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Recent leaps in resolution have made storing all those visual gigabytes a bigger concern than ever, even with the humblest digital SLR. Which is why one well-known computer maker introduced goof-proof backup software that's completely integral to its operating system -- then built a heavy-duty external hard drive that receives the data via its own separate Wi-Fi network. (You'll find that drive among this year's Editor's Choice winners.)
Other Network Attached Storage (NAS) systems back up with multiple drives for even better data security: One such model in this year's group is small enough to fit in your palm, and another beats conventional, multiple-drive RAID storage by letting you combine drives of different sizes. Need to carry and swap top-secret information, or safeguard images in transit? Here you'll find a pocketable, encrypted flash drive that literally erases your files after detecting unauthorized access.
Memory card backup has gotten more convenient too, whether with a portable, card-reading drive that halves the transfer time of its predecessor, or a multi-slot reader that lets your computer ingest the contents of four CompactFlash cards at the same time. And the cards themselves have grown bigger and faster all around: CF has reached a whopping 48GB capacity and up to 50GB/second data-transfer speed, SDHC has attained 32GB, and Memory Stick comes in a variant that's three times faster than before. This same solid state technology is also starting to challenge conventional disk-based hard drives, as you'll see, and, if Moore's law gets its way, will eventually become the storage choice for a mass audience.
Although writable CDs and DVDs are old hat, new portable DVD burners provide cheap, secondary storage for laptop computers. And the video disk format war is over, with Blu-ray prevailing over HD-DVD and drives that write to Blu-ray quickly improving their performance-to-price ratio.
These days, the lines separating digital storage, communication, and personal entertainment are blurred, but one of our favorite items in this category manages to wow everyone who handles it, even though it's pricey and memory-challenged. How? With the human touch.
Co-Digital Storage Product of the Year: Data Robotics Drobo
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Last year's Editor's Choice just missed the introduction of this brilliant alternative to conventional RAID storage, but now it's even better. A minimalist USB 2.0 enclosure that holds up to four 3.5-inch SATA hard drives, this intelligent "storage robot" actually formats those disks as a single volume, with protection data distributed across all of them. If one drive fails, Drobo will keep working, prompt you to replace the drive, and restore full protection. However, unlike with a RAID system, you may use any combination of drive capacities -- and add bigger ones as needed. Setup is a cinch: Insert a drive, connect to a computer, and format. After that, Drobo (which works with Apple's Time Machine) formats new disks automatically. (Total capacity is roughly the sum of all disks minus the biggest.) And the improvements? You can now buy Drobo with drives installed; the new DroboShare "companion" makes the unit a network drive; and it's $50 cheaper. About $450 ($750 with two 1TB drives).
Co-Digital Storage Product of the Year: Apple Time Capsule
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The best feature of Apple's OS X Leopard is Time Machine -- a super-simple backup utility that routinely saves every file and application on your Mac to an external hard drive. It can completely restore your system if needed, or "revisit" files as they appeared in the past. Now Apple has introduced its own take on the needed hardware. Time Capsule combines a high-speed (802.11n) Wi-Fi router with a capacious hard drive in a single elegant package. It allows every Mac in your home or office to perform wireless Time Machine backups to the same central repository. There are also three Gigabit Ethernet ports -- good to use for efficient initial full-system backup. And its USB 2.0 port, combined with a hub, lets you add other drives, to which you can even archive Time Capsule data. (You can also add a printer, but only one Mac can print to it at a given time.) In addition, .Mac account holders can access the Time Capsule over the Web, and even Windows PCs are able to see it as a standard network device. About $300 (500GB) and $500 (1TB).
Other Top Digital Storage Products
Lexar Media 32GB Crucial Solid State Drive
As photographers we take for granted the tiny, speedy flash memory cards on which we save our digital cameras' images or even video, using new high-speed cards such as Lexar's super-swift Professional 133x 8GB SDHC card. Now similar solid-state storage technology is available for laptop and desktop computers -- sized to match the standard 2.5-inch format common to portable notebook hard drives, so that they can be installed in the same drive bay.
Like others in this new breed, Lexar's own Solid State Drive has no moving parts, which means it can take much more abuse without failing and can operate in far more extreme environments. It's also totally silent and requires much less energy, a big advantage when used in a battery-dependent laptop. And its data-transfer speed -- conservatively rated at 100MB/second for reading and 60MB/sec for writing -- is faster than that of many 7200rpm hard disks. These particular speeds are achieved via its 3Gb/sec Serial ATA interface, when housed in a compatible computer or external eSATA drive enclosure.
Solid state storage technology is still pricey, but many photographers will consider it worth the advantages over hard disks. And, as with all things digital, economies of scale will cut the cost drastically in the future -- undoubtedly sooner than we think. About $700.
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