I have a mac. Many actually. I have iCloud. 2TB worth actually. I am told by Apple support that only the SSD files can be backed up and none of the file stored on my LaCie purchased from Apple.
How can I A) fix that so my external document files are backed up.
or B) Should I dump iCloud and use a third party cloud storage service?
iCloud on your Mac is a sync service rather than a backup tool. If you want to backup your Mac and the external drive (it doesn't need to be a SSD), you should use another external drive and TimeMachine (TimeMachine is already on your Mac).
Here's how iCloud and iCloud Drive works:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206985.
If you only want certain files on iCloud Drive, don't select 'Add Desktop and Documents folders', but move the files or folders you want to store in iCloud Drive manually. Keep in mind that iCloud Drive is not a backup
Here's how you can back up your Mac with TimeMachine. Your TM backup can include an external drive:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250
iCloud on your Mac is a sync service rather than a backup tool. If you want to backup your Mac and the external drive (it doesn't need to be a SSD), you should use another external drive and TimeMachine (TimeMachine is already on your Mac).
Here's how iCloud and iCloud Drive works:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206985.
If you only want certain files on iCloud Drive, don't select 'Add Desktop and Documents folders', but move the files or folders you want to store in iCloud Drive manually. Keep in mind that iCloud Drive is not a backup
Here's how you can back up your Mac with TimeMachine. Your TM backup can include an external drive:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250
I keep getting a message telling me "Eject 'Time Machine" before disconnecting or turning it off." I also have an external hard drive (i.e., LaCie). Do I go to the Time Machine icon and click on it? What is the problem? This happens often and is annoying to the nth degree. Please use layman terms. Thank you to anyone who is willing to help me with this conundrum.
Is it possible that you gave your external drive the name TimeMachine? If that’s the case, right-click on the icon of that drive and rename it, e.g. backup drive. It will be less confusing.
If you want to disconnect an external drive, you have to eject it first. You can do that by dragging the icon to the trash bin. After the icon has disappeared from your desktop, you can disconnect it
iCloud Backup - how to backup my mac files, including external hard drive files (e.g. LaCie)
