“Performing validated data transfers is so much better than hot sex,” Peter Krogh recently told me. Actually, that’s not true. That’s a straight-up lie to keep you reading. The truth is that performing validated transfers is one of many critical tasks required to safeguard data — as in, our images!

I’m not going to lie to you (again, at least in this post). Data validation is a nerdy, boring topic, and definitely not as much fun as hot sex. And so, understandably, very few photographers have a good hold on. However, believe it or not, beginning to get on top of data validation can feel quite satisfying.

The fact is that embracing best practices in data validation is critical to ensuring that our archives of images is safely stored and backed up until the day we die (and long after, if we care). On the other hand, if we don’t take proper care of of our data we virtual guarantee that, sooner or later, we will lose beloved and valuable images in the blink of an eye or, more to the point, the sudden click, click, clicking CLUNK of one of our beloved hard drives dying.

Hard Drives Die, Data Decays, But It’s OK

We all know that hard drives are expected to die, just as one quickly learns that he will constantly get flat tires when driving a busted up old car through the wilds of Paraguay. (That’s another story, but you can trust me that it happens a lot).

That we know that all hard drives will fail doesn’t seem to help even atheist photographers from relying heavily on prayer in safeguarding our images. Too often we download a memory card of critical images to one single, hard drive, erase the card, plan to back up said drive as soon as possible, and then get distracted by pressing work (or, if we are really lucky, hot sex).

We hop that nothing will go wrong. But something will go wrong.

The (Typical) Death of a Drive

Something went wrong for me yesterday, when I plugged in my primary on-site hard drive (I’ll call it “A”) and it began to make those nerve-racking clicking noises and, gulp!, it failed to boot.

Luckily, I have all my data on “A” backed up to hard drive “B,” which exists for the sole reason that I had forced myself to accept (like those tires going flat in Paraguay) that something would go wrong with “A.”

So if “A” is toast, I should be fine.

Improving Validation Practices One Step at a Time

I wish I could say my data validation management practices — performing validated data transfers and automated backups, checking the health of drives and archived data, archiving all files to read-once media such as DVDs, and so on — met the excellent standards the Krogh writes about in the “Data Validation” section of dpBestflow.org.” However, they do not.

If my “B” drive fails today (and why wouldn’t it?) I’ll  have a real mess on my hands.

Sure, thanks to my ad-hoc, less-than-best practices back up systems, if “B”, too, goes south, I will likely be able to recover all my data from older drives, and the handful of DVD backups I have made. But this messy, stressful, extremely time consuming process. (I’d much rather get stranded in the wilds of Paraguay.)

If you are new to data validation concepts, I suggest you:

• Read “Ultimate Security,“ an article I wrote for “Professional Photographer” (May 2010). It’s a good overview intro on the topic.
• Skim through the “Data Validation” section of dpBestflow.org, as also take a quick gander at the section on “Data Storage Hardware” and “Backup.” Note that I emphasize skimming this information quickly. It’s a lot to take in. And you don’t want try to stop and learn everything you “must” know about this topic at one time. It just won’t happen. Better that you get a general sense of the world of data validation to help you best move forward.
• Start improving your data validation practices one step at a time. The fact is that we are all extremely busy and we cannot institute best practices all at once, over night. As Krogh says (a real quote), “When putting data validation into practice, photographers need to weigh the value of the photos against the cost and effort involved.”

Perform Validated Transfers — A Great Place To Start

At the end of “Ultimate Security,” I suggest, “At the very least, photographers
can perform validated transfers when copying all critical files.” Since researching the article, I have put this easy workflow task into place and I have experienced three clear results:

1. I am ensuring that I am transferring my data in the best possible way, with a program automatically comparing all copied data bit-for-bit against the source data.
2. I feel more secure and in control, allowing me to rely less on praying and hoping, knowing I’m getting closer to thought-free best practices.
3. I feel less secure and more out of control. I know, this utterly contradicts #2. However, it’s simply a reality that starting to get on top of a critical issue has made me more clearly see where I my data storage and management systems are likely to fail. This sucks, but it’s good, too. It reflects new learning that will result in further, positive actions.

Zeroing Out Hard Drives and Beyond

Another easy, invaluable data protection workflow step I have put in place is to zero out hard drives — when putting a new drive into service or reformatting an older drive.

Like performing validated transfers, this is another task that improves data security immediately, ans which speaks to Krogh’s thoughtful advice that best practices need to fit into the practicalities of real-life workflows.

If you are not copying critical data using validated transfers, nor zeroing out hard drives, I urge you to start. You’re data will be more secure, you will feel more secure and, alas, you will likely also feel more anxious, but in a good way. It’s the same kind of anxiety you should feel if you are driving in the remote wilds of Paraguay with only one of your two bald, spare tires ready to replace the next flat that is, like it or not, coming sooner than later.

Tags: Backup, Best Practices, Data Storage Hardware, Data Validation, dpBestflow.org, Formatting Hard Drives, Let It Flow, Performing Validated Transfers, Peter Krogh, Professional Photographer, Reformatting Hard Drives, Ultimate Security, Validated File Transfer, Validated Transfers, Zeroing Out Hard Drives