IMRAN
Level 2 (488 points)
Notebooks

Q: Storing large sparseimage disk image on Microsoft OneDrive

Hello all. Happy Holidays.

 

Is anyone successfully storing Mac OS sparseimage (encrypted) drive images on OneDrive? Or AWS? Or GDrive? Or Box? Or DropBox? The question is specifically about large (e.g. 500GB) sparseimages. I want to maximize security by having my online data backup in encrypted images like that so even if someone hacks into the account with password Abc1234 they have a harder time cracking the actual data with separate password like ABCDEFghijklm)(*&12345678.

 

With 1TB of storage that OneDrive makes available I am trying to use more of it for an extra layer of backup of data from my MacBook Pro.

 

I love Expandrive which mounts OneDrive (even multiple accounts), Google Drive, Amazon, DropBox, Box and usual FTP, SFTP, type cloud storage as mounted hard drives on the Desktop. The OneDrive prices are reasonable too as I bought 200GB extra on one of the Live IDs.

 

The two ways I am seeing it possible are:

 

- Just drag the current local sparseimage to the correct folder of my mounted OneDrive, hope it completes a copy over, and then try to use Carbon Copy Cloner or similar utilities just to back up the change bands of the sparseimage.

 

- Create a sparseimage on OneDrive, mount it, and then copy contents of the local mounted image's contents online, hoping it completes and then use Carbon Copy Cloner, etc.

 

A third option, which I am considering is to see if TimeMachine can just see the mounted OneDrive as something to use. But I suspect that won't work.

 

So I am hoping to find and learn from others who already tested these options. :-)

 

Imran

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10), iPhone 6S Nikon D300 iPad 3 Surface2

Posted on Dec 28, 2014 8:53 PM

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Q: Storing large sparseimage disk image on Microsoft OneDrive

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  • by white crow,

    white crow white crow Jul 18, 2015 6:04 AM in response to IMRAN
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 18, 2015 6:04 AM in response to IMRAN

    I have moved a sparse image disk to OneDrive on my iMac, it is roughly 5GB in size.

    When I open OneDrive in the safari browser the sparse image disk is not listed in my files.

  • by cdhw,

    cdhw cdhw Jul 18, 2015 7:22 AM in response to IMRAN
    Level 4 (2,628 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Jul 18, 2015 7:22 AM in response to IMRAN

    I don't know if this the still the case, but OneDrive used to limit the number of files to 20,000. Sparse DMGs are not single flat files, they are directories containing many files called 'bands'. With default settings 500GB requires ca 60,000 bands.

     

    I think that bandwidth and connection reliability will render your scheme a nonstarter. Just buy a 500GB disk and mail it to a family member for safe keeping. It will better in all respects.

     

    C.

  • by Drew Reece,

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Jul 18, 2015 7:28 AM in response to IMRAN
    Level 5 (7,490 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 18, 2015 7:28 AM in response to IMRAN

    Take a look at Arq if you are still trying to do this…

    http://haystacksoftware.com/

     

    It supports multiple destinations and encrypts data with a password before it leaves your Mac.

  • by IMRAN,

    IMRAN IMRAN Oct 2, 2015 11:23 PM in response to cdhw
    Level 2 (488 points)
    Notebooks
    Oct 2, 2015 11:23 PM in response to cdhw

    Thanks for the input and info. I have several external drives in NY and FL and with me in my carrying case. But I just want to make use of the Cloud option to store a DMG.

  • by IMRAN,

    IMRAN IMRAN Oct 2, 2015 11:53 PM in response to Drew Reece
    Level 2 (488 points)
    Notebooks
    Oct 2, 2015 11:53 PM in response to Drew Reece

    I had typed a nice detailed reply to thank you but then Safari crashed. I will try out the utility you mention. Some of its functionality for single users is due later this year. I bought ExpanDrive which is slick to login to multiple cloud vendors but has been disappointing to use reliably.

     

    Regards

     

    Imran

  • by damu_be,

    damu_be damu_be Mar 19, 2016 6:13 AM in response to IMRAN
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 19, 2016 6:13 AM in response to IMRAN

    Hi Imran,

     

    not sure if you're still looking for help on this.

     

    To store files in an encrypted container in Dropbox and Google Drive, I've been using Boxcryptor Classic for a few years now and it works great.

     

    The free version has some limitations though:

    • only 1 container can be configured
    • it cannot be used for commercial purposes
    • it does not offer the ability to encrypt the filenames

     

    I purchased a licence because I wanted to remove those limitations and this licence can be used on multiple computers.

     

    With one of the earliest version, I tried to use it with OneDrive but I encountered some issues when editing Microsoft Office files directly from within the encrypted container. This is the reason why I used Dropbox and Google Drive in the end and I did not bother trying again with the latest version, so I don't know if these issues have been fixed or not.

     

    The other negative point is that it's compatible up to Yosemite only, not El Capitan unfortunately.


    This means that if I want to upgrade, I'll need to either switch to Boxcryptor 2.0 (a monthly subscription service) or I'll need to find another solution.


    At this point, I'm leaning toward the second option, which would be a combination of Arq (mentioned by Drew Reece) and my 2-year old Transporter Sync (discontinued unfortunately).


    Kind regards,


    Damien