Help designing backup system ...

[richardmclarke]

I've been using Macs for years and over the years things have changed, file sizes have got bigger etc etc and I now have a real mix of backup systems that are even backing up themselves! I'm not sure of the best way to do things nowadays so I'm wondering if someone can point me in the right direction and ideally have just 1 backup system!

I have my files (documents etc) (2gb)
Music (100gb) - don't even know why I have this as I have Apple music
Films (old ripped DVDs (2tb)
My home movies (200gb)
Photos (100gb)

At the moment
On my HDD
My files are in Dropbox
Desktop / downloads (and probably other things) in iCloud

Both these are backed up in Time Machine (so yes, I have dropbox backups backed up)

On 1 external HDD I have the large files - my Music, films, photos
And then I back up all these to a second HDD using Carbon Copy Cloner
The second HDD is also used as my Time Machine Disk

So I'm using Dropbox, iCloud, Time Machine and CCC

I have an M1 Mac Mini with a 256GB SSD

I also have a MacBook Air
I would like my files to be available on both machines and ideally on phones, iPads etc if needed (via download).
I don't need a cloud backup of the films, but ideally I would have a cloud backup of everything else.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[MacsolverUK]

Hi,

I have been using ChronoSync for many years as it can sync anything to anything and keeps older or deleted items in an archive. I keep the last 5 versions, handy for when I accidentally delete an element in a CAD project. You can take a backup disk from the originator Mac and plug it to another Mac and all your files will be in the same hierarchy and no software or procedures are needed to use your files. Two way syncs are possible.

I set the backups to run on an interval basis on internal disk, "back up on mounting" for external disks, and "when a server becomes available" for my backup server Mac running ChronoAgent (from the same company).

Great manual with many options, but the basic default settings will work for most. Good idea to exclude folders that you do not need to back up to save space.

The Best Mac Backup and Sync Software - ChronoSync | Econ Technologies

ChronoSync is a complete, all-in-one solution for file & folder synchronizations, incremental backups, bootable backups (a.k.a clones) and cloud storage. In use by thousands of photographers, video editors, filmmakers, musicians and other data professionals. No other app can compare!

www.econtechnologies.com

Regards

Nick