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Can somebody suggest a reliable backup software

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whokuni

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 6, 2015
51
8
Japan
Ive been using Time Machine for years now and have never had to use it, thank goodness. Recently, though, I decided that it might be a good idea to have a second option and I went for Acronis. However, the later has been dismal in its incremental backups. Failing on most occasions. Can anybody suggest a better option please. No worries, I will also keep my Time Machine strategy as well.

Thanking you
Whokuni
 
Carbon Copy Cloner. I have used its backups to restore entire disk images with perfect results - both when upgrading hard drives and when downgrading an OS update. The new 5th generation is the easiest clone App in the world to use and it is ready for both HFS+ and APFS. Automating backup tasks is a very simple process. I like Time Machine because it protects against certain types of corruption and file modification that a clone does not - but, if I have a usable clone, I strongly prefer using this over Time Machine when doing a restore.

I am guessing you are doing this already, but, if not, consider using two separate drives for your bootable clone and your Time Machine (and if you want protection against power-induced data loss, the clone should be physically disconnected from the computer and power outlet when not in use.) If you do use the same drive (which I would not advise), be sure you have partitioned it correctly so that the image and Time Machine files are on different volumes.
 
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ZapNZs said:
Carbon Copy Cloner. I have used its backups to restore entire disk images with perfect results - both when upgrading hard drives and when downgrading an OS update. The new 5th generation is the easiest clone App in the world to use and it is ready for both HFS+ and APFS. Automating backup tasks is a very simple process. I like Time Machine because it protects against certain types of corruption and file modification that a clone does not - but, if I have a usable clone, I strongly prefer using this over Time Machine when doing a restore.

I am guessing you are doing this already, but, if not, consider using two separate drives for your bootable clone and your Time Machine (and if you want protection against power-induced data loss, the clone should be physically disconnected from the computer and power outlet when not in use.) If you do use the same drive (which I would not advise), be sure you have partitioned it correctly so that the image and Time Machine files are on different volumes.
Click to expand...
[doublepost=1504958712][/doublepost]Thank you for your advice. Anything has to be better than the Acronis which I'm using at the moment. I will definitely give Carbon Copy Clonder a go.

Thanks again
 
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I've used SuperDuper for several years and it has worked perfectly for incremental backups for me. It is very similar to Carbon Copy Cloner, which is also a good product. The nice thing about both of these products is they create a boot disk and they are a straight clone of your HD, no compression. The downside of that is you need more room for your backup. The upside is there is no need to have software running that will decompress files before reloading them. In the past, I've used various products that do this compression. If your lucky, it fails when writing. If your unlucky, it fails at decompression when you need it most.
 
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I agree CCC and SuperDuper are recommended everywhere and seem to be the best ones. I tested both and liked them, but Time Machine (what is turned off at the moment because I don't need it) and offloading things to some clouds is enough for my unimportant data and settings.

Edit: Also everything what is important is stored in 1Password too.
 
I needed my TimeMachine backup twice in the past, and it failed both times.
Started using Chronosync and never looked back, great software and great support.
 
Another thumb's up for CCC. Just purchased the 5th Generation upgrade and didn't mind a bit. It has literally saved my bacon on a couple of occasions. Good stuff.
 
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My personal strategy for my home stuff is to keep a local Time Machine drive running for continuous backups, and then a once-monthly Carbon Copy Cloner backup that I keep locked in my office so it's not at home.

So I've got quick, local recovery for the accidentally deleted file or whatever... and in a worst-case scenario where I lose my iMac and Time Machine drive (fire, flood, theft), I've got that offsite backup to rebuild from. Anything important created or modified after my last offsite backup can be found in Dropbox or iCloud.
[doublepost=1504985879][/doublepost]
GerritV said:
I needed my TimeMachine backup twice in the past, and it failed both times.
Started using Chronosync and never looked back, great software and great support.
Click to expand...

I've used Time Machine to restore individual files on many occasions and not run into any significant issues. I used it last month to roll my whole Macbook Air from a very rough High Sierra beta and didn't run into any issues with that either.

That said, yeah, always wise to not keep all one's eggs in a single basket.
 
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Another vote for Carbon Copy Cloner. It is a great thing that it can make bootable backups: when you main drive failes, just boot from your backup and you are up and running again (of course one should replace the defective main drive as soon as possible).
 
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All of the following for a robust backup strategy:

1) CCC or SuperDuper! for producing bootable Images to external drives (prior to any major OS update)
2) TimeMachine for continuous local backups/versioning
3) BackBlaze for continuous off-site backups
 
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Mic J : The downside of that is you need more room for your backup.
Click to expand...
I make my SD! backups on 64Gb USB sticks excluding my invariant archives,
which I copied on a large hard disk.
So, that downside is not as down as it seems.
;JOOP!
 
Always make a backup of the backup. If you don't, you could be in trouble one day.

My current backup strategy is the following...
1) BackBlaze continuous - Backs up the internal iMac 1TB SSD drive, as well as the attached external drives.
2) Time Machine continuous - I have a WD My Passport 4 TB drive connected to the back of an Airport Extreme.
3) Carbon Copy Cloner daily - I have another WD My Passport 4 TB drive connected to the iMac
4) I also have a few additional WD My Passport 4 TB drives that I have some files backed up to
 
Another Chronosync user and love it.

Also have used TM for backups and have restored multiple times to different computers as needed. Never failed me. The drawback for TM is it is tied to a single system. Unless a full restore is done, it is not possible to restore files from system A onto System B. That is why the 2nd option is a good thing to have.
 
One vote for Arq Backup. I back up files to both local and cloud spaces using Arq, and also use a local WD easystore (8TB WD Red HD) attached to my Synology router. I'm covered.
 
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superscape said:
+1 vote for Carbon Copy Cloner.

However, I've read a little about CloudBerry Backup* and it sounds interesting (www.cloudberrylab.com). I don't know anyone who's used it in real life though.

Has anyone had a go with it? If so, what do you think?
Click to expand...
CloudBerry started life as a Windows utility, and though they've ported it to OS X, the Mac version is missing some important features (such as server-side encryption with private keys, or SSE-C) and seems "dumbed down" overall compared with the very-capable Windows version. The dealbreaker for me, however, is that they set arbitrary limits of 1tb of backup and the ability to backup just one network share. This seems bizarre (since they don't provide the storage), until you realize that to remove these restrictions, they want you to upgrade to their $300(!) "Ultimate" version. This is of course preposterous for a home user. You can get them to increase the terabyte limit by applying for an upgrade--I inquired about this and they offered to "upgrade" me to 5tb for free if I would write a review of the software on a certain website. Their approach leaves a very bad taste in my mouth, so I've elected to go with Arq backing up to BackBlaze B2.
 
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IHelpId10t5 said:
All of the following for a robust backup strategy:

1) CCC or SuperDuper! for producing bootable Images to external drives (prior to any major OS update)
2) TimeMachine for continuous local backups/versioning
3) BackBlaze for continuous off-site backups
Click to expand...
You've got it nailed!!! I've got three of the externals in addition to my Time Capsule and Cloud, with two of those externals kept off-site, which I update on a rotating basis, mainly because I've had a problem with corrupted files once in the past.

Two words, redundancy, redundancy..... :):)
 
macs4nw said:
You've got it nailed!!! I've got three of the externals in addition to my Time Capsule and Cloud, with two of those externals kept off-site, which I update on a rotating basis, mainly because I've had a problem with corrupted files once in the past.

Two words, redundancy, redundancy..... :):)
Click to expand...

I agree completely. Redundancy in storage devices, in backup media types, and in backup storage locations is critical. I still hate to hear the sob stories when a client brings their home computer to me with a with failed drive. I guess the more data loss you see over a career makes you realize just how common it is and how easy it is to prevent.

And, for all of you that think that off-site backup is overkill for home computers, just ask someone you know that was just affected by Hurricane Harvey or Irma if they think it would have been useful.
 
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