Encrypted Cloud backup solution?

[MacBH928]

Arq just synchronizes your folder structure to the cloud location. You chose which folders to send up and then the entire folder structure under each base folder is copied to the cloud. You can add fancy exclusion rules under each base folder. There's no way to upload individual files to different cloud locations of your choosing.



Yes. Only changes are uploaded. When reviewing all the different backup sets in the cloud, the files which have been modified since the last backup set are marked as having been modified. It seems similar to how Time Machine works.



You're making me think I'm going to guess at how these services work because I can't imagine them working differently.

The directory structure and file names are separately encrypted. That stuff is probably downloaded all at the same time since it's so small. That allows you to browse around to figure out which files interest you. I suppose some of it could be "lazy"; that is, only when the directory tree is expanded is that portion of the structure downloaded. But still, all very small and quick to download, decrypt, and display.



I can't believe it doesn't exist (except it might not be open source).

I can't seem to let this one go and stop thinking about it. This is so achievable, I wish I had the competence and time to write something. Too much to learn in too little time.

Forget about RAM disks. I'd start by looking at macFUSE. I'd implement a file system that delivers the directory structure and file names which were decrypted from a server download. Then when a particular file is opened from within the backup app, launch services would fire up the application with a file handle into my custom filesystem which would download, decrypt, and deliver the file to the calling application. Of course, I'm already stressing over all the complications I'd encounter - installation, usability, latency. I'm not even going to do this and I'm stressing about timelines - I really gotta let it go.

-Ok so ARQ is like Carbon Copy Cloner to the cloud.

-As for MacFUSE , i couldn't understood what it is. I think it makes MacOS read/write to other file systems like EXT3 and NTFS. Either way, this is a major issue with computing as regular Don Joe doesn't want to read technical features and do multiple installations. People want something that "just works" . Thats why many people opt for Mac/Windows over Linux because with linux you have to do all the manual things yourself like installing package, drivers, etc etc.

 

[svenmany]

-Ok so ARQ is like Carbon Copy Cloner to the cloud.

-As for MacFUSE , i couldn't understood what it is. I think it makes MacOS read/write to other file systems like EXT3 and NTFS. Either way, this is a major issue with computing as regular Don Joe doesn't want to read technical features and do multiple installations. People want something that "just works" . Thats why many people opt for Mac/Windows over Linux because with linux you have to do all the manual things yourself like installing package, drivers, etc etc.

That's a good way to describe Arq. To Arq, the cloud is just dumb file storage of encrypted blobs of data. Here's all the places that Arq can store to:



Arq also sells a subscription to their own cloud storage, but I already have Dropbox and OneDrive.

Either way, this is a major issue with computing as regular Don Joe doesn't want to read technical features and do multiple installations.

Exactly right.

The whole macFUSE thing is just my counterargument to it being impossible to implement what you want. Since I find it so easy to conceive of a solution, I really think someone has already implemented it. Now that I have the concept, I might take a look around and see if any products fit the bill.

I definitely have consumed too much bandwidth in this thread on my counterargument

 

[Arctic Moose]

Yeah, the idea is to have a backup of my HDD in the cloud. Your method will cause me to use double storage on my HDD. One is my Data , the second is the sparse bundle.

Right, if you want a full clone of your drive, it would.

That is not how I use it though. I have the sparse bundle in my iCloud Drive folder and mount if from there and use it as the only local storage for the documents located in it.

Of course the contents of the iCloud Drive folder is synced to iCloud every time the image is unmounted, but also to Time Machine and Backblaze, along with the rest of the local drive.

 

[MacBH928]

Right, if you want a full clone of your drive, it would.

That is not how I use it though. I have the sparse bundle in my iCloud Drive folder and mount if from there and use it as the only local storage for the documents located in it.

Of course the contents of the iCloud Drive folder is synced to iCloud every time the image is unmounted, but also to Time Machine and Backblaze, along with the rest of the local drive.

does this work? unmounting the sparse bundle locally while its in the cloud?

does have to download the whole sparse bundle first, then reupload all if it again?

 

[Arctic Moose]

does this work? unmounting the sparse bundle locally while its in the cloud?

It needs to be synced to your Mac before you can mount it.

iCloud Drive isn’t a network file system, ANYTHING you look at or edit in iCloud Drive is downloaded before you can do anything, unless of course you are using the web apps.

However, sparse bundles work just fine remotely. My Time Machine backup is in a sparse bundle that is located on a NAS and mounted locally over SMB.

does have to download the whole sparse bundle first, then reupload all if it again?

The whole point of a sparse bundle is that it divides the data into small “bands”, so only the ones that have changed need to be transferred.

If you choose to keep a local copy of your sparse bundle in the iCloud Drive folder you never need to download it, and it works fine even when you don’t have an internet connection.

When it is unmounted (and there is an internet connection) the bands that have changed are synced back to iCloud.