Off-line storage recommendations OSX

[RogerS]

Any recommendations? Looking for somewhere to backup about 10GB of photos. Basically just want to drag the whole iPhoto library over in toto as opposed to sending them individually (which I think Flickr makes you do).

Apple iCloud is not an option as it requires a later version of the OS which, for various reasons, I don't want to do on SWMBO's iMac.

Do any of them do syncing? Any danger that the syncing might override/screw-up/delete the actual iPhoto library?

TIA

 

[porker]

Can you use Google Drive? You get 15GB Free. I also use Dropbox where I have loads of space but the free space has expired and they want me to pay for storage now although my existing content won't be deleted. They both sync (at least to PC) and are easy to use and share. Not sure I trust the privacy (I had to review their T&Cs a few years ago for work and wasn't convinced then that they were very secure but may be different now).

 

[Titch]

I use carbonite on pc and will be on my mac when I fire it up again. Automated unlimited backup

 

[mseries]

How about a laptop drive in a USB caddy ? I presume Macs allow you plug in an external drive and automatically mount them. Your back up then is truly offline and portable and secure.

 

[beech1948]

The real issue with these cloud based domestic services is how long do they take to download the back up when you need to do a re-install. My recent 're-install took 5 days before it failed. The failure was due entirely to the supplier. I am paranoid about loss of data so I also have a local disk backup. Beware

 

[Titch]

i have my photos on a local server HP N40L and the cloud service
sometimes when i remember i put on a portable hard drive
cant lose my memories

 

[woodpig]

Any reason not to use a portable HD? I use a couple of Hitachi Touro USB3 drives, only about £50 a TB.

 

[Racers]

NAS http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/seagate-centr ... rive-a31ll

Pete

 

[Titch]

when i re-install my pc ( not very often) i copy over my local backups from HD then login to the cloud service and let it sync any i missed locally then it speeds up the process.

this is latest version of mine, and it server as an automated media server
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/hp-prol ... ck-2177468

Then fill with HDs

so i have backups everywhere ;-)

 

[RogerS]

Many thanks for all the replies and suggestions. Beech1947's point about the time needed to restore is very valid, I think.

We're pretty covered as it is. SWMBO has a separate external drive that's backed up to overnight. That's in the same room as the iMac. Her iMac is also backed up using TimeMachine - physically located away from the house in the workshop. So perhaps backing up to the cloud is overkill.

 

[petermillard]

...So perhaps backing up to the cloud is overkill.

Doesn't mean it isn't worth doing though. You can get 15 Gb for free on Microsoft OneDrive and Google Drive, 20 Gb on Amazon Cloud Drive for £6/year, and unlimited photo storage if you're an Amazon Prime member. Lots of options, and you can use them all .

HTH Pete

 

[Woodmonkey]

Any reason not to use a portable HD? I use a couple of Hitachi Touro USB3 drives, only about £50 a TB.

If you want to keep stuff "forever" then the cloud is the only way to go. Hard drives only have a finite life, I've had two corrupt on me, whilst they are useful for everybody use I do keep important stuff back up on icloud