mjrapplequestions

Q: photos backup

We have an icloud account we use with the iPhone.  Can we use icloud as online backup storage tool for photos and music on our iMac that did not original from the iPhone?

iMac, macOS Sierra (10.12)

Posted on Oct 1, 2016 4:25 PM

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Q: photos backup

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  • by Allan Eckert,

    Allan Eckert Allan Eckert Oct 1, 2016 4:28 PM in response to mjrapplequestions
    Level 9 (54,055 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 1, 2016 4:28 PM in response to mjrapplequestions

    No. iCloud is only able to backup mobile devices such as iPhones, iPads or iPods.

  • by FoxFifth,Apple recommended

    FoxFifth FoxFifth Oct 1, 2016 4:35 PM in response to mjrapplequestions
    Level 7 (27,303 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 1, 2016 4:35 PM in response to mjrapplequestions

    There is an option to backup an iPhone and other iOS devices to iCloud but iCloud is not designed to backup a Mac. There are features where you can sync data to iCloud via settings in Apple menu > System Preferences > iCloud >  (e.g., Contacts, Photos, etc) but they are NOT a backup. One major and potentially fatal difference between sync and backup is that if you accidentally delete something on the Mac it will also be deleted on iCloud (although if you notice what you have done within 30 days you may be able to recover it.)

     

    You may want to investigate iCloud Photo Library iCloud Photo Library - Apple Support but again, note that it is primarily designed to sync all of your photos to all of your devices.

     

    For backup you may want to consider using an external USB hard disk and for further protection in case of fire or theft also have some type of offsite backup. I use a cloud-based solution for the offsite backup (http://mozy.com/product/mozy/personal ) but another option is to rotate an external hard disk to an offsite location.

  • by mjrapplequestions,

    mjrapplequestions mjrapplequestions Oct 1, 2016 4:51 PM in response to FoxFifth
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Oct 1, 2016 4:51 PM in response to FoxFifth

    Thanks.  Has anyone considered using google photos to back up photos that are stored on an iMac?

  • by FoxFifth,

    FoxFifth FoxFifth Oct 1, 2016 4:58 PM in response to mjrapplequestions
    Level 7 (27,303 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 1, 2016 4:58 PM in response to mjrapplequestions

    Sorry, I can't help with that. I have used it minimally with a Windows machine but haven't used it on a Mac. You may want to also look at or post a question about Mac use in the Google Photos forum: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!forum/photos

  • by LACAllen,

    LACAllen LACAllen Oct 2, 2016 12:33 PM in response to mjrapplequestions
    Level 5 (5,470 points)
    iCloud
    Oct 2, 2016 12:33 PM in response to mjrapplequestions

    You may want to investigate how Google views the rights to the photos they host for you for free.

  • by NMAJDAN,

    NMAJDAN NMAJDAN Oct 8, 2016 7:29 PM in response to FoxFifth
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 8, 2016 7:29 PM in response to FoxFifth

    But what do you backup using Mozy? What is your process for extracting photos that are backed up to Mozy? So you use iCloud to sync and display your photos and Mozy to back up?

     

    I posed a similar question (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7701502) and came across this post while doing a search for similar discussions.

  • by FoxFifth,

    FoxFifth FoxFifth Oct 8, 2016 8:18 PM in response to NMAJDAN
    Level 7 (27,303 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 8, 2016 8:18 PM in response to NMAJDAN

    NMAJDAN wrote:

     

    But what do you backup using Mozy? What is your process for extracting photos that are backed up to Mozy? So you use iCloud to sync and display your photos and Mozy to back up?

     

    I posed a similar question (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7701502) and came across this post while doing a search for similar discussions.

    Yes I do sync my photos between my phone and Mac using iCloud Photo Library. I then backup my entire Mac to an external USB hard drive using Time Machine. With Mozy I backup my Desktop, my Documents folder, and my Pictures folder -- note that is just what I do but I could backup other things as well if I wanted. My Pictures folder contains my Photos Library. I don't extract photos from the Mozy backup -- I restore the entire Photos Library. I have done that with both iPhoto previously and Photos after it became available to verify Mozy dealt with them correctly.

     

    Note -- I just read the other post that you mentioned and note that you have 85GB of photos and expect that number may eventually exceed 100GB. I don't have experience with numbers anywhere near that large but I doubt that I would be using iCloud Photo Library in that situation. I would probably manually (via USB) transfer photos from the phone to the Mac or use PhotoStream for that and keep a very limited number of photos on the phone. For offsite backup I would probably have a second USB external hard disk that I would backup to using something other than Time Machine and periodically update it and return it to an offsite location.