I also would agree with the BackBlaze consensus. I’ve been a user (x3 for all the Mac’s in my house) for about 18 months, thanks to hearing about it on MPU. A few notes however, based on my experience:
As some have mentioned, the initial backup can take a long time, depending on your settings and internet speed. As I am a professional video producer and I have both my Mac and many external drives full of giant files, it took almost 6 months for the system to do its initial backup. That got a bit frustrating to me, but when I really analyzed how big of files I was moving from hard drive to desk top and back with each project, on the frequency that I edit projects… I was moving around a giant amount of data, and the system can only backup so much. For my wife who is a photographer with only a couple of external drives that initial backup was much faster. And the kids Mac… very fast. But my system took a LOOONG time. So just be prepared.
Second, if you are backing up large amounts of data to BackBlaze as we are, you’ll need a huge internet pipe. We started out with a more basic Comcast plan and in 2 days, we maxed out out file upload max and started getting massive overage fees. We then had to upgrade to an unlimited data plan, and now, even with an unlimited plan we still get the occasion call from Comcast asking what they heck we are doing by constantly uploading so much data to the internet. So with all 3 computers constantly backing up to BackBlaze to keep up with our files workflow… we move a lot of data!!
Both of those things we didn’t realize when we started our BackBlaze journey and we have since learned. But now that its up and running and just doing the small updates on what we use each day, its been smooth sailing.
I’m not averse to doing that- eventually, I need to get a few good backups first, then probably look at replacing the TimeCapsule with something more modern.
The odd thing is- I’ve hardly used my Mac this year, since working from home. I use my work laptop most of the time and my iphone/ipad. I do need to backup our family pictures from the Mac though and some other documents.
I’ve found an old SSD that I’m using CCC on to grab some files, while the full-capacity SSDs are arriving. I’ll do full-image backups with those.
I’m sure you are going to get loads of feed-back on this topic with many different solutions. My backup requirements are as follows:
1 - I only backup my data. If I suffer a non recoverable issue with my MacBook or Windows machines, I would never do a full system restore, I’d rather re-install the host OS fresh and then re-add my applications (spring clean) and data.
2 - I don’t trust any single form of backup, so the 3-2-1 rule is a great idea at minimum.
3 - I’d rather restore from a local source than using BackBlaze where possible, leaving BackBlaze as a last resort panic button.
So my approach, that is a mixed MacOS and Windows solution, and one that only requires a single back blaze subscription:
Local Machine Backup
Important files are sync’d to a OneDrive (that has file versioning, not quite a backup, but something)
local USB HDD using TimeMachine
lan backup to my home server using CarbonCopy Cloner
My central home server then has the following backup
local USB HDD
Remote off-site backup using BackBlaze
KEY THING - every few months, create a file on your back-up source machines, then check for this file on your various back-up methods. Obviously not a full test, but will pick-up most issues.
Just a quick note- I found a 32GB USB stick, and grabbed as many family pictures from my MBP as would fit. So, I’ve got our last vacation saved to 1 other medium.
While that was going on, I found a 500GB SATA SSD and backed up most of the files/documents (including all of my pictures) that I’m concerned about. So, I’m mostly out of harms way. When the dual 1TB SSDs arrive Fri-Sat, I’ll do a more thorough backup of critical files, then look into Backblaze.
Thank you for all of your suggestions, I need to re-read them and make some (offline) notes. I will probably keep the Time Capsule and stick an SSD in there if it has a SATA interface. Who knows what I’ll use it for but extra storage is good to have when you need it.
I back up my data to BackBlaze. Doing for years. I’ve never restored a file from it (yes, i tested it), because my local backups cover that. Backblaze ist for scenarios like “my appartment burned to the ground”.
I never use the TC via wifi , too slow. Whenever I wanted to backup my Mac I always used Ethernet. THe HDD is bad, it’s trying to seek but sounds like it cant figure out which cylinder it’s on.
I also used the old crashplan plan and stayed with them when they moved to a more business plan structure (ie they charged more). I was really interested in moving to backblaze and think its frontend is a lot better than crashplan.
My main concern with backblaze is - they do perform client side encryption, but if you want to restore, the information is actually decrypted on their server and then sent over an encrypted connection.
In crashplan if you’ve set your own key it is never transmitted to the crashplan servers. (This level of security is not the default option). They send the encrypted file back to your computer (over an encrypted connection) where its decrypted with your key. All encryption and decryption happens on your own computer.
What is everyones thoughts? Am I being too paranoid? . . . . probably . . . But I do ascribe to @MacSparky paperless workflow and everything is up there in that electron filled cloud. BTW looking forward to the next update
Back when I don’t have my files stored in iCloud, I have files that a client need through email. But since I was out for the entire day with no access to my Mac, I used the Backblaze iOS app to download the file and sent it to my client. I think that was the only instance that I used Backblaze to “recover” a file. Nonetheless, I still see a tremendous value out of Backblaze as multiple points of back up besides iCloud and Time Machine.
Now you have me curious as to what “everything” is (launch codes?)
I’ve always preferred TNO (Trust No One) backup software. Using that allows me to backup to any cloud storage provider and know that my data is secure. And it allows me to keep permanent backups so I can recover files that may have been deleted or corrupted months or years ago. The downside is I can’t take advantage of the all you can eat $6/month backup plans like those offered by Backblaze.
Since I do not backup my ripped music and movie files offsite, I don’t backup massive amounts of data. So paying per GB is not prohibitively expensive. So I’ve been a long time user of Arqbackup and currently upload to Backblaze B2.
I have recommended Backblaze to my “normal” friends and associates for years. While it’s security may not check all the boxes for “paranoids”, I am confident that its security is as good, or better, as any currently available.
Love BackBlaze, but don’t throw away your time capsule yet… I put a new 10Tb drive in mine to give it a second life. A bit of a surgery, but you can find how to’s on YouTube. It’s been spinning very well ever since with ample space for time machine backups.
Ditto. This is also my setup and has saved my bacon when one of the external SSDs conked out. Backblaze + TimeMachine + CarbonCopyCloner. Money well spent for peace of mind.
Just to put another option in: Big fan of arq backup. (The current version 6 has some bugs, so get version 5 for now until the developer releases v7).
It allows you to specificy exactly what you want to backup, what you want to exclude and where to send it, with a different encryption key per location you specify. You could for example have:
A offsite backup to backblaze b2 cloud storage
A onsite backup to your local USB stick / NAS with only the most important data
If you upload to a cloud storage like b2 or wasabi, it shouldn’t be more than $10 a month up to 1TB, but arq can also enforce budget limits like “all the combined backups shouldn’t take more than 500gb”
I used arq extensively after I reinstalled my mac and was able to restore files perfectly to their previous location from the cloud.
I am doing exactly this. Been a BackBlaze user since Crashplan ended home accounts. And I do a weekly backup with Carbon Copy Cloner. Plus, all current document are either on Dropbox or Google Drive (preferably Dropbox, but some clients use Google Drive).
Don’t know if it is better, but Arq Premium is what I selected over BackBlaze. If you want to turn on a “backup process” and just let it run in the background, choose BackBlaze. If you want to schedule or manually run your backups, choose Arq. (The “Premium” part just means that you use their backend storage solution and don’t have to set up one of your own.)
Which is “better” might depend on your particular needs. The developers of Devonthink strongly recommend Arq so I have used it for a couple years and have been pleased.
