654: Data Storage in 2022

[oldblueday]

Do I need to back-up up everything stored on the cloud?

So I’ve been keeping all my data in the cloud spread across DropBox and iCloud. This lets me access everything anywhere and on various devices. Also if I replace a device, it’s a simple matter of getting up and running with everything available. Also, I don’t need a large internal SSD.

Now I realize that this is not a backup solution (as a deletion in the cloud is felt everywhere), but what is the purpose of a backup of a Mac with everything in the cloud? There’s nothing here to be backed up. My TimeMachine is probably just spinning its wheels.

Do I need to back up Dropbox and iCloud despite their minimal backups.

Backing up the iCloud Photos Library

Also, the thing I’d care most about is my iCloud Photo Library. This will not fit on my SSD. How can I back this up? I’d still like to keep it all on iCloud.

Advice for backing up iCloud Photo Library

Hi All - I’d love some advice on backing up my photo library that is currently on iCloud Photo Library. My MacBook Pro SSD is unfortunately too small to hold all my originals, and because it is a laptop it is neither always on nor always plugged in. I’ve read a lot of the other posts on the forums here (for example here). But there are some conflicting pieces of advice, so I wanted to follow up. My first idea was to get a Synology and move my photo library to the Synology, but Apple’s KB on t…

Looking at this post, I’d have to

1. buy a big enough SSD,
2. move my iCloud Library to that,
3. delete the iCloud library on my Mac, then
4. let it download everything to the SSD (now I have a backup)
5. remove the SSD (store away safely, make a copy)
6. allow iCloud to reconnect to Photos

Now when I tried this, it said “are you sure you want to delete your iCloud library” and I quickly lost the fortitude to do this. It’s a big library and there are irreplaceable pictures.

Is this the only way?