Why you need multiple backups

glb613 · ‎03-09-2010

I got my iMac back yesterday and was connecting it to everything. I turned on one of my portable hard drive I use for backups and it wouldn't work. I placed it into a different enclosure to make sure it was the hard drive and not the enclosure that had failed and it still wouldn't stay on or be recognized. I have multiple hard drives for backups and I'm positive I have a second or third copy of what was the drive that failed. There is no way for me to know since I can't see what was on it. Data recovery from a failed hard drive is cost prohibited so I won't be going that route.

I may have to look into cloud backup. I just hate paying for a monthly fee since most of my stuff isn't that important. I have too much for my free iCloud storage from Apple. Dang!

As many of us have posted over the years, having a backup(s) is critical. You never know when a hard drive will fail.

gardenman · ‎03-09-2010

I mostly use the cloud to back up my data these days. Photos are backed up automatically on Google since I use an Android phone and enabled that service. I also have bought unlimited storage on Amazon's cloud ($60 a year at the time) for all of my music, photos, and documents. And I also use Microsoft's free cloud service which gives me 10 GB's of free space I believe. The more backups you have the safer you are. The cloud is great in that if something happens to your house (fire, flood, hurricane, tornado) your data is still safe in the cloud.

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Mz iMac · ‎07-26-2014

@glb613

Check out Dropbox. I believe the first 5 GB of storage is FREE!

I've never used iCloud. Never even set it up on my iMac. Dropbox works for me as it does a lot of things iCloud can't do.

"Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."

glb613 · ‎03-09-2010

I'll have to check out Amazon since I'm a Prime member. I have way more than 10 GB to store everything. I have 250 GB of music alone. I have no idea how much photo and video data I have. I just know it's a bunch.

Buck-i-Nana · ‎09-28-2010

@glb613 - it's only .99 a month for 50 gb of cloud storage....

I keep one backup on the cloud and one on a 1 tb western digital hard drive here at home. Lots of reasons to keep at least one backup off-site.

ChynnaBlue · ‎05-22-2012

Sorry that happened to you and glad you had a backup!

I have two friends who are photographers. One went to school for photography within the last 7 years and his teacher stressed multiple backups, including both a hard drive in your home and a cloud backup. You never know what can happen and if you only backup at home and your house burns down or floods, you lose everything.

The other photographer has been in business for many years, but hasn't been to school recently and isn't super tech savvy. His hard drive failed and he hadn't been backing up. He lost pictures of some historic events and the photos from at least one wedding. As you mentioned, paying to data recovery is very expensive and he ended up starting a Go Fund Me account because of the nature of the photos lost. I did donate a few bucks, but I also remembered what the other photographer told me about backing up and heck if that didn't leave a real impression.

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glb613 · ‎03-09-2010

@Buck-i-Nana wrote:
@glb613 - it's only .99 a month for 50 gb of cloud storage....

I keep one backup on the cloud and one on a 1 tb western digital hard drive here at home. Lots of reasons to keep at least one backup off-site.

Unfortunatley, that isn't enough storage for me.

Nuttmeg · ‎03-09-2010

@glb613 wrote:
I'll have to check out Amazon since I'm a Prime member. I have way more than 10 GB to store everything. I have 250 GB of music alone. I have no idea how much photo and video data I have. I just know it's a bunch.

I use Carbonite, and have about 160 GB of data stored with the company. You may want to look at a BackBlaze, idrive,Mozy and etc. You should be able to find a backup client that will work for you. Software that is automatic.

glb613 · ‎03-09-2010

@Nuttmeg wrote:
@glb613 wrote:
I'll have to check out Amazon since I'm a Prime member. I have way more than 10 GB to store everything. I have 250 GB of music alone. I have no idea how much photo and video data I have. I just know it's a bunch.
I use Carbonite, and have about 160 GB of data stored with the company. You may want to look at a BackBlaze, idrive,Mozy and etc. You should be able to find a backup client that will work for you. Software that is automatic.

I checked out Carbonite but, the only version compatible with a Mac doesn't include an external hard drive. Back to square one.

nomless · ‎03-10-2010

I like the concept of cloud storage, but I don't trust any vendor to provide privacy and security. We have a lot of evidence that anything can be hacked.