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Yuzu

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 28, 2021
14
0
Due to lack of space on my MacBook 500GB HD i store all of my photos in iCloud only (using the 'Optimise Mac Storage' option in Photos preferences).

I'd like to find a way to back up my photos on a physical device too and i'm thinking about moving my Photo Library to an external HD following this guide: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201517

I currently have an external LaCie 5 TB Mini USB 3.0 hard-drive connected to my MacBook that i use to archive work projects.
In turn this hard-drive (along with my MacBook HD) is backed up to a Backblaze cloud storage account.

What i'm thinking is to allocate 3TB of the LaCie HD to work projects and 2TB to Photo Library with the hope that all my original photo files would then be backed up to Backblaze along with my work project archive and MacBook HD. Meaning my photos would be stored on iCloud, backed up on an external HD and backed up once more on Backblaze.

A few questions...

1. Would this set-up work?

2. Currently iCloud Photo preferences only gives me the option to 'Download Originals to this Mac' (where as mentioned i don't have enough space) where i'd be looking for an option that says something like 'Download Originals to a designated HD'. How can i move my iCloud photo library to an external HD and ensure high-res original photos and videos are being automatically downloaded to an external HD and not my Mac?

3. My wife and I keep a shared iCloud album of family photos we take. Will original copies of photos she's taken also be downloaded to my HD or am i only able to view photos someone else took in a shared album (as opposed to obtaining the original file)?

Thanks.
 
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