What do the experienced iMac/Mac users suggest. Would like it to keep my iMac backed up at all times so I would never be in jeopardy of losing my data or images.
Thanks in advance!
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Best solid state hardware for continuous backup for my M3 iMac?
- Thread starter Jackbequickly
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Whatever you do don't get a SanDisk Extreme:
arstechnica.com
SanDisk Extreme SSDs are “worthless,” multiple lawsuits against WD say
Ars cited in two SanDisk SSD failure lawsuits filed yesterday.
arstechnica.com
Fishrrman is about to tell you that Time Machine is terrible and that you should never use it, but I find it works very nicely and it's saved my butt on many occasions. I think it's a great "set it and forget it" option. The current APFS iteration of it is a LOT more robust than the janky old symlink based version we had with HFS+ disk formatting.
Carbon Copy Cloner is another great option as well. Very well maintained and highly regarded. Perhaps a little more work to set up properly, but can be configured to do all kinds of backup schemes.
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I maintain backups using Time Machine and Carbon Copy Cloner. The Time Machine drive is always connected. The CCC drive is disconnected most of the time. I do a CCC backup about once a week or before installing an OS update.
I do this for redundancy and to increase the chances of having a clean version of my entire setup in the event of a catastrophic failure or a security breach.
For backups, especially since macOS stopped supporting booting from clones some time ago, I use spinning platter HDs because I am not that concerned about I/O speeds, repeated reads and writes affect HDs less than SSDs, and the cost-per-megabyte is lower with HDs.
More discussion:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...re-any-advantage-of-ccc.2306894/post-30156566
First - great that you're thinking about this BEFORE a catastrophe hits. Most modern SSDs will be fine for this and last for years. As someone else mentioned, I would also consider any of the bus-powered spinning disks because they will store a lot more for the money and are also quite reliable for this sort of use.
One additional thing to think about would be to unplug and rotate backup drives. Ransomware will attack and encrypt anything that's attached - including your backup drive and any network drives. I still file this under 'urban myth' but I suppose it's theoretically possible and backup is about protecting from data loss.
One additional thing to think about would be to unplug and rotate backup drives. Ransomware will attack and encrypt anything that's attached - including your backup drive and any network drives. I still file this under 'urban myth' but I suppose it's theoretically possible and backup is about protecting from data loss.
Hugely important. Also strongly suggest keeping a backup in a separate location from the computer -- in case of fire, burglary, etc. I rotate my Time Machine drive once a month with one sitting in my desk at work.
Years ago I lost my Mac and its backup drive to a burglar at the same time and I've been a little paranoid about backup ever since.
Also, ransomware is real. My mother works for a small company who was hit and lost a lot of their data this way. Not sure how often individuals are targeted, but like they say, an ounce of prevention...
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Perhaps start with TM on a flash drive and another drive for real backups. People with more "know" will also tell you to have off site a backup. Perhaps taking the most sensitive data (at least) and having it up in icloud would be of value or another cloud service.
Firstly, factor in the cost of buying two and cycle them semi-regularly, storing one offsite where it's safe from theft, fire or flood. No good keeping just one single disk permanently connected, as it will surely go down with the ship in the event of a real disaster or burglary.
Which is another reason to consider spinning HDDs: they're dirt cheap, so you can factor in that redundancy. I get the impulse to use an SSD, but backup is a use case that generally benefits more from capacity than speed.
Carbon Copy Cloner is a great product, it has all the functions and options you can think of.
But it has a major advantage above TM: you can instantly ask support and/or advice. They have time for you.
;JOOP!