All iPads Going Mac-less? If so: backup strategy?

[gecko579]

Long time Mac user (starting w/ PB145 and now with 2103 iMac 27” which we’re using less and less) considering NOT getting a replacement for the iMac when the new larger iMac M1s (or M2’s, or whatever) come out this year and sticking to iPad/iPhone given our mostly consumer use patterns. We use Apple Music, iCloud photo library, iCloud documents and the 200GB storage plan is fine for all that Data. Anyone have experience with this use case

My main question concerns how to consolidate and maintain my 3:2:1 backup strategy for the photos, documents and the 300GB or so MPEG home movies we have on multiple HDD’s (basically our Mac backups from over the years) if we are only using iOS/Devices? I’m thinking NAS (eg Synology DS) might be a good choice as they have a photos solution, but can they be administered solely from iOS? If so I assume it would be best to establish the NAS with the iMac before it shuffles off its (non) mortal coils?

Interested in all thoughts and suggestions as to why this is or is not a workable approach. If not, I guess I’d just get a MBA but hoping we can “right size” at this point. Thanks!

 

[chabig]

With 300GB of videos on a NAS, you have to keep a Mac I think. The M1 Mac mini is a great headless server for exactly this use. That's how I do it.

 

[gecko579]

Thanks chabig. So, too large a video library to use a NAS instance of PLEX? Just curious what about the size is prohibitive (aside from not being willing to upload to iCloud even if it did preserve date/event format)?

 

[chabig]

I just know that 300GB is too much for iCloud. I don't have experience with using a NAS to serve video to iPhones and iPads. It might work well. Let's see if others have experience.

 

[Fravin]

My main question concerns how to consolidate and maintain my 3:2:1 backup strategy for the photos, documents and the 300GB or so MPEG home movies we have on multiple HDD’s (basically our Mac backups from over the years) if we are only using iOS/Devices? I’m thinking NAS (eg Synology DS) might be a good choice as they have a photos solution, but can they be administered solely from iOS?

Yes, you can manage the icloud content without a Mac. Actually, iOS is build around icloud and the integration between services will be great.

But, icloud servers are known to have slow upload/download speeds. And it’s not the best value out there. Dropbox and OneDrive are both good options to icloud. Both of them can be managed with iOS devices and are faster than Apple’s solution.

If you have a Microsoft Office subscription it you already have a 1Tb OneDrive plan.

I use iCloud for pictures only. It handles all my pictures taken with iOS devices.

I don’t use it for documents and pictures taken with my camera. For that I use OneDrive. It’s faster to download and the integration with Adobe’s apps is better. Off course, Microsoft’s Office Apps works great with it.

DropBox is my choice to handle videos and footage. I use it with larger files, which makes its way better in DropBox.


I would suggest you OneDrive to handle your MPEG movies and iCloud to keep pictures safe and synced across devices.

You are able to play movies directly from OneDrive with VLC. ?

 

[Fravin]

Thanks chabig. So, too large a video library to use a NAS instance of PLEX? Just curious what about the size is prohibitive (aside from not being willing to upload to iCloud even if it did preserve date/event format)?

OneDrive is great to storage pictures and it has a good App that synchs all your stuff across devices. And it don’t “organize” your pictures in events ?

Tare a look: OneDrive Photo Storage

 

[gecko579]

Thanks for the great info and advice Fravin.

I just found this forum thread as well which (with yours and chabig’s info) helps me understand the headless server vs NAS questions a bit better:

NAS vs. Mac server: Functionality test/differences

Hello! What are the benefits and differences between using a NAS vs. a Mac server? I was recently listening to Todd Olthoff and the MPU podcast where they talk about NAS and a Mac server, and much of what they described was similar. What the benefits of each, which one did you opt for and why?

forums.macrumors.com

 

[rulymammoth]

I too advocate using a Mac Mini. Much more user friendly than a NAS setup and you have so many more options at your disposal. I use a combination of Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner, and Backblaze for my backups. Overkill? Yes. But when it comes to data, I prefer being safe rather than sorry.

 

[QuietGamer]

I use 2 Syno NAS for storage. One on the local network (720+, 12TBx2) and a 220+, 12TBx1 off site to back up the 720+. You manage the NAS thru the browser (safari) including setup. Syno has Apps for video playback, photo Managment. Channels, Plex and a few others are options for video service. I use Channels. As far as the 3-2-1 strategy one being iCloud, 2 - local NAS, 3- off site NAS. I highly recommend checking out NAS compares on YouTube as part of your journey into the NAS world. https://nascompares.com/ https://getchannels.com/

 

[Dfds]

Another vote for a Synology NAS, I have 2 & although I have a Mac mini I usually manage them through my iPad Pro. The Synology photos app is very good although I believe it has changed in DSM 7 (Synology’s OS), I haven’t tried the new version as I’m still on DSM 6.

 

[Zazoh]

If only iCloud Web would let you create multiple libraries like the MAC does then you periodically create a new library and store the other as an archive at another location.

 

[flobach]

Which route did you end up taking? I would like to go iOS only as well, would be interested.

I am trying to backup my iCloud photos to OneDrive, but am unsure how to easily and regularly copy files from iCloud to OneDrive.

I also use Notes and Contacts in iCloud, not sure how to get them backed up on another drive/cloud….

 

[darngooddesign]

Why not just keep your iMac to manage backups and the odd computer task.

There is a corruption bug when copying large files from iPads to non-FAT drives so that may cause an issue with videos.

 

[Fravin]

I am trying to backup my iCloud photos to OneDrive, but am unsure how to easily and regularly copy files from iCloud to OneDrive.

May I ask why would you want to do that?

iCloud works effortless with iOS...

 

[elvisimprsntr]

If you are DIY inclined and have an old x86_64 machine, take a look at enterprise class open source NAS software from

TrueNAS - Welcome to the Open Source Storage Era

TrueNAS is the World's #1 Open Source Storage. Based on OpenZFS, it is trusted by millions and deployed worldwide.

www.TrueNAS.com

 

[flobach]

May I ask why would you want to do that?

iCloud works effortless with iOS...

As an iOS only backup strategy. I have decided to keep my Mac mini as a backup device. I don’t use it day to day, but it’s on 24/7 and does Time Machine Backups of all the data I have. Set and forget.