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Online backup recommendations

S

subjonas

macrumors 604
Original poster
Feb 10, 2014
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I was surprised to find the last thread about online backup recommendations was almost 10 years ago, so I’m starting a new one.

I’m setting up a new Mac (m1 mini) for my parents and although I set up a time machine drive, it occurred to me they also need a simple hands off online backup service. I can’t believe Apple doesn’t have such a service by the way. Any recommendations? Most popular seems to be Backblaze.

As far as my parents go, they have pretty modest storage needs. I think their whole computer takes up less that 30 GB. Versioning is a bonus, not necessary for them, since they also have a time machine drive. Main things are ease (hands off) and dependability, and second is competitive pricing.

Much appreciated!
 
iCloud.
There are positives to be spoken for other options but in the relatively likely case your parents aren't technically inclined whatsoever, simplicity is prime.
 
ecatomb said:
iCloud : but it's without versioning
Click to expand...
One2Grift said:
iCloud.
There are positives to be spoken for other options but in the relatively likely case your parents aren't technically inclined whatsoever, simplicity is prime.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the responses! I thought iCloud only synced certain apps and folders on Macs, not really a backup. I think it should be a full backup because I would want the restore process to be as easy as possible too. If my parents had to restore their computer from iCloud after theft or disaster, how simple would it be to get a new Mac up and running with all their files, apps, and settings?
 
iCloud is useful for syncing and to allow restore files for replacement or new devices, and offers some protection, but is not really a backup.

For me, to cover possible need for a compete reinstall, I use local backup app such as Carbon Copy Cloner. For online backup, just let it run invisibly in background (after initial long backup), I have recently subscribed to Arq Premium, and am very happy with it.
 
For online backup, i use iCloud for some individual files for syncing across devices. For other backup, I use Arq Premium with Wasabi and OneDrive add-on options in Arq.

For the average user, Arq is much cheaper than Backblaze, in my opinion.
 
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The cheapest (and best) online option is amazon s3 & rclone (has versioning), will take some knowledge and time to setup but overall best solution
 
I'm using Arq to backup to BackBlaze B2 servers. It is REALLY cheap. I have about 45GB up there and it costs me around 60 cents a month.

forums.macrumors.com

Arq

Hello MacRumors Community, Note: I would post this thread in Mac Apps and Mac App Store, but I feel as if those members here in the Mac Basics and Help would be of more help in this topic. Since I do not have an online backup solution, I began searching. I found a provider called Arq...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com

There is a long and active there here with a lot of Arq users that might be helpful to you.

Cloud backup software for Mac and Windows : Arq

www.arqbackup.com www.arqbackup.com

www.backblaze.com

Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage

High performance cloud storage at a fraction of the price.
www.backblaze.com
 
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I just left Dropbox after a decade for Icloud. I also use Time Machine, and I consider this safe enough for me. My data is on at least four different places at any given time.

I also have my pictures stored on a separate disk - my photos are the only thing I would be really sad to lose, but still, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

But the risk is low, at least compared with how it used to be, all memories stored in one single photo album. Maybe, just maybe the negatives were stored somewhere else. But usually in a fire or flood, all was lost.

It's a different world today, with data/memories backed up, and yet we are even more worried about losing 100.000 random unsorted images of our lives, images that most of us never will have the patience to sift through.

If your life ends if you lose your data, back up as if you were a bank. If not - use some common sense.
 
Thanks for the recommendations, all. For my parents, turns out their needs are even more basic than I thought, so iCloud sync of their desktop and documents folder will be enough for now as far as online redundancy (still have full local time machine backups). They have a very modest amount of files and basically only use safari and photos.
The other recommendations are good to know though. Right now I keep on-site and offsite time machine drives and rotate between them, but I might switch to online backup at some point. Also these recommendations will be nice to pass on to others.
 
For on site backups I use TimeMachine and Carbon Copy Cloner to different disks, while for off site backups I have been using Backblaze for a couple of years and I like it. It's fast and I have been to reliably restore stuff a few times.

Before Backblaze I actually used Crashplan for years and that is a very solid and reliable product too, but backups are much slower than with Backblaze and it now costs twice as much IIRC. Crashplan allows you to also have a copy of your backup on a local disk for faster restores, and even when you restore from the cloud backup it restores files directly. Backblaze is only online backup instead (which is why I use TimeMachine/CCC locally) and when you restore you need to download zip archives with your files, or if it's a lot of data request that a drive with the data be delivered to you.

Generally speaking I recommend Backblaze for online backups. It's cheap and very reliable.
But I also prefer having local backups for faster restores in most cases, and use Backblaze as a last resort when needed.
 
I have been using two cloud backups for a couple of years now: Arq+Backblaze with storage on the west coast (USA) and Arq+Amazon Glacier with storage on the east cost (USA).
 
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