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Nacho Varga

Suspended
Mar 21, 2021
38
12
CCC gives you a 'Bootable' clone...TM is a back-up of your files. Two different things....also, CCC gives you an 'exact copy ' of 'Now'...I don't think TM copies everything ....or is 'bootable'...TM is for 'recovery' ...
Well stated, and right on the money! (Same is true for SuperDuper!).
 

Apple_Robert

Contributor
Sep 21, 2012
35,671
52,514
In a van down by the river
So I just found out about Arq and bought the promo. $39 for a year/1TB. My machine is always less than 1TB so it's perfect. I've always wanted a cheap and easy cloud solution and until now wasn't satisfied with available offerings.

Arq + CCC or TM should be peace of mind.

Anyone have any recommendations as to whether I should use CCC or TM with Arq? On another thread people were debating whether to ditch TM or CCC.
Unless you already have a Time Capsule, I would set up Arq to use as a TM replacement, as it offers much more control over how and when you backup.

As a new Arq user, I have the subscription (bought today) as well as a cloud backup to Wasabi. I also have a 2TB Time Capsule that I still use for TimeMachine backups for my M1 MBA. And if that all isn't enough, I also have CCC backing up once a day to an attached drive on my Mac mini. That way, I don't have to connect any external drives to my M1 MBA, in order to backup. When CCC is backed up to a remote Mac, it only backs up the user files, which is fine. You really don't need a backup of the OS itself.

Now that I am using Arq's great features, I really don't anticipate using CCC much moving forward.
 

Blowback

macrumors 65816
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MB, owner of CCC, is a former Apple Employ....check out the site and see the dept to which he is committed to the platform.
I first used CCC back sometime in the '90s I think.....came back to it a few years ago.
 

Blowback

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Jan 10, 2018
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Unless you already have a Time Capsule, I would set up Arq to use as a TM replacement, as it offers much more control over how and when you backup.

As a new Arq user, I have the subscription (bought today) as well as a cloud backup to Wasabi. I also have a 2TB Time Capsule that I still use for TimeMachine backups for my M1 MBA. And if that all isn't enough, I also have CCC backing up once a day to an attached drive on my Mac mini. That way, I don't have to connect any external drives to my M1 MBA, in order to backup. When CCC is backed up to a remote Mac, it only backs up the user files, which is fine. You really don't need a backup of the OS itself.

Now that I am using Arq's great features, I really don't anticipate using CCC much moving forward.
Six of one...half dozen of the other...alls well?
 

Blowback

macrumors 65816
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Yeah forgot the free part. But that's also why it's limited in comparison.
TM was there for me two or three times in the past few years.......tool kits should contain 'tools' not 'a tool' or 'several of the same' tool. Me thinks we're all on the same page. AND: backups are useless if not TESTED. Must test them occasionally!!!!
 

patent10021

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 23, 2004
3,531
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CCC is much quicker than TM. And yes, it can completely restore your Mac to a set point in time, as well as restoring individual files like TM can do.
I was thinking TM is not needed since we have CCC. We get snapshots plus bootable disks.

...but then I was questioning whether or not I personally need a bootable CCC recovery. We can install an OS in minutes then just run TM.

I already paid for CCC a long time ago so whatever, but maybe for me, I'm good to go just with TM, Arq and iCloud. iCloud + Notes is probably my most valuable data source besides my dev environment.

It's too bad iCloud doesn't have some cloud disk backup service like Arq. Seems like it would be a no-brainer for Apple. Maybe it's in the works.

What do you guys think about the necessity for having a bootable CCC backup? Why do you need it to be bootable when you can reinstall macOS and then run TM in almost the same time?

Unfortunately none of the solutions takes care of the Bootcamp volume. Still need Winclone or other solution.
 

Blowback

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Jan 10, 2018
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I was thinking TM is not needed since we have CCC. We get snapshots plus bootable disks.

...but then I was questioning whether or not I personally need a bootable CCC recovery. We can install an OS in minutes then just run TM.

I already paid for CCC a long time ago so whatever, but maybe for me, I'm good to go just with TM, Arq and iCloud. iCloud + Notes is probably my most valuable data source besides my dev environment.

It's too bad iCloud doesn't have some cloud disk backup service like Arq. Seems like it would be a no-brainer for Apple. Maybe it's in the works.

What do you guys think about the necessity for having a bootable CCC backup? Why do you need it to be bootable when you can reinstall macOS and then run TM in almost the same time?

Unfortunately none of the solutions takes care of the Bootcamp volume. Still need Winclone or other solution.
I would say a bootable CCC clone is not really needed....until it is needed for whatever reason. Mine takes 3-4min. to 'make ' each time and the SSD I use is already dedicated to it and not needed for anything else so.....pretty easy additional insurance for so little effort. YMMV.
 

patent10021

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 23, 2004
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I would say a bootable CCC clone is not really needed....until it is needed for whatever reason. Mine takes 3-4min. to 'make ' each time and the SSD I use is already dedicated to it and not needed for anything else so.....pretty easy additional insurance for so little effort. YMMV.
But how is that bootable CCC backup greater insurance than just installing macOS from the net and running TM?
 

Blowback

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Its good if your internal drive dies or won't boot and you need to use MacOS. I made an external BigSur drive manually. CCC can't do that with M1 Big Sur.
'Yet' But ...you get the gist of what I'm saying. 'A bird in hand .....'
 

Blowback

macrumors 65816
Jan 10, 2018
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I use Time Machine but might look into CCC. Is it okay for a semi-noob?
Yes...especially if you utilize their help/site page. And I've had reason to contact them a few times and they have always been very prompt and understanding in offering guidance. Much info on their site.
 
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patent10021

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 23, 2004
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Its good if your internal drive dies or won't boot and you need to use MacOS. I made an external BigSur drive manually. CCC can't do that with M1 Big Sur.
But if your drive dies and you don't have another machine, you'll need to buy a new SSD anyway. Then you swap drives and download macOS from Apple with Apple ID. Then it asks you if you want to backup from TM. So I still don't see the advantage of a bootable backup besides not having to download the OS from Apple.

People keep saying "maybe you don't have internet or it's down", but this is 2021. If that happens, we are probably most likely in armageddon or hiding from the NSA in Bolivia off-grid.

I might add that the Arq upload is going to take days lol. Taking hours just to upload 20GB. I'm now rethinking everything and might just stick with TM with Samsung T7 and call it a day ? And once macOS is installed I can create a partition and boot Bootcamp from Winclone. But yeah, since I've paid for CCC, I might as well use it.
 
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Apple_Robert

Contributor
Sep 21, 2012
35,671
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In a van down by the river
But if your drive dies and you don't have another machine, you'll need to buy a new SSD anyway. Then you swap drives and download macOS from Apple with Apple ID. Then it asks you if you want to backup from TM. So I still don't see the advantage of a bootable backup besides not having to download the OS from Apple.

People keep saying "maybe you don't have internet or it's down", but this is 2021. If that happens, we are probably most likely in armageddon or hiding from the NSA in Bolivia off-grid.

I might add that the Arq upload is going to take days lol. Taking hours just to upload 20GB. I'm now rethinking everything and might just stick with TM with Samsung T7 and call it a day ? And once macOS is installed I can create a partition and boot Bootcamp from Winclone. But yeah, since I've paid for CCC, I might as well use it.
Arq has been fast for me (less than 2 hrs for 20GB). If it is real slow, try changing locations to a different part of the country.

Don''t be so quick to give up.
 

patent10021

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 23, 2004
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Arq has been fast for me (less than 2 hrs for 20GB). If it is real slow, try changing locations to a different part of the country.

Don''t be so quick to give up.
lol who says I'm giving up. It's not like some triathlon or bootcamp. It's a button.

I was thinking it was the server in Taiwan I chose.

Anyway, Arq just decided to quit on its own and its reason was because I was backing up my Bootcamp volume with Winclone. That's pretty weak since Arq is just backing up the home folder.
 

patent10021

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 23, 2004
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It's interesting trying all these solutions. I can see why many people just opt for a single solution.

None of them are really the bee's knees lol

After restarting Winclone it finally spit out an image.

TM is stuck on "2 hours remaining" for the last 6 hours.

Arq quit on me because I was running Winclone even though Arq just backs up the home folder.

Oh well. Once I get a Samsung T7 it should be good.
 
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HDFan

Contributor
Jun 30, 2007
7,298
3,346
But how is that bootable CCC backup greater insurance than just installing macOS from the net and running TM?

1. Depending upon the backup media speed a bootable CCC backup can be used to run 3rd party repair utilities and diagnostics on your main disk.

2. If you have a crash, booting from a CCC disk and cloning back to your original disk is much faster than a TM restore.

3. You can't rely on TM backups. In my experience they have a much higher failure rate. I have had 2 or 3 TM failures but no CCC failures.
 
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