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fred146

Q: I want to back up to my external drive vs ICloud ?

I want to back up to my external MAC hard drive? verus ICloud?

iMac (27-inch, Late 2012), iOS 8.1.2

Posted on Sep 27, 2015 6:27 PM

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Q: I want to back up to my external drive vs ICloud ?

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  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Sep 27, 2015 7:00 PM in response to fred146
    Level 9 (50,149 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 27, 2015 7:00 PM in response to fred146

    Time Machine backs up all mounted volumes by default. To learn how to use Time Machine read Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac - Apple Support.


    To learn about how iCloud backups work read iCloud: iCloud storage and backup overview and About backups in iCloud and iTunes - Apple Support.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 28, 2015 10:01 AM in response to fred146
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Sep 28, 2015 10:01 AM in response to fred146

    Volumes on external drives (except Thunderbolt drives) are automatically added to the Time Machine exclusion list. You can remove the exclusions in the Time Machine preference pane, and then the volumes will be backed up, provided they're in MacOS format. Volumes in other formats can't be backed up with Time Machine. No drive will be backed up to itself; you must have a separate drive to use as the backup destination.

  • by Rudegar,

    Rudegar Rudegar Sep 28, 2015 10:37 AM in response to fred146
    Level 7 (28,904 points)
    Apple TV
    Sep 28, 2015 10:37 AM in response to fred146

    with iCloud you only get free 5gb which is not much if one wish to backup a mac to it

    other then that you rent storage

    with an external drive you pay once

    but if lighting strikes or if a cat burglar get in he and or she can escape with the data

  • by dwb,

    dwb dwb Sep 28, 2015 11:23 AM in response to fred146
    Level 7 (24,405 points)
    Notebooks
    Sep 28, 2015 11:23 AM in response to fred146

    iCloud backs up essential data for your iOS devices but it isn’t a computer backup service. Backing up a computer online is a long process and restoring from one is just as long. Also while Apple has reduced iCloud prices tremendously in the last 2 years it is still more expensive than other online services. Apple’s iCloud service has a somewhat checkered past so even if speed and cost weren’t an issue I wouldn’t use it to back up my important data.

     

    Your best backup plan is a minimum of two external hard drives and a good backup program. TimeMachine is okay but I don’t trust it to be my only backup source. I use TimeMachine for hourly backups and CarbonCopyCloner to make a daily backup. That’s my minimum. I actually use CCC on another drive. The daily backup hard drive has a twin. Drive 1 is used at home for a week and then goes to work on Thursday. Drive 2 is safe in my locked closet at work and comes home on Thursday to spend the week being backed up to. This means my house can be burgled or catch fire or be tumbled in a tornado and I still have a drive that should be safe at work miles from home. This anal retentive behavior is duplicated for my notebook and my wife’s computer because yes, I have lost data and don’t want to do it again.