Update this source

Digital Storage System

6 timeline entries

Unchaptered

2023-03-23 Digital storage accounts in PPV Google Sheets

('Contents' column was empty)

Digital Storage          
Host Account Available (GB) Used Cost Contents
Google          
  howardamyjo@gmail.com 15 12.8 free  
  amybrannon2011@gmail.com 100 25 $20/yr Apr 4  
  paperlesspontevedra@gmail.com 15 0.1 free  
Microsoft          
  howardamyjo@gmail.com 1000 17 $70/yr  
  amybrannon2011@gmail.com?        
  spvca@outlook.com 5 0.1 free  
Norton          
  howardamyjo@gmail.com 100 100    
External          
  Seagate        
Bluehost          
  amyjohoward.com unlimited 6 $60/yr  
Totals   unlimited 161    
           
Tasks          
Spectre          
1 Move and designate all creations within Documents        
2 Configure Norton backup for Documents only        
3 Put Backups on calendar        
           
Spectre          

 

2023-07-19 Digital storage catalog in Google Sheets

First created in Google Sheets. Recruited help from Chelsea on 7/20/2023. Moved to Chronology page 1/21/2026.

Pages in the workbook:

  • Final
  • Drive Contents
  • Considerations
  • Formats
  • Smels

Final

Digital Storage SanDisk SSD (2 TB) OneDrive (2TB) Norton backup (100 GB) HP laptop (476 GB) SanDisk SSD (4 TB) S3 Standard 0.023 GB
DB Media X X            
DB Sources X X            
SPVCA Archives   30 GB            
htDocs     1 GB 1 GB        
HP Documents     92.4 GB 92.4 GB        
GTM Z-drive         X      
                 
Amazon AWS S3 Price per month 5 TB            
Standard .023/GB $117.76            
Intelligent Tiering .023/GB $117.76            
Glacier Deep Archive .00099/GB $5.07            

 

Drive Contents

Digital Storage OneDrive (1TB) Norton backup (100 GB) SanDisk SSD (2 TB) HP laptop (476 GB) G-howardamyjo (15 GB) G-amybrannon2011 (100 GB) BlueHost YouTube Location
Drive size (KB) 1,000,000,000 100,000,000   476,000,000 15,000,000 15,000,000     Cost
(media) $69/yr free   free free $20/yr     Space
SPVCA 11,000,000                
HP laptop Documents   120,000,000   120,000,000         "JIC"
HP laptop hard drive       399,000,000         Do we need this?
Gmail                 CHALLENGE: If yes, why?
Old photos X   X           Does a yes to needing it expire at some point?
New photos X   X           If we couldn't retrieve this, could we find a sufficient replacement elsewhere?
Website videos X   X         unlimited  
Raw video footage X   X            
Home movies X   X            
Historical docs                  
Writing folder                  
Website files             4,878,100    
Website backups   X              
Legal docs                  
Blogger blogs                  
Google docs                  
Google sheets                  
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
Personal Writing                
docs docs                
media media                

Considerations

Needs  
   
Need dual backup (local and cloud)  
Need cloud vault storage of legal docs  
Need Google products for working on the fly  
  Gmail
  Blogger (drafts for blogs)
  Photos
  Sheets
  Docs
Need a clear and simple storage plan that I can stick with  
Need to collect my bits and pieces from their many stash spots before I lose them  
   
Search  
WordPress and OneDrive online searches don't work well at all. Local Windows Explorer is great - it can even read handwritten text.  
I should keep the Digital Collection in local Windows Explorer, with a non-AI backup location  
My Spanish Digital Collection is already mostly in Access with amazing search function  
   
Concerns  
I cannot trust any sync function. It happens while I am working, and I have lost work to OneDrive, Google, and iCloud. I must control backups.  
Google has been threatening that I'm out of storage because my videos are automatically uploading from my phone. I turned off the automatic upload and then lost some videos when my phone got salt water.  
It might be good to use a storage platform that allows me to create PDFs from my phone. When I'm at an information site (ex. museum), I can take pictures of things and store them instantly as PDFs in the digital archive.  

 

Formats

(true/false was checkboxes in Google Sheets)

Storage Formats     HD = hard drive        
               
Benefit Cloud Laptop HD External HD   Use Case Preferred Storage Move from
Phone access TRUE FALSE FALSE   article drafts Blogger Google Docs
Lost laptop protection TRUE FALSE FALSE   current working docs & graphics Daily cloud backup  
HD failure TRUE FALSE FALSE        
Proprietary data FALSE TRUE TRUE        
Free FALSE TRUE TRUE        
Share TRUE FALSE FALSE   SPVCA    
Working speed FALSE TRUE FALSE   Historical archive    
Data search FALSE TRUE FALSE        

 

Smels Discussion

Digital Storage                    
File types Use Case Use Case Objective(s) Use Case Level PreConditions to trigger flow CHALLENGE Flow   Space Cost Location
SPVCA Store duplicates Provide club a digital archive in exchange for personal use of that archive   Receive a new SPVCA document or photo Maintain trust with the legal owners of my data Amy uploads copy to shared cloud storage then moves local copy to HP Laptop Documents archive. When club members have questions, Amy find docs and sends links. Also, board members have access for self-study.        
HP laptop Documents Work in progress Content creation   Creating content Open in apps Amy stores WIP in local Documents folder till finished. After project is complete, she moves the entire folder to Digital Collection.   "JIC"    
HP laptop Digital Collection Historical documents Data search   Receive a new document or photo Instant search, proprietary safekeeping Amy stores new acquisitions in files by source. Backup online.   Do we need this?    
Gmail Save email contents Absorb email contents into Digital Collection   Write or receive a valuable email Current information provides context and status for old info Amy stores attachments and PDF copies of email in Documents or Digital Collection   CHALLENGE: If yes, why?    
Family photos Family interactions; personal experience Maintain connection to family and personal history   Receive a family photo I need proof of my own reality. Amy stores family photos in local and cloud storage   Does a yes to needing it expire at some point?    
Content photos File photos related to content Have all artifacts in one place when writing an article   I took photos or found online Photos help readers tune in and understand, and capture details for me Amy transfers photos from phone to Content photo storage as needed   If we couldn't retrieve this, could we find a sufficient replacement elsewhere?    
Website videos Videos edited and published                  
Raw video footage Unload videos from phone Store footage for future use   Took video or phone is full   Amy transfers videos from phone to Video storage as needed   https://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/methods/use-cases.html#:~:text=A%20use%20case%20is%20a,when%20that%20goal%20is%20fulfilled.    
Home movies Unload videos from phone Store footage for memories   Took video or phone is full   Amy records video with phone. She transfers personal videos to home movie storage.        
Historical docs Merge doc into Digital Collection Include document in data searches   Received content-related document   Amy stores document in Digital Collection in files by source. Amy records providence of the item in Access??        
Writing folder Amy's lifetime of writing projects                  
Website files Published web pages perform Visitors view pages. Ads generate income for Amy   Content is complete and SEO'd   Amy publishes web pages. Search engines list them. Visitors read, comment, and take quizzes. Google logs traffic. Ads generate income.        
Website backups Save copies of websites every day. Never lose content   Before bed   Amy creates zip files of each website and downloads them to external hard drive. When the drive is full, she erases the earliest half.        
Legal docs Digital storage of important personal documents Never lose documents   Legal docs change   Amy stores copy of legal doc on external hard drive and Norton digital vault.        
Blogger blogs Draft writing Quick writing by dictation anywhere with my phone   Content ideas arise   Amy dictates content into draft posts. When it is time to write an article, she searches Blogger for related content. When it is incorporated into an article, she deletes the Blooger post.        
Google docs Draft writing Quick writing that requires more formatting than Blogger has, or requires shared access.       Amy writes content while away from the computer. When time allows, she copies the content from Google Docs to Word and stores in the Digital Archive for searchability.        
Google sheets Quick calculations and organization Quick spreadsheets for remote or shared access.                
Website articles Write published articles Publish content for ad revenue   All content information and graphics are available. Website is stable and secure.   Amy copies all related documents and graphics into the article folder. She writes and publishes the article with citations to the soure documents. She makes sure the source documents are still i the Digital Archive, deletes the duplicates in the WIP folder, then moves the WIP folder to the Digital Archive.        
Books Write book drafts See books in final form while under development   Ideas and structure come to me   Amy builds book in Word, stored in a local WIP folder with copies of artifacts.        
Need local and cloud backup                    
                     
I use Google products willy nilly because they are free and easily accessible:                    
Gmail                    
Blogger (drafts for blogs)                    
Photos                    
Sheets                    
Docs                    
                     
I HATE the sync function of OneDrive and Google Drive. I work faster than the sync and my work is lost.                    

 

Update 1/21/2026

Moved to Amy's Digital Storage System in Chronology.

2024-06-07 Digital storage procedure

First created in Google Docs.

Goal

Originals → Text → Database → Xampp → Norton backup

→ PDF → Documents/Sources → SSD/Sources & OneDrive/Sources

→ media → SSD/Media & OneDrive/Media

 

Originals

Text

Documents

Media

Database

SSD

SSD

Spectre

OneDrive

OneDrive

Norton

 

Process

  1. Database the text

    1. Copy text into db.

    2. Name the source file as date+author

    3. Record how I got the source

  2. Save the document

    1. Save as PDF to "C:\Users\howar\Documents\Sources to back up"

  3. Backup before bed

    1. Move new documents to SSD/Documents/Sources

    2. Backup to OneDrive/Documents/Sources

  4. Access the document

    1. Link database to OneDrive/Documents/Sources

How to mark each item as DB’d and stored?

The Sources file is the meat behind the database.

Nothing gets stored in Sources until it is textualized in the database.

Everything in the database has a link to the source file.

Keep the cross check visible for perpetuity. A count of characters in each document is next to its title in the database. A count of documents is on the database. They must always match with the SSD count and the OneDrive count.

On the source page, change the full text check box to a radio button that forces you to check between full text and excerpt. Make it blatantly obvious whether there is more to the document than is in the website database.

What about SPVCA sources?

Their files will remain intact on OneDrive

Merge Amy copy with all Sources.

Make sure to record their original folder arrangement

What about WordPress?

All published products are external to the source material

 

2025-05-13 Amy's next storage plan

Storage Locations

My files are stored on my external drive, which is backed up daily to OneDrive.

  1. Extreme SSD
  2. OneDrive

I only have four folders. No more nested, annual, or categorical folders. Just three long and one short file list.

  1. Media (personal and sources)
  2. Sources (text source material)
  3. Personal (documents)
  4. Database

Benefits

  1. I don't have to decide where to put every file.
  2. Files that can span projects won't be hidden in another project.
  3. Hyperlinks will be short and concise.
Media Sources Personal Database
1792-01-01_map_of_haiti 1714-02-06_montiano_orders 1989-12-89_josh_birth_certificate 2016-06-16_access_db
2018-04-12_sahs_seminar_recording 1973-06-07_spv_invited 1991-08-10_Chelsea_birth_certificate 2024-02-10_amy_db
2024-02-09_gtm_sunrise 2024-01-13_amy_note_diego_pond 2019-02-19_brannon_divorce

Storage Rules

  1. No file is filed without being completely in the database.
  2. Use tags to capture identifiers that are not searchable.
  3. All sources are assigned to their most likely project.
  4. All new files are backed up daily.
  5. The contents of both drives must match daily.

UPDATE 1/21/2026

I outgrew both the SSD and OneDrive.

2026-01-22 Amy's next storage plan

Purpose of digital storage 

I am a digital hoarder for three reasons: 

  1. I get my facts wrong, and cannot be a writer without credibility. 
  2. I get gaslighted and falsely accused all the time, and cannot find reality without proof.
  3. It takes too long to find artifacts for my work. 
  4. Many photos cannot be reproduced.

Incoming digital

  1. Emails
  2. Photos & video
  3. Articles
  4. Books
  5. Audio recordings

Data retention policy

For each item, answer these questions:

  1. Want text in database?
    1. Give reason
  2. Need copy for evidence?
    1. Give examples
  3. Need copy for future use?
    1. Give examples

Current obstacles 

  1. SSD is full when I try to store something.
  2. It takes too long to upload high volumes to AWS.

Current task

  1. Clear SSD 4TB: upload GTM to deep archive.

End use scenario

  1. Search database (ex. need photo of Yaupon holly) 
  2. Search single storage location
  3. Clear out email and paid storage
  4. See all assets in one place

Assets

  1. Media - personal 
  2. Media - PPV
  3. Documents - personal 
  4. Documents - PPV
  5. WIP

Containers

  1. AWS Deep Archive 
  2. AWS Glacier
  3. Microsoft OneDrive 
  4. SSD
  5. Spectre

 

 Arrangement
Asset Low-res Hi-res
Media- personal SSD Deep
Media-PPV SSD Deep
Documents- personal SSD

Deep
Documents- PPV SSD 2TB Deep
SPVCA shared OneDrive Deep
GTM SSD 4TB Deep
WIP Spectre  

Risks

  1. Hard drive damage
  2. Hard drive loss
  3. Accidental delete
  4. Cloud payment lapse
  5. Cloud charges extreme 

Needs

  1. Speed 
  2. Peace of mind - replication 
  3. Consistency 
  4. Simplicity 
  5. Offline access

Questions 

  1. What goes in Deep Archive? A: Backup of SSD
  2. How do you upload large volumes to Deep Archive?
  3. Should I store AVIFs at Hostinger?
  4. How do I track what has been put in deep archive?

 

2026-03-21 Amy's newest storage plan

Purpose of digital storage 

  1. Quick learning
  2. AI processing
  3. Fact checking
  4. Attribution
  5. Proof in challenges
  6. Photos, videos, audio cannot be recreated

Folder structure

Provider

Existing digital

 

Google Roundup to NAS
Account Service Content Size Date found Status NAS folder Notes
Goodwill              
ajhfinance27              
amyatdrdukehealth              
amyatgtm              
amybrannon2011              
amyatgw              
howardamyjo              
paperlesspontevedra              
voiceoflincolnville              
Wordpress              
paperlesspontevedra              
howardamyjo              
whothehellknows              
  1. UF
    1. Stetson
    2. Santo Domingo
  2. SPVCA archives
  3. GTM
    1. Z-drive
    2. CDs
    3. Scanned binders
  4. Academia
  5. PARES
  6. Internet Archive

Incoming digital

  1. Emails
  2. Photos & video
  3. Articles
  4. Books
  5. Audio recordings

Data retention policy

For each item, answer these questions:

  1. Want text in database?
    1. Give reason
  2. Need copy for evidence?
    1. Give examples
  3. Need copy for future use?
    1. Give examples

Current obstacles 

  1. SSD is full when I try to store something.
  2. It takes too long to upload high volumes to AWS.

Current task

  1. Clear SSD 4TB: upload GTM to deep archive.

End use scenario

  1. Search database (ex. need photo of Yaupon holly) 
  2. Search single storage location
  3. Clear out email and paid storage
  4. See all assets in one place

Assets

  1. Media - personal 
  2. Media - PPV
  3. Documents - personal 
  4. Documents - PPV
  5. WIP

Containers

  1. AWS Deep Archive 
  2. AWS Glacier
  3. Microsoft OneDrive 
  4. SSD
  5. Spectre

 

 Arrangement
Asset Low-res Hi-res
Media- personal SSD Deep
Media-PPV SSD Deep
Documents- personal SSD

Deep
Documents- PPV SSD 2TB Deep
SPVCA shared OneDrive Deep
GTM SSD 4TB Deep
WIP Spectre  

Risks

  1. Hard drive damage
  2. Hard drive loss
  3. Accidental delete
  4. Cloud payment lapse
  5. Cloud charges extreme 

Needs

  1. Speed 
  2. Peace of mind - replication 
  3. Consistency 
  4. Simplicity 
  5. Offline access

Questions 

  1. What goes in Deep Archive? A: Backup of SSD
  2. How do you upload large volumes to Deep Archive?
  3. Should I store AVIFs at Hostinger?
  4. How do I track what has been put in deep archive?