pcarp

Q: what cloud back up services do you recommend for our new Mac?

What cloud back up services work best with an iMac?

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013), OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on Mar 12, 2014 7:29 PM

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Q: what cloud back up services do you recommend for our new Mac?

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  • by MichelPM,Helpful

    MichelPM MichelPM Mar 12, 2014 7:48 PM in response to pcarp
    Level 6 (14,172 points)
    iPad
    Mar 12, 2014 7:48 PM in response to pcarp

    I don't have a reccommendation as to what remote offsite storage service is best, but what I do know is that you should get a more robust local backup strategy.

    Either get one external hard drive or two, if you can afford it. If your iMac is new, I prefer Thunderbolt external drives over USB 3.0 drives, but that is my preference.

    The best method for backing up data, IMHO,  is to use data cloning software to make identical backups of your Macs's internal drive to the external drive/s.

    Data cloning apps like CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper make exact and bootable clones of your Mac's internal hard drive.

    You get the best of both worlds this way. You get a complete backup, plus you get a drive that you can boot to I the event something on your Macs hard drive goes wrong, bad or corrupted.

    You can boot your Mac to the external drive with working version of OS X that can be cloned back to the internal drive when something goes wrong, having your Mac back up and running within minutes.

  • by K Shaffer,Helpful

    K Shaffer K Shaffer Mar 12, 2014 8:05 PM in response to pcarp
    Level 6 (14,547 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 12, 2014 8:05 PM in response to pcarp

    Without a good first and second or third backup plan or regimen in place,

    before cloud backup, you still could lose most functional computer use.

     

    The internet cloud is OK if you can access it, quickly & efficiently.

    If you can count on that, then you are among a minority worldwide.

     

    •Back up Mac Hard drive...

    https://www.apple.com/support/backup/

     

    While the basics nearby are good, the off-site copy or cloud is a plus

    if you travel to & from an office, or several locations and need access

    to information, while knowing the primary devices and the media are

    also backed up in triplicate, across different media & devices.

     

    http://www.apple.com/support/icloud/backup/

     

    back-to-my-mac

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4908

     

    A quality externally enclosed hard disk drive setup for use with a

    full system clone, to boot & run a Mac from a copy, is a fine idea.

     

    {carbon copy cloner - bombich software? one of the better bets}

     

    So far, in my several years experience with computers, I'd rather have

    access to the backup hardware devices and perform manual ones, too

    than rely on some remote servers, over thousands of miles of distance.

    Helps to also have a backup computer, a duplicate to run the clone, etc.

     

    Perhaps someone will recommend one of the advertised carbonite or

    other brands, however I fail to be impressed by gadgets & gimmicks...

    Though some may be fun, I don't have time for fun or wasted expense.

     

    Some other users who contribute here may have fast internet access

    of a reliable nature, and have committed a larger portion of their digital

    live's work to the 'cloud' but from my experience, clouds are weather.

    You can dress for it, marginally predict it; & find a dry/warm place to wait.

     

    Good luck & happy computing!