“Put me on record as a Mac user who does not like Time Machine. It’s part of my backup plan, yes, but it’s an add-on, not the main backup,” Dave Farrington writes for NoodleMac. “Apple’s Time Machine app does two things to help Mac users backup files in case of drive failure or a stolen Mac. But Time Machine only does one thing well, and even that can be improved to help Mac users overcome a catastrophic failure.”
“Time Machine backups up files from your Mac to an external disk drive. That’s good, and better than no backup at all. Time Machine also makes copies of files that get changed so you can back up in time, so to speak, and retrieve a file that’s been lost or deleted,” Farrington writes. “Of course, Time Machine can be used to restore a Mac’s disk drive, but don’t use it for that unless you’re a glutton for punishment and have the time to wait. SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner are better solutions to get your Mac up and running quickly.”
“What Time Machine is missing is what you find in a highly recommended offsite and online Mac backup utility known as Arq,” Farrington writes. “Think of Arq as Time Machine without the external disk, which, like your Mac, is subject to disaster, theft, or failure. Instead, Arq backs up your Mac’s files to remote servers online, such as Amazon’s popular and affordable S3 service.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As always: Backup, backup, backup, and then backup again!
SEE ALSO:
How to set up a redundant backup system for your Mac – March 29, 2016
How to centralize your Time Machine backups – September 18, 2015
How to configure a cheap, secure RAID backup system for your Mac – July 22, 2015
Cloud based…uhhh nope.
Yes, some people just need their tape drives for backup. Not many are insisting on punch cards these days though. Progress marches on.
Hey, I still have punched tape.
I believe you mean: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punched_card
No, look up Teletype Machine.
Understood, but (and I might be wrong) isn’t Teletype paper only good for output? For some reason I thought punched card readers were the earliest input storage device.
Nope! I used to use teletype and it’s tape to boot load code into a development system. I would keep those tapes safe.
Thinking about buying an LTO 6 or 7 tape backup drive, but it ain’t cheap. Tapes last 30 years.
The problems with cloud-based backups are security and restoration time.
You would think an online storage system would hire the top security specialists on day one to plan their system.
But, as noted on Fox, “Four years after a data breach at cloud storage service Dropbox, details of more than 68 million user accounts have reportedly been leaked.”
Yup, I don’t trust the Cloud and never will.
Cloud based backup should be PART of a safe backup strategy, but it not practical for most people as the primary.
No, clouds aren’t necessary. They are an expensive option for people who don’t know how to set up their own servers.
ANY offsite backup should be part of someone’s backup plan. Whether you physically carry your backups somewhere else, or you backup to the “cloud”.
The “cloud” is much, much more convenient and therefor, more expensive, as you say. Any document I create or update is automatically sent to iCloud and is available on all my devices.
Time machine worked for me always. Now this doofus wants me to use cloud backup? With Amazon? Like that’s going to happen.
I don’t understand his problems with Time Machine. I’ve made complete restores from Time Machine several times with no problems whatsoever.
Indeed, I find it very simple and easy. It also restores everything. Not sure what his issues are.
The first time Time Machine chokes, or takes a day to restore, you understand why stand-alone clones are invaluable.
CCC or SuperDuper rule in an absolute Safety System.
Use both.
Totally agree. On the older pre-2013 Mac Pros, it was the easiest thing in the world to use Time Machine on a dedicated internal drive and then run CCC to a remote drive weekly. CCC is worth every penny.
Time Machine has been a bit flaky in the past — it does pay off to flatten the TM drive and run a clean TM backup once in a while.
Apple will have their own cloudbased time capsule… seens that is where they are trying to push things…
but i want local backups like i have right now .. Airport+Time Capsule …. updated with new goodies .
fyi, iCloud is all hosted on Amazon.
ok… but time Capsule is not yet implemented in the cloud.
It is not hosted on Amazon. It is hosted on Apple’s servers using AWS. However, Apple is currently working to replace AWS with their own server software.
I use Time Machine and SuperDuper! for local backups, and CrashPlan for offsite. I feel pretty safe. Nothing is foolproof, but this is the best I’ve found.
Arg looks interesting as an alternative to CrashPlan, but at $5 per month, I’m not really sure I can beat that in terms of cost and ease of use.
I’m very interested in what other MDN readers use and how they like it.
I use Time Machine for local, and Arq+Google Nearline for cloud. Arq is phenomenal. Easy to use, encrypts client-side before uploading, and hooks into many cloud-based storage sites with simple directions. Set it and forget it.
It’s an upfront charge for the software, but Stefan (owner) is great with updates.
(In terms of Google Nearline, some folk think that’s overkill for Joe Consumer, and is more geared towards business. But I challenge that, as I use it solely for “cold storage” with no intention of retrieving unless catastrophic disaster strikes. Plus it’s fast upload and only $0.01 / GB. The only time I ever think about this cloud-based strategy is when I see my monthly bill of ~$1.75)
Cheers.
Sounds very interesting. I’ll have to look into that as an alternative. I’m not wedded to CrashPlan, but I am wedded to an offsite solution. When my hard drive with about 40,000 photos went down last year, my Time Machine Disk failed the same day. When I tried to restore from SuperDuper, that disk failed as well. Unbelievable and probably will never happen again, but I’m doing everything I can to try an prevent another major loss of almost irreplacable data.
If I lost 40K in photos, I’d lose my sh*t.
Like you, I am also wedded to an offsite solution. Not sure why folk on this site have such disdain for them. I found one I am comfortable with and trust, and pay just less than $20/year. And there are plenty of competing options out there where you can try before you buy. No brainer, IMHO.
Best.
That sounds more like you had corruption preventing restore. You might still get the pictures by copying back manually.
That’s what RAID is for. RAID – Redundant Array of Independent Disks.
So, give your backups to someone else. Riiiiight.
A VERY good home safe and external hard drive. Done, IF you backup and store drive in safe.
That’s my solution.
One word: Vembu.
Cloud = NO WAY. I never use the “cloud”. DUMB idea IMHO.
At the rate Pipeline Tim and fat Eddy are cutting products we will soon discuss what other phones we should use. http://www.businessinsider.com/apples-eddy-cue-blew-tv-deals-2016-7
Its just someone elses computer.
Maybe Tim will kill all products off except for the 3 year cadence iPhone
Backup? What’s a backup? People still do that for their clients? Sheesh. A backup is out of date the second it finishes. Cloud-based sync is not the future, it’s the present. People need to get over avoiding the cloud and get with the 21st century.
You can set the drive to be encrypted with Time Machine, and God forbid your network connection goes down when an important recovery needs to be made. iCloud is secondary for a local onsite primary.
Got a USB connected device that allows me to connect laptop and desktop HDs. I have my computers data files backed up on a drive and also have a clean drive (no user files, just the current version of the OS) on another drive. Plug them in and let the software do the selected backups, unplug them and safely store them. If something happens to either I can plug them in and keep on going
All long term storage data – photos, important documents, password archive and such is backed up to DVD and sitting in a safe offsite storage. Tornados, Fires, earthquakes, floods and such can happen. I, as much as possible, keep records and documents in digital format. This is a much easier way to handle stuff, but you have to have an consistent backup.
My MacBook Pro, which I rarely use at home, is essentially a backup Mac in case of catastrophe. When I leave the Laptop comes with me, but at home I much prefer a desktop.
There is no way in hell my passwords, my banking, my investments, professional records and files, etc are going online. If you use a PW manager and use cloud backups 1 hack could get you seriously owned.
I use Time Machine to backup my Documents folder – the ability to restore to previous versions cannot be understated. That same Documents folder is also stored on iCloud using its “Desktop & Documents Folders” feature. So I have all basis covered; local backup and offsite backup.
My iTunes library is stored on an external HD (too big for internal HD) and is backed up onto the same RAID as my Time Machine backup using Carbon Copy Cloner.
1 TB costs $40 a month. If I were to back up all my media that would be $200 a month.
Instead I use a drobo. Works well and solves the issue of losing data when drives fail.
I’ve been backing up to dual backups for years. One is a desktop direct-mounted ThunderBolt drive, the other a NAS. But what’s worried me is the problem of Fire/Theft since both drives are in my house.
I just added “cloud” backup today because of this article. I purchased lifetime Arq, and set up my most irreplaceable files to backup to DropBox (which I already have been using for work for years).
I’ve always shied from cloud backup because of the security issues, but the fact that Arq encrypts the files before they leave my computer solves that issue.
In addition to Drobodrives,I’ve been using Arq/S3 for about 25 machines since 2011, without even a minor hiccup, and I can highly recommend it for anyone looking into reliable cloud backups. I doubt however that S3 (or Glacier) caters to the typical TimeMachine crowd.
Time Machine has saved my butt more times than I can count on two hands… and paying $50 for a cloud backup solution when most have them have been hacked? GTFOH (get the **** out here!). Either when upgrading to an SSD or restoring old software when new versions were bugged out especially Adobe CC Apps, I’ve always smiled when Time Machine brought me back home safe & sound. With an internal SSD restoring from a complete backup from a USB 3 external drive only took a couple hours.. 3 at the most.. for ~220GB out of 500GB. I’d pay $50 for Time Machine before I’d pay a dime for Arq. Someone is getting compensated to write glowing reviews for Arq me thinks. I do a lot tinkering too with Terminal and have made some glaring mistakes that Time Machine rescued me from. Also, Windows users I’ve showed Time Machine to also drool when I show them what you can do so effortlessly and easily… it’s like a box a Mac & Cheese… bada bing, bada boom… done.