I’m letting Arq continue to run – it’s having some hiccups but I have a feeling it’s on my end…I’ll get it dialed in.
In the meantime, Backblaze said once I cancel they will do a partial refund but won’t do a full refund since those files were backed up successfully about 6 months ago. Whatever. I’m done with that service.
EDIT
I think I was trying to do too much without thinking about exactly what I wanted backed up. So in order to test Arq Premium Backup, I drilled down further into my iCloud files to backup a folder (100MB of folders/files). It is a locally-stored version and it worked perfectly. I also tested a full restore of that folder and it worked like a charm.
@Bmosbacker I think you should take the plunge and do their trial and test for yourself. I think this is a good solution.
No, three copies on two media with one off-site. Correct. Some backup solution providers recommend an 3-2-1-1-0 approach. The last 1 is for an immutable backup and the 0 for zero errors in after backup recoverability verification. Like mentioned on 3-2-1 Backup Rule Explained: Do I Need One? (VEEAM, a solution for businesses).
I was in the process of restructuring my MacMini (iCloud) storage backup routines. I queried Claude for a reasonable, current (last week) solution. ‘It’ suggested I investigate using Chronsync (the app) to backup to Dropbox (offsite). This thread certainly adds concerns for me going forward. Thanks all, !
No, you didn’t. It’s one of those “laws of the internet” that have more than one form depending on who you ask or what blog you read. The point is diversity of backup destination plus diversity of backup method, don’t leave yourself unprotected against any potential data disaster, and make sure you can access your backup(s) a soon as possible when you need their data.
Interesting. For whatever it’s worth: on my main machine (MBAir), I sync Desktop and Documents to iCloud. I just checked, and my most recent file from either of those locations was backed up yesterday, which seems right.
Still, this is a good reminder for me to evaluate my backup strategy. I currently also have a Mac Mini on my Backblaze account. I use that as a media and Homebridge server. To save on storage space (it’s a base model), I don’t have Documents and Desktop synced on that machine, and most of the media lives on external drives.
I’m wondering whether I should look into keeping just the Mini on Backblaze, and adding a networked Time Machine drive to it that could be a destination for the main machine. That way the TM drive would also get backed up, and I could drop the subscription on the main machine.
Just thinking at the keyboard here. I should probably check Arq for comparison purposes, too.
iCloud is not a backup. It is storage. You probably would not think of your Mac’s hard drive as backup? No difference from iCloud.
I wouldn’t. Using the networked drive as the source of truth for your backup strategy, instead of the drive where the original data began life, introduces at least one, maybe two, single points of failure to your strategy. Backup strategies aim to obviate failure, not increase failure points.
I’m aware. I didn’t express myself as clearly as I might have.
Currently, both of my machines are on Backblaze. Only one of those machines (the MBAir) syncs its Desktop and Documents folders to iCloud. The chief reason for this is to make it very easy to access my files from any of my Apple Devices. I keep all those files downloaded at all times on the Air, where there’s plenty of internal storage. The Mini has external hard drives attached to it that are backed up to Backblaze.
The Air is also the source of truth for all my work files, so backup is essential. For the moment, it looks like Backblaze is still backing up my iCloud files. I’m not sure I trust it to continue doing so.
Fair point. If I went this route, the networked Time Machine drive would be in addition to the local Time Machine drive the Air already has, not instead of it.
Admittedly, a networked backup can be finicky, and slow. (It’s also likely to blow through data caps, as I learned the hard way before I had unlimited data for my internet plan.)
I might do better to go with Arq. Unless I’m misreading their pricing page, it looks like I can have both computers on their plan for slightly more than a quarter of what I’m currently paying Backblaze.
Absolutely! I wasn’t actually thinking of iCloud as a backup service. I use it to sync files between devices, and, in the past, I got burned a couple of times when the sync didn’t work, but, over the past year or two, I’ve found it more reliable for that purpose. As is such, I’ve canceled my Dropbox subscription and moved a lot of my files to iCloud Drive.
However, I have also been paying for Backblaze, and just letting it run on autopilot in the background, so discovering that it isn’t backing these files up is is a bit of an unpleasant surprise. I also use Time Machine, but I need to rethink my off-site backups.
I sent Backblaze an angry email and deleted my license. Whether this is Apple-related or not, Backblaze didn’t send customers any notice of this change as far as I’m aware. This whole time, I thought my files were being backed up. That trust is lost.
Here’s where I’m up to as an interim strategy:
Back to Time Machine - I forgot I had a spare external SSD drive. Thanks to @Bmosbacker’s recommendation I will also get a larger drive like the Crucial X10 Pro.
I copied most of my important files to Google Drive. I realise this isn’t a true backup, but it’s off-site and I wasn’t taking advantage of my storage allotment since I already subscribe to Google One
iCloud sync - not a backup, but at least my files are in multiple places
I’ll explore better solutions long-term, like Arq. I don’t really understand Arq, but it sounds as if you have to pay a license to use their app and also pay for whatever backup service you use Arq with. Someone please correct me if I’ve got that wrong. I’m not the kind of person with complex backup needs and I don’t want to mess with NAS or complicated systems. I truly want “set and forget.” That’s a risk I’m willing to accept.
Does anyone have a solution for least amount of friction re: backups?
You can sign up for Arq Premium which uses their online storage. That has a yearly fee. Or you can just buy the application and back up to your storage of choice. For now I’ve opted for the simple version and just push my files to their service (encrypted). So far so good!
I’ve done some digging this evening, and it looks like iDrive is going to be better for my use case, given that I have two computers with a lot of data to back up (I’ve become something of a TV and movie hoarder with hard drives hanging off the Mac Mini server since I discovered Channels DVR). Arq would get expensive for me.
Even at their normal pricing, iDrive would be a bit less than half what BackBlaze costs me each year. Right now they even have a 95% off the first year deal for customers switching from a competitor.
I’ll be saving a ton of money for the first year, and a little over 50%/year thereafter.
Now, if only I hadn’t discovered this evening that one of my media drives died, so I’ll have to acquire a new external drive and spend part of the weekend downloading the backups from BackBlaze before making the switch. Fortunately a spinning hard drive is perfectly suitable for what I need. I checked out the Crucial SSD you picked up — yikes!
Not cheap! I need to research iDrive compared to Arq. I want a simple, reliable offline backup at a reasonable price from a reputable company that will be around for a long time. Why did you choose iDrive over Arq?
I would appreciate hearing from other who has used both iDrive and Arq and why you settled on one or the other.
The last 1 is for an immutable backup and the 0 for zero errors in after backup recoverability verification. Like mentioned on 
!
I need to research iDrive compared to Arq. I want a simple, reliable offline backup at a reasonable price from a reputable company that will be around for a long time. Why did you choose iDrive over Arq?