This problem pertains to archiving of digital pictures taken from multiple cameras.

Answers here covered the general topic of the-mechanics-of-backups:

How do you archive digital photos and videos ?

I however face another problem.

Having multiple cameras (canon) and multiple SD cards (mixed and matched at random), I have found that different SD cards have different photos with the same file name, i.e. two different photos each name IMG_3141.JPG.

Additionally, for better or worse, I've backed up the files to multiple places and need to consolidate my backups. I want to eliminate duplicates, but not clobber files.

The only way I can think of is to append the code (md5 or sha1) to the file name, i.e. IMG_3141.JPG becomes IMG_3141_KT229QZ31415926ASDF.JPG, then sorting them out

Any better ways?

(Note "open letter" address the 'duplicate file name' concern): http://photofocus.com/2010/09/13/an-open-letter-to-digital-camera-manufacturers-regarding-camera-file-naming/ )