# Drive & Workflow Recommendations

## General Storage Workflow

How do I roll? 2x copies of everything, all the time.

All of my personal RAIDs are RAID 0s because I prefer the size and speed. When deep in production, I run weekly(ish) backups to a second RAID 0 using a program called **Sync Folders Pro** which is a program where you can automate backups. Generally speaking, this RAID only carries my assets (video files, photos, etc) and project archives. I don’t wipe the source (like the SD cards), until I’ve done the backup. My project folders live on Dropbox and are constantly backed up. If I’m feeling paranoid, I might backup in a third place. I recommend this workflow.

### External SSD NVME Recommendations

Big fan of [these](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1595435-REG/) Sandisk Extreme Pro drives. Sustained R/W over USB-C is consistent and good.

Second to those are the [non-pro version](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1595432-REG) of the Sandisk Extremes. Other than them not being “Pro”, the sustained R/W seems the same. They are likely rated for less lifetime R/W, but a good value otherwise.

After that, I recommend [Samsung T7s](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1559839-REG) - these tend to be more expensive, for some reason, but are easier to find. Their sustained R/W isn’t as good as the pro or non-pro Sandisk. This is true of their predecessors, the T5s, as well. These were the first mass-produced, affordable, and decent external M2s, so they were a good start. I still use them a lot but prefer those SD Extremes.

### Local Backups (of Backups)

Sometimes you need to make local backups – if you have big boy exports or a ton of source footage. A local backup is a non-cloud backup that you do yourself. I use a program called **Sync Folders Pro** that is really great because you can set different copy times and then save that config. This makes backing up things in a really specific way, really easy. I don’t have to think about it because I have my presets there ready 2 go. It does not checksum by default but you can turn that on. Well worth the price of $8.99 plus an in-App $4.99. They have really good HELP documentation too.

For posterity, here’s a config I use to backup my Projects folder to my secondary RAID (FWiW, my computer just got wiped during a repair and I lost all of these settings, thanks past me for providing for future me).

[![SyncFoldersPro.png](http://tech-almanac.org/uploads/images/gallery/2025-04/scaled-1680-/syncfolderspro.png)](http://tech-almanac.org/uploads/images/gallery/2025-04/syncfolderspro.png)