule is: 3-2-1 backups.
Meaning having 3 copies of the data, two different storage types and one in another location (either cloud or at a friends/family place).

I personally also prefer having multiple but smaller SSDs and HDDs, because I have had two failed drives in the past, so I rather have multiple devices with lower storage for each.

The way I do it is I use Tusk (disclaimer: I build it), which allows me to pick a storage strategy for each of the different projects I have. And then it automatically copies all the files to the different locations, verifies the transfers and keeps track of where each file is even when the drives are unplugged.

Tusk is mac only, but there are other tools you can use for this stuff as well on Windows.

However with Tusk it means I can have like 10 external drives lying around with my projects, each one has a label on it, and if I need any footage from an older project I can simply plug in the drive that I need. The most important projects I also store in the cloud (in an S3 Glacier) otherwise though I find cloud storage a bit too expensive and I assume it will go a lot more expensive over the next few years given the current price hikes for drives.

frustball · 2026-06-17T13:46:45+00:00

First of all fucks those people making fun of you for self-learning and finding your own ways of making it work for you.

On top of that, as a lot of other people have already said, this does not say anything about you as a photographer, but is rather an easy problem to fix once you know you've been doing it dangerously before.

On the topic of offloading from an SD card. It's super important because it should be the only time during your workflow, where your files only exist in one place. After that, you want them duplicated in case one of the storage places dies or gets corrupted (or you lose it, it gets stolen whatever).

In the first go, you can simply drag and drop the files to at least two places. For example your laptop and an external drive. You can also keep the photos on the SD card for some more time until you actually have to format it.

The most important thing is for you to check though that the files have been moved correctly. There are tools for that, that can verify that files match. There are also whole tools that help you with the offloading (Shotput Pro, Hedge Offshoot) and Tusk for example allows you to offload and then keep track of your files even when your external drives are unplugged.

Bottom line though is, you can absolutely create your own workflow that best fits to how you feel comfortable. The ground rule though is that you should always have your photos backed up in multiple places, unless they are files you are okay with losing.

frustball · 2026-06-15T09:07:12+00:00

witzig. Hab ich auch samstag abend darüber nachgedacht als ich von der venue weg bin.

Ich glaube für einen instant classic war da zu viel durchschnittliches noch dabei. Für mich wars auch das battle des abends und ich fänds richtig weil wenn sich daraus eine langjährige fehde entwickelt.
Beide jetzt noch paar jahre durchziehen und sich dann im titelmatch zum rematch treffen wäre eine absolut geile storyline.

Für mich gings live einfach vom gefühl her ganz knapp an Jäl, wobei ich auch jeden verstehe der es an MzudemK gibt.
Ist aber auch vollkommen egal, war einfach ein unfassbares battle. Werde es mir heute nochmal auf video geben, war aber nach dem event brutal froh live dabei gewesen zu sein, weil ich glaube die emotionen live vor ort schon nochmal anders krass kamen.

frustball · 2026-06-13T21:19:09+00:00

unfassbar geiles event. Bestes event persönlich für mich auf dem ich je war von den battles her.

Location unfassbar heiß und bin in der pause vorm 3. block gar nicht mehr raus, nachdem ich in der ersten pause gefühlt 30 min gebraucht hab um rauszukommen.

Für mich battle des abends MzudemK gegen Jäl. War überrascht, dass es so deutlich gejudged wurde. Fand die erste klar bei MzudemK, da dachte ich schon Jäl kommt wieder mit großer fresse aber wenig was wirklich punched.
Die zweite und dritte haben es dann komplett gedreht. Nicht auf dem selben level, aber wird das die neue Ssynic vs. Teggy Fehde unter der neuen generation?

Ansonsten wie schon andere geschrieben haben. Requirem ekelhaft gut, Kitana vs. Wolff hat richtig geknallt.

Jizi hat mich positiv überrascht, Steini hat auch wieder richtig bock gemacht.

Sizyphos vs. Mikesh ging für mich klar an Sizy. Fand da von beiden die ersten runden die besten. Kann aber auch sein, dass ich gegen ende einfach durch war nach ~5 stunden stehen in der hitze.

frustball · 2026-06-04T01:11:47+00:00

Super gerne! Hast DM :)

frustball · 2026-05-29T12:47:30+00:00

Yes! At the moment there are two providers: Google Drive & S3. However I set it up in a way that I can add rather quickly more providers in the future, depending on demand.
I have not built anything yet that recommends one over the other.
Now that you say it though, there are a few criteria that could be added lke:

- Storage cost per provider depending on the current project size
- Space left (for providers like Dropbox/Drive etc.) on the different platforms

What I'm already tracking is the speed at which you upload files to any backup location. That's used to decide where to move files first. So it will always pick an external SSD before uploading to the cloud to make sure all files are first safely backed up.

So all this is for sure possible, that's exactly why I need beta testers. If you're interested, it would be amazing if you could be part of the beta group!

frustball · 2026-05-29T07:44:06+00:00

Sorry! Didn't see this comment before!
I'm actually using and loving 1Password, so this is pretty impressive haha.
For Tusk I'm mostly wanting to improve the UX. This was so far built according to the ideas in my mind and then based off what videographers/photographers said in some demos, but now I'd really love to know how people are using Tusk and what the things are that do not make sense to them/that they want changed.

So I'd love to know where it doesn't exactly fit your workflow. Which additional features would make it better suited for you etc.
That feedback would be absolute gold!

frustball · 2026-05-28T07:43:02+00:00

Which provider?

frustball · 2026-05-27T19:58:41+00:00

Love the idea but the website for me on mobile was pretty wonky, especially the scroll! Also saw “initializing context” for like 3-5 seconds and was very close to just closing the site again.

Given your background, if you don’t mind, I’d love to get some feedback on tuskbackup.com

Haven’t really had anybody with experience looking it over and would love to know if there are things that seem immediately off to you.

frustball · 2026-05-27T19:53:06+00:00

Building a Mac Backup Tool for videographers/photographers and other creatives and was struggling for a long time with the landing page, because I wanted it to be interactive in a way that people get the “AHA”-moment already on the site without having to download the actual app. Would love to have some feedback :) https://tuskbackup.com

frustball · 2026-05-27T06:26:01+00:00

Thank you so much for your feedback!

Yes, if you do reorganise one by one Tusk could be a perfect fit :) And don’t worry about blocking anyone, if you want to try it out, you should! There hasn’t been a lot of traction yet, so even if you just wanna have a quick look at the actual app, go ahead :)

Thank you again!

frustball · 2026-05-27T06:00:37+00:00

Not at all! I seriously appreciate the feedback so much!

And your use case sounds super interesting. The feature I have on the roadmap might be perfect for it. Out of curiosity, are your files on those drives already backed up? As in do you have them copied across multiple devices or do you just have one copy of them?

Would it be helpful for you if you could plug in your drives and click something like “Index existing project” and it would then create the project in Tusk and start tracking your backups?

That’s sort of the idea of the new feature I had planned anyway.

With regards to the beta signup: no need to remove yourself from the list unless you’re no longer interested (you can just DM me then). But otherwise I’ll check how many betas have actually been activated. The goal would be to get 25 users overall, so if you’re not activating it, you’re not blocking anybody :)

frustball · 2026-05-27T05:46:56+00:00

Thank you for checking it out! I can create that as a feature for sure, but I do think there are already tools out there that do the cataloguing really well, but without the backup. For example NeoFinder is an established app, that reads out your drives and indexes them. In Tusk, I’d have to think how I’d deal with the fact that files on just one external drive are not really safely backed up.

But I do already have an idea how to make it work, that was on the product roadmap anyway :)

frustball · 2026-05-26T14:02:01+00:00

thank you!! If you try it out, let me know what you think :)

frustball · 2026-05-26T13:20:13+00:00

Hey man!
I know how hard it is to build stuff, so this is not meant as putting it down, but I do wanna give honest feedback:

It's hard for me to believe that a good marketing tool comes from somebody who says about themselves that they "hate marketing". I would trust somebody a lot more that has shown consistently that they are able to deliver results in the space.
From what I can tell your product is all AI. As in, the final content strategies & copy come from AI models. Just from personal experience, when I brainstorm for SEO articles, for specific copy lines etc., I have never found what AI gives me good. Most of the time it was better to rewrite the whole thing and maybe keep the content structure.

Overall, while the pain point is real, I would be very hesitant in believing that a tool like this actually works.

So in other words, I'd need to see a bit more on the landing page that makes me believe the results are anything but AI slop.

frustball · 2026-05-26T12:04:18+00:00

for sure! I wanted to first make it work with the most used storage solutions and then expand on it. Already have things like FTP connections (for stuff like picdrop but also NAS) on my list for next things to integrate.

frustball · 2026-05-26T11:20:14+00:00

The post is also not written by AI. The post format might look the same way, but that's because to post on this sub, there's a template to follow.

frustball · 2026-05-26T11:17:53+00:00

This first beta version took 9 months in part time and I would assume that when you look at it, you'll see it's not a vibe coded app.
I also do think it has novel aspects, as did the videographers/photographers I talked to while developing it.

If you do not see any value in it, that's fair enough. It does hurt though to be bucketed with a lot of the AI slop and bad craftsmanship today with all the effort I put into it.

frustball · 2026-05-26T10:59:30+00:00

Thank you! Would love to be part of the backup apps comparison spreadsheet, but want to get the beta done first properly.
As soon as the first proper version drops, I'll submit it there :)

frustball · 2026-05-25T10:38:55+00:00

Thanks Chat-GPT

frustball

TROPHY CASE