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Author Topic: Cloud backup for large amounts of data ??  (Read 822 times)

jeremyrh

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Cloud backup for large amounts of data ??
« on: September 09, 2019, 05:22:05 am »

I’ve been using Backblaze to back up my photo collection. I’ve been happy with the system, but it has an annoyance that you have to connect any drive you want to back up at least once a month. That’s OK if I’m at home but if I’m travelling for a long period it’s a problem. (a related problem is that my useless internet connection drops from time to time requiring a reboot of the router). I had a look at cloud backup solutions that don’t impose that constraint (Dropbox, Google Drive etc) but for large amounts of data (3-4 Tb) they’re chuffing expensive. Does anyone have an idea of a good alternative – either an alternative strategy or an alternative provider?
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Bart_van_der_Wolf

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Re: Cloud backup for large amounts of data ??
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2019, 09:04:50 am »

I’ve been using Backblaze to back up my photo collection. I’ve been happy with the system, but it has an annoyance that you have to connect any drive you want to back up at least once a month. That’s OK if I’m at home but if I’m travelling for a long period it’s a problem. (a related problem is that my useless internet connection drops from time to time requiring a reboot of the router). I had a look at cloud backup solutions that don’t impose that constraint (Dropbox, Google Drive etc) but for large amounts of data (3-4 Tb) they’re chuffing expensive. Does anyone have an idea of a good alternative – either an alternative strategy or an alternative provider?

IMHO, cloud-storage is nice if one is mobile and still needs access to all one's digital assets. The fact that there is presumed to be a good back-up in place for the stored data is reassuring. But access to very large volumes of data can be slow (or non-existent during connection problems) and the recurring costs can become significant over time. And some Data storage warehouses are not very environmentally friendly, consuming lots of power for running the hardware and for cooling.

With a little effort, it is possible to organize one's own storage and backups on Harddisks which doesn't have to cost much in hardware (depending on how remote access is organized). Making copies of physical storage disks can be very cheap, and doing that periodically / routinely also assures that the data remains readable. Also making duplicates for off-premise storage to protect against fire/water calamities is simple, either by making a physical copy and moving it elsewhere, or by doing it remotely via a network connection.

There are plenty of software solutions one could use, from simple/cheap to very complex enterprise solutions.

I've had good experiences with https://www.storagecraft.com/products/shadowprotect . But I routinely also work with Harddisks in several docks, which makes it easy to make a simple Backup or Synchronize files, and/or make a copy for storage in a fireproof safe.

The required complexity of a storage solution can change over time, but having a simple copy of the files on an external harddisk in a logical directory/folder structure can prevent a lot of headaches. 24/7 access to large volumes of data requires a more complex solution.

Just some thoughts,

Cheers,
Bart
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Slobodan Blagojevic

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Re: Cloud backup for large amounts of data ??
« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2019, 09:38:36 am »

Following.

Peter McLennan

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Re: Cloud backup for large amounts of data ??
« Reply #3 on: September 09, 2019, 10:12:27 am »

I use the same strategy as Bart.  I have about 15 TB of data to manage. I avoid proprietary solutions like RAIDs and backup software and rely on simple drive docks, native OS copying and USB portable drives. 

Drive space is now preposterously cheap. I recently saw advertising for a sub-$200 10 TB drive.  Slow? Probably. I don’t care. Copies can run overnight.

This disadvantage of this system is that it relies on me to perform the regular copying functions to keep the archive up to date and protected.  The advantage is that it’s cheap, simple and redundant.  I have multiple copies of everything.

The only proprietary solution I use is EaseUS for disaster recovery of the OS drive.
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vjbelle

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Re: Cloud backup for large amounts of data ??
« Reply #4 on: September 09, 2019, 04:57:16 pm »

Following.

What does 'Following' mean?  That it's important that 'YOU' are following?

Victor
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Slobodan Blagojevic

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Re: Cloud backup for large amounts of data ??
« Reply #5 on: September 09, 2019, 05:03:06 pm »

What does 'Following' mean?  That it's important that 'YOU' are following?

Not at all. What it does it shows up in the "Show new replies to your posts." It is a subject of interest to me and don't want to miss the replies by others.

fdisilvestro

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Re: Cloud backup for large amounts of data ??
« Reply #6 on: September 09, 2019, 07:55:40 pm »

I’ve been using Backblaze to back up my photo collection. I’ve been happy with the system, but it has an annoyance that you have to connect any drive you want to back up at least once a month. That’s OK if I’m at home but if I’m travelling for a long period it’s a problem. (a related problem is that my useless internet connection drops from time to time requiring a reboot of the router). I had a look at cloud backup solutions that don’t impose that constraint (Dropbox, Google Drive etc) but for large amounts of data (3-4 Tb) they’re chuffing expensive. Does anyone have an idea of a good alternative – either an alternative strategy or an alternative provider?

From the Blackblaze help desk:

https://help.backblaze.com/hc/en-us/articles/217664898-What-happens-to-my-backups-when-I-m-away-or-on-vacation-+9


I personally prefer automated solutions, as I don't have time to handle the multiple disk manually, and store the current data in raid 1 arrays (mirror). In any case, the most important thing is that you test the recovery procedure and make sure you have all events covered. Some people try to restore only after a disk failure and the result is usually not what expected

Some scenarios that you should have covered and tested:

- Disk Failure
- Data corruption / virus
- Raid array failure (If using raid)
- Major disaster (fire, flooding)

Another issue to consider is time to recover. Maybe an amateur does not mind having to wait a couple of days to be back on, but in corporate / professional environments you don't have that luxury.
Having said that, Cloud backups should be the last resort, you should also have a local backup.

digitaldog

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Re: Cloud backup for large amounts of data ??
« Reply #7 on: September 09, 2019, 08:31:13 pm »

Very happy with CrashPlan over the years. Unlimited in terms of data. Been for me, very solid in terms of automatically uploading from multiple drives.
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fdisilvestro

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Re: Cloud backup for large amounts of data ??
« Reply #8 on: September 09, 2019, 08:40:30 pm »

Very happy with CrashPlan over the years. Unlimited in terms of data. Been for me, very solid in terms of automatically uploading from multiple drives.

+1, that's why I use too, but it is a little bit more expensive than Blackblaze.

In any case, you should also connect at least every 6 months to the service to avoid having your backup deleted.

Alan Klein

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Re: Cloud backup for large amounts of data ??
« Reply #9 on: September 09, 2019, 09:38:05 pm »

What cloud cheapest for 2-4TB's?  Also, auto backup.  I don't want  be involved once connected and setup. Let it run real time in the background.

fdisilvestro

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Re: Cloud backup for large amounts of data ??
« Reply #10 on: September 09, 2019, 09:58:42 pm »

What cloud cheapest for 2-4TB's?  Also, auto backup.  I don't want  be involved once connected and setup. Let it run real time in the background.

I would say Blackblaze, $60 per year, unlimited backup

jeremyrh

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DP

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Re: Cloud backup for large amounts of data ??
« Reply #12 on: September 10, 2019, 08:43:03 pm »

In any case, you should also connect at least every 6 months to the service to avoid having your backup deleted.

though that does not affect crashplan backup to a local storage that you can setup in parallel with cloud backup... not that it fixes their stupid (if I continue to pay then keep your hands off my backups) policy ("...If your device has not connected to CrashPlan PRO Online for more than six months, we may delete the backup archives for that device...") but at least provides some options.
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jeremyrh

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Re: Cloud backup for large amounts of data ??
« Reply #13 on: September 11, 2019, 03:16:38 am »

though that does not affect crashplan backup to a local storage that you can setup in parallel with cloud backup... not that it fixes their stupid (if I continue to pay then keep your hands off my backups) policy ("...If your device has not connected to CrashPlan PRO Online for more than six months, we may delete the backup archives for that device...") but at least provides some options.

I keep files from the current year on my internal HD and that is backed up regularly by Time Machine.  I keep older files on an external HD and my original query was about keeping a backup of that on Backblaze. However, it seems that I should just have RTFM, as long as my trips are less than 6 months!

Another possibility that I have seen is to use Arq to back up to an account on Amazon Glacier, but that seems a) hassle and b) not as cheap as BB
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