dbbmd

Q: New external hard drive. Download from iCloud?

Hi,

I had my iTunes on an external drive which was stolen. I use Match routinely and can see all my music on AppleTV and my Mac at work via iCloud. I had a couple questions:

 

1. Am considering buying another external drive but don't know if I can download from iCloud or if I should do it from the laptop as seen on multiple youtube videos. Can I download from iCloud? It seems like it would be complete. Given that I have used match would the iTunes files that are on my laptop be an adequate backup?

 

2. At some point, if I purchase my music through iTunes, do I need to store it either on the computer or on a hard drive? Isn't this the purpose of iCloud? I know people who use Google Music and they don't have to do this type of backup. Not trolling just confused.

 

Thanks,


Dan

Posted on Aug 18, 2014 6:39 PM

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Q: New external hard drive. Download from iCloud?

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  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Aug 18, 2014 6:42 PM in response to dbbmd
    Level 10 (271,328 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 18, 2014 6:42 PM in response to dbbmd

    You can download your iTunes Match tracks to iTunes if you wish, but it would be slow compared to transferring from one hard drive to another.

     

    iCloud is not a storage alternative for all your computer data, just for your iDevice data. If you want a backup in the cloud for your computer then you need to buy space from the many vendors of cloud storage. Hard drives are much cheaper and much faster.

  • by dbbmd,

    dbbmd dbbmd Aug 18, 2014 6:47 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 18, 2014 6:47 PM in response to Kappy

    Thank you for the fast response. What is the best way to create a new backup then? Can I still do this from the .iti and .xml files on my laptop?

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Aug 18, 2014 8:21 PM in response to dbbmd
    Level 9 (54,277 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 18, 2014 8:21 PM in response to dbbmd

    1)  It depends upon what was on the external vs. on the internal drive.  I am not clear what you had on the external drive and what on the internal drive.  A complete library is library files + media.  some people keep library files on the internal drive and media on the external.  It's the media that are critical.  If those were only on the external drive what is on your computer is incomplete and you will have to rely upon Match.

     

    2) As said before, iCloud is not a backup, even if you subscribe to Match.  For one, it only stores media, not the other files that give iTunes structure. For another, media are not always in an identical format to what is on your computer.

     

    The .itl (and the essentially identical .xml file which iTunes itself does not use) do not contain media, they contain the information that generates the view you see in iTunes.  I think you really need to tell us how you had iTunes structured on your setup.

     

    What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660

     

    More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management

     

    What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html

     

    Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391

     

    iTunes 9 [and later]: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847 - plus supplemental information about organizing to new structure https://discussions.apple.com/message/26404702#26404702

     

    Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7392 - and making an iTunes library portable.