Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner? Hard Drive or Cloud Backup?

[MajorWebUser]

I've been using Macs since 1986 and Time Machine whenever it first came out. Time Machine has saved my bacon on three separate occasions when I experienced Mac drive failures. I just purchased a MacBook Pro M4 Pro w/ 2TB and an external dock with 4TB (dual monitors at my desk). I'm embarking on a new business and want to ensure my backups are solid. Hence my questions.

I have 1GB fiber optic service, so cloud backup is an option. While it provides secure off-site storage, a small voice in my head questions security. Time Machine is a nice 'set & forget' solution, but my understanding is that it has 'issues' as well. I haven't used Carbon Copy Cloner in years, but know it offers a solid solution. Of course, both TM & CCC would require an additional drive (RAID 1 or otherwise).

As I'm considered a geezer, this will likely be my last hurrah business-wise, so I'm looking for the best balance of simple, reliable, and affordable. All recommendations and suggestions are welcomed. — Thanks

 

[Bigwaff]

Time Machine for local backups and cloud backup service for offsite backup.

I alternate external USB HDD and Synology NAS for local TM backups. For offsite, I use Arq and back up to Office365 OneDrive.

Cloud backup software for Mac and Windows : Arq

www.arqbackup.com

 

[Rich B22]

I've been using Macs since 1986 and Time Machine whenever it first came out. Time Machine has saved my bacon on three separate occasions when I experienced Mac drive failures. I just purchased a MacBook Pro M4 Pro w/ 2TB and an external dock with 4TB (dual monitors at my desk). I'm embarking on a new business and want to ensure my backups are solid. Hence my questions.

I have 1GB fiber optic service, so cloud backup is an option. While it provides secure off-site storage, a small voice in my head questions security. Time Machine is a nice 'set & forget' solution, but my understanding is that it has 'issues' as well. I haven't used Carbon Copy Cloner in years, but know it offers a solid solution. Of course, both TM & CCC would require an additional drive (RAID 1 or otherwise).

As I'm considered a geezer, this will likely be my last hurrah business-wise, so I'm looking for the best balance of simple, reliable, and affordable. All recommendations and suggestions are welcomed. — Thanks

As one geezer to another, do all the backups that you can. Especially in a business, you cannot afford to lose any information. I am no longer in business, but have important documents, photos, music on my machine and would be heartbroken to lose them
While TM is a wonderful feature for restoring some files, it is not a full clone or backup of your disk. As I understand it, it is a series of snapshots, but I've not had success restoring a full disk with it and it is sometimes very stubborn in giving me back some files.. That said, I use a combination of TM, CCC and Backblaze. CCC in my opinion is bulletproof and their support is outstanding. Backblaze is Cloud storage and has a good reputation for security. If you can afford it, both technically and financially, I'd recommend you go for the Trifecta of backups.
Good luck in your endeavors.

 

[theluggage]

The correct answer is, of course, Time Machine (fire and forget for regular backups, convenient for accidentally deleted, overwritten, changed files) and Carbon Copy Cloner (full drive backups for disaster recovery, less to go wrong than TM) and cloud backup (or some other off-site solution). Plus a few discs of simple copies of archive stuff like photos and old projects. How much you skimp on that in reality is up to you…