What's the best way to backup a LARGE iPhoto 9 library

because I also want to be able to open iPhoto from a different Mac on the network.

Well that's the second issue then:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS5168

Note the comment:

“Additionally, storing the iPhoto library on a network rather than locally on your computer can also lead to poor performance or data loss.”

for any serious backup strategy, the following reading is a MUST :

" ...BACKUPS, ARCHIVES..." ( by Plotinus Veritas ), at:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6031

Save yourself an overlong read: the TL:DR on that user tip is to use optical media for back up.

What the article never manages to explain, nor its author, nor its number one acolyte, is what use such media will be in 10 years when optical drives will be as common as floppy drives are now.

why not read by yourself and be the judge ?

"future" of optical ?

here are a few clues:

Facebook Using 10,000 Blu-ray Discs for 1PB Cold Storage

Housed in rack of 24 magazines, each holding 36 cartridges, and each with 12 discs 2014.02.03 | In Brief

how about the credibility of Sony-Panasonic top engineers:

Panasonic and Sony Define Archival WORM Disc at 300GB

Roadmap to reach 500GB and 1TB 2014.03.12 | Press Release

This is a Press Release edited by StorageNewsletter.com on 2014.03.12

Sony Corporation and Panasonic Corporation have formulated Archival Disc, a standard for professional-use, next-generation optical discs, with the objective of expanding the market for long-term digital storage.

Optical discs have properties to protect themselves against the environment, such as dust-resistance and water-resistance, and can also withstand changes in temperature and humidity when stored.

They also allow inter-generational compatibility between different formats, ensuring that data can continue to be read even as formats evolve. This makes them robust media for long-term storage of content. Recognizing that optical discs will need to accommodate much larger volumes of storage going forward, particularly given the anticipated future growth in the archive market, Sony and Panasonic have been engaged in the joint development of a standard for professional-use next-generation optical discs

If you're of the inquisitive type, and want to be aware of the latest developments in hard drives ( and everything around them ), visit this awesome site :

http://www.storagenewsletter.com/

I think it's worth exmaining those quotes in detail:

Sony CorporationandPanasonic Corporationhave formulated Archival Disc, a standard for professional-use,

(emphasis added)

and the bit from the original press release that - oddly - is not quoted:

However, the companies are not positioning the discs as a medium for consumer storage.

"The development is specifically for professional archiving," the Panasonic spokesman said. "We are not currently considering optical discs for household consumer use."

and, of course, this still remains true:

What the article never manages to explain, nor its author, nor its number one acolyte, is what use such media will be in 10 years when optical drives will be as common as floppy drives are now.

i really can't see what interest you could have of preventing grievous losses of data to some users reading this,

data losses that could hit in the next week ,month, or year,..!

I repeat, these DVDs will be readable by ANY computer or "version" !

The cost-benefit of a "gold-nugget" backup is unrivaled .

All data storage experts agree on the solidity of an optical backup.

Once again, take the time, fot those who doubt who's "right" here, to read the above references

ESPECIALLY

" ...BACKUPS, ARCHIVES..." ( by Plotinus Veritas ), at:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6031

You owe it to yourself and most cherished data to take half an hour of reading !

i would really appreciate, terence, you stopping your disparaging remarks on the excellent work of a fellow-user, not even having read it ( ! ).

Please abide by the TOU:

No one is arguing about the importance of backing up. No one is debating whether optical media is good or bad. The point I make over and over is that optical media is going away from computers that ordinary people use. Even the very articles quoted above say that these new technologies are not being developed with the home user or consumer in mind.

My aim is simple: I'm pointing out that it may not be wise to invest time and money in pursuing a dead end.

No, it is not true to say that DVDs will not be readable on any computer. The will only be readable on computers with optical drives. Without a drive all you have is a shiny frisbee.

Optical drives are being dropped by every computer maker. They all have models now without CD or DVD drives. If you want to use optical media with them you need an external drive. That's an additional cost, but more importantly, that's exactly how the floppy disk and zip drive went away. Can you easily find an external one of those now?

So, as I say, in 10 years time finding an optical drive will be as easy as finding a floppy drive is now. That's why I say that optical media may be a dead end.

And no matter how many times I say it what do you respond? You cite more articles that don't ansswer the point then you resort to name calling and now you - who once called another poster drunk - are trying to accuse me of breaking the TOU.

So, unless you can explain how someone with no optical media drive can read an optical disk, I'm not sure what further value you add to the discussion.

i guess you must admit that there still will be optical drives around next year...and probably the year after that.

My aim is also simple: i'm pointing out it IS wise to invest very little time and very little money to keep precious data safe for at least ( 🙂 ) two years !

All the experts on backups and archiving are against you on this, terence.

For those who are reading this, make up your own mind by reading the above.

and this, from an expert

. There are many that would point out in incorrect conjecture that “optical is a dying or dead medium”,such people don’t know what they're talking about and are directing their comments at optical based movies and software, not data archiving and protection which in fact is growing in scope, not declining.

Except - as has been pointed out a number of times

Your method does not backup the iPhoto library

It can not be used by most Mac users since no Mac has shipped with an optical drive for some time now

and the data can not be updated

Even if one has an optical drive, it is inferior to a true backup to a hard drive (or three as I do) - not sure why you love to argue so much but your obsession with this subject is off track and is a disservice to users who do care about having a backup of their iPhoto library

LN

uess that does not explain why Apple and other suppliers no longer supply optical with their systems and why other articles you have posted in your continuing argument with the obvius facts point out that optical is unreliable and subject to failure and to dust problems - and suggest that its use is now limited to professional (read expensive) devices

LN

So, as I say, in 10 years time finding an optical drive will be as easy as finding a floppy drive is now. That's why I say that optical media may be a dead end.

Shall we try again?

So, as I say, in 10 years time finding an optical drive will be as easy as finding a floppy drive is now. That's why I say that optical media may be a dead end.

Any answer to that? No?

larry:

does not explain why Apple and other suppliers no longer supply optical with their systems

here IS the explanation, again :

While modern notebooks and macbooks have forgone, for the most part internal optical DVD/CD readers/writers, this is most entirely due to the fact that commercial videos and movies have gone to online rentals and Itunes purchases, additionally nearly all software now is online purchase and download. The other reason for this is the removal of a 'high' failure point of an internal optical drive which is both mechanically complex, prone to dust on the laser diode lens due to users inserting dusty disks / media, and that the superdrive is not currently capable of fitting in the super-slim form factor machines such as the current Imac, Macbook Pro and especially the Macbook Air. However external USB DVD burners and readers are going nowhere anytime in the foreseeable future,... and until a new optical technology emerges for data preservation, DVD writers aren’t going anywhere.