I'm just interested in what you guys are doing to backup your music and audio? I am finding that a lot of my finished tracks are too big to go on a single CD (the multitrack version, that is, not the mixed down version), and that my working folder of audio is too big for a DVD. I also have various free soundfonts and samples, which also take up significant amounts of space, some of which were downloaded or collated from various magazine cover disks, and thus need keeping together in a more handy form. So I'm just curious as to what people currently do, and how to make it practical without burning through dozens of disks, while also keeping everything organised.

I used to back everything up to CD or DVD. If your project needs more than 4.5GB or so, you can just burn multiple DVDs and keep them in the same file folder with all your paperwork for the project. This is a pretty efficient system, and keeps everything farily organized should you need to refer back to a project.

If you want to squeeze more data on each disk, you can always try compressing your files and saving them as an archive on DVD. (.ZIP, or other more highly compressed format.) The only real problem is making sure you can access the compressed archives if necessary years down the road.

Otherwise, if you have money to spend, a good solution may be some sort of removable hard drive system. I now have a dual drive eSATA enclosure that I primarily use for streaming samples. The fact that the drives are hot swappable makes backups very easy. When backup time comes, I just pull out one of the sample drives and put in my backup drive. When the backup is done the next morning, I just swap back the sample drive, put my backup drive in the closet, and go back to work.

The nice thing about this system is that it's very easy to restore data that has been archived, and you don't build a collection of wasteful discs. Plus, since you don't need a super-fast drive for backups, you can get additional drives with a lot of space for relatively cheap. In addition, if you get an external array that is bootable, you can even create a backup of your system drive and boot from that in case of an emergency. It's also relatively easy to transfer the backups to another medium if SATA drives start getting phased out in another five years or so. (You never know.)

The downside is that hard-drives are prone to magnetic, heat, and water damage. This could be an issue depending on how and where they are stored. I don't know if they will survive temps in a fireproof case during a fire. This may or may not be a concern for you.

Other options include just a simple external Firewire drive or purchasing some ftp space.

One tip: Bounce every track you may need as audio if you plan on being able to access it many years in the future. Your plugins, software instruments, etc. may not be around in ten years! I even know some engineers who print every track as both wet and dry versions in an attempt to future-proof them. This is probably overkill if you're not doing professional work, but some people like to protect everything.

In the end, best backup system for you will be determined by several factors, primarily:
- The rate and amount of data you create
- The value of your data (how much is it worth to you in money and time/effort?)
- The longevity of your data (will it be important to have access 1, 5, 10, 20 yrs in the future?)