Future of Checksums, Folder Rules, and Backups: Moving Away from Local?

Hey everyone,

I’m Darius, Best Boy Electric, usually wrangling cables and lights like the SkyPanel X or our M18s. But lately, I've been spending more time helping out with data wrangling on a couple of smaller shoots, think indie stuff where I'm juggling drives from a V-RAPTOR XL and an AMIRA. It's got me thinking about our data management habits.

We're still doing the usual checksums, following strict folder structures, and keeping multiple local copies. It’s tried and true, but it feels like tech is moving so fast. We're getting faster internet speeds on set, AI tools for cataloging are popping up, and cloud storage options just keep getting better. I’m wondering, how do you all see these advancements impacting our approach to checksums, folder rules, and our overall backup strategies in the next 3-5 years? Are we slowly but surely moving away from needing local backups for everything, or will that always be the gold standard?