Should I Backup My Files To A Cloud?: Motoring Computer Related forum

Computer Related > Should I Backup My Files To A Cloud?	Computing Issues
Thread Author: Duncan	Replies: 13

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Sun 28 Jan 18 12:21

Should I Backup My Files To A Cloud? - Duncan

Should I backup my files?

To a Cloud?

If so, which one?

Is it easy to do?

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Sun 28 Jan 18 12:43

Should I Backup My Files To A Cloud? - Zero

>> Should I backup my files?
Yes
>> To a Cloud?
No
>> If so, which one?
N/A
>> Is it easy to do?
Yes
v
v
v
v>>>>> . To an external hard drive you have purchased.

Cloud has its uses, primarily for files you might want to access while traveling. But for back up, keep it at home, and be selective about what you backup.

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Sun 28 Jan 18 13:28

Should I Backup My Files To A Cloud? - Focal Point

I use an external hard disk and back up photos and other important data (musical scores etc.) every evening if I've been working on anything.

I read somewhere that you shouldn't leave your back-up device permanently connected, in case something nasty gets on to it.

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Sun 28 Jan 18 17:34

Should I Backup My Files To A Cloud? - rtj70

>> But for back up, keep it at home, and be selective about what you backup.

And consider storing the important files backed up somewhere other than home.

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Sun 28 Jan 18 19:30

Should I Backup My Files To A Cloud? - Dulwich Estate II

Someone I know backs up to DVDs and stores them in a tin in his shed. Possibly a step too far - I don't know.

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Sun 28 Jan 18 19:38

Should I Backup My Files To A Cloud? - Zero

He might as well be backing up his data in the waste bin. DVDs in a shed is a very bad idea indeed.

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Sun 28 Jan 18 19:54

Should I Backup My Files To A Cloud? - Haywain

"I use an external hard disk and back up photos and other important data (musical scores etc.) every evening if I've been working on anything.

I read somewhere that you shouldn't leave your back-up device permanently connected, in case something nasty gets on to it."

I use two expansion drives - two because I've had one fail in the past and I didn't want to be left without a back-up. I alternate backups between the pair of them using the time-machine facility on the Mac.

My son, a graphic designer and artist, put me onto using two external expansion drives for back-ups. He also put me on to the idea of not leaving them permanently connected, hence I plug the drives in for alternating back-ups. How often you do this probably depends on how much work you've done and how important it is to you.

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Mon 29 Jan 18 11:05

Should I Backup My Files To A Cloud? - movilogo

Put your data in 3 broad logical buckets first.

Type 1: Personal Data which you don't need to update e.g. photos, videos, music etc.

Type 2: Personal Documents you frequently work with/update.

Type 3: professional data

For most people, type 1 data could be 50-100 GB while type 2 likely to be only few GBs (below 5 GB). Bit of generalization but overall true.

For type 2, you can use free cloud providers like Dropbox, OneDrive etc.

For type 1, your data likely to fit in space provided by free services. So, having external hard disks recommended.

You can run your own cloud service via NAS drives.

Type 3 is professional type of data which depends entirely on your profession which you like to keep a personal copy to yourself (sometimes it may violate employement law). Use your own judgetment of how you want to store this data.

NB: The categories are made up by me to illustrate options.

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Mon 29 Jan 18 11:19

Should I Backup My Files To A Cloud? - DP

Most of my stuff sits on a dual drive RAID1 NAS on my home network. 1.3 TB of it currently, almost all of which could be binned tomorrow without any real loss. Exceptions are photos, which are also backed up on to Google Photos, and home video which I also have backed up on a couple of external drives.

I reckon I could format that NAS and it would be months, if not years, before I missed anything. The problem with cheap, reliable storage is that data proliferates, often completely unnecessarily.

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Mon 29 Jan 18 17:14

Should I Backup My Files To A Cloud? - Duncan

>> Type 1: Personal Data which you don't need to update e.g. photos, videos, music etc.
>>
>> Type 2: Personal Documents you frequently work with/update.
>>
>> Type 3: professional data
>>
>> For most people, type 1 data could be 50-100 GB while type 2 likely to
>> be only few GBs (below 5 GB). Bit of generalization but overall true.
>>
>> For type 2, you can use free cloud providers like Dropbox, OneDrive etc.
>>
>> For type 1, your data likely to fit in space provided by free services. So,
>> having external hard disks recommended.

Thank you all for your replies.

To respond to movilogo:-

Type 1. I have a limited amount of personal data.

Type 2. Could you give me an e.g. please?

Type 3. I have been retired for several years. Any professional data is now time lapsed, or about to be.

Quote:- "For type 1, your data likely to fit in space provided by free services".

Should I assume you meant to type 'unlikely'?

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Mon 29 Jan 18 17:26

Should I Backup My Files To A Cloud? - rtj70

I periodically (when I remember) sync most of the folders on the Mac with a folder on the NAS which is a mirrored RAID volume. I also occasionally sync the RAID with an external USB drive I keep in a fire safe.

Personal documents don't amount to too much. Photos are the bulk of the storage and having that all local would be bad if something happened. So I do actually automatically sync a copy of what I deem important to paid "cheap" cloud storage.

Used to use Amazon's Glacier (which is not online) but switched to Google because they were just as cheap but not all the downsides. If use an application called Arq to copy/sync the data (and restore if needed).

Even without sorting out all the crap photos, so there's ~100GB and it's about $1 a month.

Last edited by: rtj70 on Mon 29 Jan 18 at 17:27

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Mon 29 Jan 18 17:35

Should I Backup My Files To A Cloud? - rtj70

I also have TimeMachine backups setup.

Not sure swapping drives is the most efficient solution for that. It keeps track of multiple copies of the same files so you can go 'back in time' so to speak to find an older version not just a backup.

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Mon 29 Jan 18 18:37

Should I Backup My Files To A Cloud? - Haywain

"Not sure swapping drives is the most efficient solution for that. It keeps track of multiple copies of the same files so you can go 'back in time' so to speak to find an older version not just a backup."

I agree with you - I used to have one drive permanently plugged into the Mac, operating Time Machine. Then, one day, that drive failed - hence the desire (rightly or wrongly) to use two drives. It was shortly after that drive failed that I replaced it with the brace of drives. My son, who is a rip-roaring pessimist, persuaded me that keeping something permanently plugged in might prove disastrous if something particularly nasty came down the wire. I really would like to know the best way round it all.

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Tue 30 Jan 18 14:05

Should I Backup My Files To A Cloud? - movilogo

>> Should I assume you meant to type 'unlikely'?

Yes :-)

Dropbox is very good for free use as long as your file size is less than free tier - 2 GB I think.

Last edited by: movilogo on Tue 30 Jan 18 at 14:06

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