Vacations, graduations, birthday parties, anniversaries; there are so many cherished moments to save for future generations to enjoy. In the heyday of the VCR, there was nothing worse than popping in what was supposed to be a graduation video for your grandmother, only to find someone had taped over it with last week’s football game.
These days, digital video files can be lost in other ways due to issues with the hard drive of the storage device, damage to the recording device or phone, or file corruption during transfer from one location to another. If your memories and events matter enough to record them, then it’s best to have a smart plan for preserving them for years to come. Here are some tips.
Cloud-based or external hard drive?
There are cloud-based and hardware devices that can store videos, but the best systems blend both technologies for a seamless and convenient user experience.
A purely cloud-based system hosts your videos online, but you’ll need to be connected to a high-speed internet connection and you might have restrictive data limits. If you are offline or the site is experiencing high volumes of traffic, you might have issues with access and playback.
On the other hand, an external drive also has a finite amount of storage and often needs to be connected to your computer. External drives can become damaged by power surges, liquid spills, or malware, and they can be dropped or otherwise damaged as well. These types of external drives should either be used as backup locations or should be backed up to a secondary location in the event of damage.
Free storage options, including those offered by social media can be attractive. But beware: some cloud-based systems may remove your content if it appears to violate their policies. Videos stored on Facebook and YouTube can be flagged by AI algorithms and removed due to video content restrictions, even in sometimes innocent circumstances.
Sometimes social media and other hosted sites are bought out, merged with other technology companies, or cease to operate altogether, so it’s crucial to look for platforms that have longevity backed by a reputable company.
Why not both?
Bringing the best features of both cloud-based and hardware technology gives you complete flexibility and convenience for storing and accessing videos. Using online video storage devices like ibi by SanDisk, you can access your data from your phone. It can be solely on your private network, or you can share videos online as needed.
And on many of these sorts of devices, you have the option to share your videos and photos to public websites, or you can keep them private between your inner circle of friends and family. Other users don’t need an account to view your materials; you can simply send them a link via email.
You can also play videos to your smart television from your locally hosted device location, or you can access the same video while you’re chatting with coworkers during your lunch break. Combining ease of access with local storage means you’re in control of where your videos reside, and you’re not held hostage to corporate mergers or constantly increasing subscription storage rates from cloud-storage companies as your collection increases.
Sharing or exporting videos from one platform to another is seamless, especially with a provider that maintains compatibility with the latest advances in digital technology. So there are options out there that combine the best of both online and external digital storage.
