Is this a good plan?

[SigmundJake229]

Hello! I am considering the following as a plan to migrate from iCloud to a home server to back up my:

• iPhone 15 Pro x 2
• 2023 IPad Pro x 2
• 2020 MacBook Pro
• 2011 MacBook Pro (used to operate CNC machine only)
• 2022 Dell laptop
• 225gb of photos, videos and documents

Currently, we pay 10.99 per month for iCloud 2tb. The good is it is easy, solid and reliable. The not so good is it is a monthly fee.

My thoughts are to purchase a used Mac Mini vintage 2014, I7, 16gb ram, 256gb ssd. Hooked up with 2-2gb hdd or ssd via USB3.

My question is: is this a solid plan or should I simply stick with the iCloud subscription? It would take about 3 years to break even.

Thank you to the group for your comments.

 

[frou]

Have you heard of the 3-2-1 rule for backups?

If following that, iCloud would be the "1" that complements your home server, rather than being in competition with it.

 

[SigmundJake229]

Have you heard of the 3-2-1 rule for backups?

If following that, iCloud would be the "1" that complements your home server, rather than being in competition with it.

I have but it’s been a long time ago. Talking back in the days of tape backups! In fact, I was a part of this when I would bring home a tape backup from my employer once per week in a special bag on Fridays and bring the previous week tape back on Monday.

The article you provided was very informative. Thank you for that. Something tells me that I need to mull over my concept and proceed once the vision of what I’m attempting to do becomes more clear. Yes I was originally thinking of replacing not augmenting the cloud storage. i also am going to bang around on that website for further information. Again, thanks!

 

[frou]

Great, you're welcome.

I guess another thing is that for the purists out there, many aspects of iCloud are not strictly speaking a backup system but rather a two-way sync system. The difference being that iCloud can autonomously reach out and delete data on your devices, whereas backing up is a one-way street.

 

[SigmundJake229]

Great, you're welcome.

I guess another thing is that for the purists out there, many aspects of iCloud are not strictly speaking a backup system but rather a two-way sync system. The difference being that iCloud can autonomously reach out and delete data on your devices, whereas backing up is a one-way street.

I noticed that difference when I read through the info on that website. While my data is stored on iCloud, it’s not compressed and truly backed up. Makes me also wonder if I would be better served by an NAS but I’m still researching that piece out.

What gets confusing is we just bought two new iPhones, and when we set them up, it restored them from data from the old phones on iCloud.

I do agree that I need to enhance my backup plan and look at something in addition to iCloud rather than replace it.

Again, I appreciate your efforts to help a stranger here.

 

[Brian33]

• 225gb of photos, videos and documents

Currently, we pay 10.99 per month for iCloud 2tb. The good is it is easy, solid and reliable. The not so good is it is a monthly fee.

My thoughts are to purchase a used Mac Mini vintage 2014, I7, 16gb ram, 256gb ssd. Hooked up with 2-2gb hdd or ssd via USB3.

My question is: is this a solid plan or should I simply stick with the iCloud subscription? It would take about 3 years to break even.

It appears that your main goal is to stop paying 10.99/mo for iCloud. A good goal, IMHO, but keep in mind that if you don't use "iCloud Photos", then you will need to keep your full Photos library on one of your devices, and if that device is a Mac (which I recommend), then you will have to transfer new photos from the iPhone and iPad periodically, to get them into the Photos library (and to have them backed up). To get them onto the "photos" Mac, I think you would have to manually connect the i-device with a cable to the Mac (I used to do that, but have been using iCloud Photos for a long time now). If that's OK with you, I can make suggestions about storage and backup.

(I'm assuming that of your 225GB of iCloud data, the vast majority is comprised of photo and video files kept in the Photos app. I'm also assuming that you want a single Photos Library, with all of your photos/videos in it, and not a separate, partial, library on each i-device.)

I suggest keeping the Photos library on a Mac because: (a) it's easy to add plenty of external storage, (b) it's more pleasant for editing/organizing/viewing photos on the larger screen, and (c) I don't know how to back up photos from an i-device to external storage -- although I'm sure it's not that hard!

I don't see a requirement for a Mac Mini. It seems to me you could use the 2020 MacBook Pro, with one or two external drives. If the MBP doesn't have enough storage space internally, it's easy to put the Photos library on an external SSD. In any case, you'd also want a separate external drive for backup. If that's too many drives to plug/unplug to a portable computer, there are docking solutions so you just have one cable to unplug when you need to take the MBP out.

However, if instead you wanted to use or repurpose an older Mini, that should work well, too. You don't even need a monitor permanently connected to it -- you can use the built-in Screen Sharing app on your MBP to graphically connect to the Mini.

Very important: if you decide to have the "master library" on a Mac, you must go into Photo's preferences, check "iCloud Photos", and "Download Originals to this Mac". Be sure all your originals are downloaded before unchecking "iCloud Photos".

Once the Photos library is at home on a Mac, you can decide how many and what type of backup copies to have. Obviously you need at least one. If you want a second local backup, you could just attach another external drive, or use a NAS if you really want to (but seems like a big expense to me). If you want an off-site backup, you could pay monthly (there we go again!) for an Internet-based backup, or you could periodically make a copy to an external which you store elsewhere (e.g., a relative's or friend's house).

This is just one idea. In theory you could copy the photos libraries from your iPhone and iPad onto external drives. (Assuming your i-devices have enough internal storage for all your photos/videos.) Someone else might have good suggestions for that.

I really like the convenience of iCloud Photos. BUT, I don't trust it completely. I also have local and offsite backups of my Photos library. I don't consider iCloud Photos a good backup. What if something goes wrong with it, and your photos are deleted from iCloud? They'd also get deleted from your devices, and could possibly be gone forever. Normally when something is deleted, it's kept for 30 days in "Recently Deleted", but... you know, bugs happen. What I'm saying is, IMHO, even if you continue with iCloud Photos, I'd recommend making at least one local backup copy of your Photos library. (Whew, off my soapbox!)

What gets confusing is we just bought two new iPhones, and when we set them up, it restored them from data from the old phones on iCloud.

This one little part of "iCloud" actually is a backup. This one feature, that backs up your i-devices. Although it only keeps one version (the latest), as far as I know.

The other iCloud features, like iCloud Photos, iCloud Drive, Desktop and Documents in iCloud, application data like Notes, Pages, Numbers --- those are IMHO not backups but data synchronizing features.

 

[SigmundJake229]

It appears that your main goal is to stop paying 10.99/mo for iCloud. A good goal, IMHO, but keep in mind that if you don't use "iCloud Photos", then you will need to keep your full Photos library on one of your devices, and if that device is a Mac (which I recommend), then you will have to transfer new photos from the iPhone and iPad periodically, to get them into the Photos library (and to have them backed up). To get them onto the "photos" Mac, I think you would have to manually connect the i-device with a cable to the Mac (I used to do that, but have been using iCloud Photos for a long time now). If that's OK with you, I can make suggestions about storage and backup.

(I'm assuming that of your 225GB of iCloud data, the vast majority is comprised of photo and video files kept in the Photos app. I'm also assuming that you want a single Photos Library, with all of your photos/videos in it, and not a separate, partial, library on each i-device.)

I suggest keeping the Photos library on a Mac because: (a) it's easy to add plenty of external storage, (b) it's more pleasant for editing/organizing/viewing photos on the larger screen, and (c) I don't know how to back up photos from an i-device to external storage -- although I'm sure it's not that hard!

I don't see a requirement for a Mac Mini. It seems to me you could use the 2020 MacBook Pro, with one or two external drives. If the MBP doesn't have enough storage space internally, it's easy to put the Photos library on an external SSD. In any case, you'd also want a separate external drive for backup. If that's too many drives to plug/unplug to a portable computer, there are docking solutions so you just have one cable to unplug when you need to take the MBP out.

However, if instead you wanted to use or repurpose an older Mini, that should work well, too. You don't even need a monitor permanently connected to it -- you can use the built-in Screen Sharing app on your MBP to graphically connect to the Mini.

Very important: if you decide to have the "master library" on a Mac, you must go into Photo's preferences, check "iCloud Photos", and "Download Originals to this Mac". Be sure all your originals are downloaded before unchecking "iCloud Photos".

Once the Photos library is at home on a Mac, you can decide how many and what type of backup copies to have. Obviously you need at least one. If you want a second local backup, you could just attach another external drive, or use a NAS if you really want to (but seems like a big expense to me). If you want an off-site backup, you could pay monthly (there we go again!) for an Internet-based backup, or you could periodically make a copy to an external which you store elsewhere (e.g., a relative's or friend's house).

This is just one idea. In theory you could copy the photos libraries from your iPhone and iPad onto external drives. (Assuming your i-devices have enough internal storage for all your photos/videos.) Someone else might have good suggestions for that.

I really like the convenience of iCloud Photos. BUT, I don't trust it completely. I also have local and offsite backups of my Photos library. I don't consider iCloud Photos a good backup. What if something goes wrong with it, and your photos are deleted from iCloud? They'd also get deleted from your devices, and could possibly be gone forever. Normally when something is deleted, it's kept for 30 days in "Recently Deleted", but... you know, bugs happen. What I'm saying is, IMHO, even if you continue with iCloud Photos, I'd recommend making at least one local backup copy of your Photos library. (Whew, off my soapbox!)


This one little part of "iCloud" actually is a backup. This one feature, that backs up your i-devices. Although it only keeps one version (the latest), as far as I know.

The other iCloud features, like iCloud Photos, iCloud Drive, Desktop and Documents in iCloud, application data like Notes, Pages, Numbers --- those are IMHO not backups but data synchronizing features.

First of all, thank you Brian for taking the time to explain yourself and your solution to my problem. Well it really isn’t that much of a problem (yet) and I want to keep it from becoming a real problem.

I actually have one of those docking ports for my MacBook Pro. It does have 2 usb ports on it. My thoughts of an old mini was that it could be out of the way, next to my router, on a shelf with a couple of external drives attached to it. I don’t have a desk that my MBP sits on currently, although I have been looking around for one. If I had a desk for it, it would be no big deal to leave it plugged in and backing up my files, pictures and videos to. I have a few external drives floating around here somewhere. They are rather old (like 10+ yrs old) and I am hesitant to use them for much of anything. I could use one for a “Dropbox” though. I design things on a windows laptop (cause my design software only runs on windows) then put it on my iCloud to be picked up by my antique 2011 MBP which controls my CNC machine. I also save my designs to Icloud (windows laptop only has a small sdd in it).
Anyhow, you provided me with something useful to ponder. I am very appreciative of your response. I am thinking I may need to educate myself on the ins and outs of photo organization. Currently, our photos are indexed by date. Useful, but there has to be better ways. As the Iphones got better and better cameras, the picture volume greatly increases. These new iPhone 15 Pros have amazing cameras on them. But higher resolution equals more space as well. Thanks again Brian!