Dan Mitchell1

Q: Confused indeed !

On my Mac Mini I have about 70G of personal photos.  I'm a bit confused about where in the "Cloud" to send them for off-line storage.

 

Do I send the lot to iCloud, iCloud Drive, or iCloud Photo Library for safe long term off-line storage ?  And whatever you may advise please give me some info on how to get this huge folder (a folder with many sub-files) there - I have an upto 32Mbps broadband connection.

 

(OS 10.11 El Capitan)

Mac mini, Other OS, iPad Mini , iPhone 5c, Watch Sport.

Posted on Sep 23, 2015 2:08 AM

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Q: Confused indeed !

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  • by léonie,Helpful

    léonie léonie Sep 23, 2015 5:29 AM in response to Dan Mitchell1
    Level 10 (107,801 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 23, 2015 5:29 AM in response to Dan Mitchell1

    How do you want to access the photos you upload to iCloud?

    • If you want to preserve the folder structure and access the photos using the Finder, store them on Cloud Drive. iCloud Drive will look like a special external in the sidebar of your Finder windows.  iCloud Drive FAQ
    • If you want to access the photos using the Photos.app, import them to your Photos Library and enable iCloud Photo Library. You will be able to manage the photos in Photos and edit them or share them, but you will not be able to access the photos using the Finder. iCloud Photo Library FAQ

    Both solutions may not be, what you are looking for.  If you simply want to get the photos off your Mac to free storage and use iCloud like an external drive, that will not work. Both, iCloud Drive and iCloud Photo Library are central storage places to update the content across all your devices. The documents will be mirrored on your Mac fo offline access, and any change you do on any device will sync to iCloud and from there to all devices.

     

    To save storage on your Mac you could use iCloud Photo Library with the option "Optimize Storage". Then all photos will be in iCloud in full resolution, but your Mac will keep smaller, optimized versions and not the full sized originals.

     

    And if you use iCloud drive, you could disable it on your Mac, so nothing syncs back, and access your photos solely using the web interface ait www.icloud.com.

  • by Dan Mitchell1,

    Dan Mitchell1 Dan Mitchell1 Sep 23, 2015 6:38 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (63 points)
    Apple Watch
    Sep 23, 2015 6:38 AM in response to léonie

    Basically I want a spare, full size, copy ,of my years of photos somewhere else safe in case of disaster to my Mac.

     

    So iCloud Drive seems a possibility - but with a folder content of 70G photos I could not have the system syncing back to either  an iPad Mini or iPhone both of which do not have the space, being of total size each of only 32G..

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Sep 23, 2015 7:29 AM in response to Dan Mitchell1
    Level 10 (107,801 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 23, 2015 7:29 AM in response to Dan Mitchell1

    iCloud Drive and iCloud Photo Library are not really backups. Copies of your photos will be in iCloud, but because of the updating of any changes across all devices you cannot restore photos from iCloud if you accidentally delete or modify them on your Mac.  The changes will sync to iCloud, so the photo will be modified or deleted  in iCloud to.

     

    I keep a second backup in addition to my regular Time Machine backup on an external disk, that is locked away at my place of work. another backup drive is in my safe in a different room.

  • by Dan Mitchell1,

    Dan Mitchell1 Dan Mitchell1 Sep 25, 2015 1:14 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (63 points)
    Apple Watch
    Sep 25, 2015 1:14 AM in response to léonie

    Above is not a problem as I always edit copies of any photo file.

     

    And I have two seperate Timemachine backups of my Mini content + a Super Duper clone - but all kept on-site in the same house as the Mac Mini - hence the wish for a Cloud copy.

     

    I have sent my whole photos folder to iCloud Drive as probably being the best solution.  How do I limit them syncing back to an iPhone or IPad ?

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Sep 25, 2015 3:41 AM in response to Dan Mitchell1
    Level 10 (107,801 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 25, 2015 3:41 AM in response to Dan Mitchell1
    I have sent my whole photos folder to iCloud Drive as probably being the best solution.

    if it is a plain folder with snesetd ubfolders and image files, that will work. But if it is a Photos Library or iPhoto Library or similar, the library can become corrupted by the syncing,

    How do I limit them syncing back to an iPhone or IPad ?

    Your iPhone and iPad will only copy the files onto the devices, if you click the download link or open the images on the device. So don#t open any photos on the iPad or iPhone, that you do not want to download.