Using Cloud Storage

[glenerrolrd]

Recently I started to use Apple s Cloud storage to back up almost everything on my Mac Book . Its not too expensive and 1 TB storage has been enough to handle the files . (I store my photo libraries off line and handle back up specific to those requirements on local drives ).

But...I never expected to be limited by ISP ..both ATT and Xfinity have 1 TB limits per month . Now I find that I routinely exceed these and would have to upgrade at $50 month to have unlimited service .

I know the work arounds ..no more loading images to the desktop even temporarily for example. Push as much as possible off the main drive in the MacBook Pro .

Any other ideas ? Sort off makes Cloud storage impractical for photography .

 

[docmoore]

I am a bit confused ... would assume that the cloud storage would only upload new or changed files.

If you are not using it for your photos then how do you exceed 1TB per month?

Bob

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

If you use Time Machine to cloud storage, I'm not surprised that there's a lot of traffic. TM seems to move hundreds or MB of data around also when there's little or no change on the host disk. I don't know what the reason is for this.

I'm very sceptical to cloud storage. There are obviously costs involved, which Glen confirms, and how safe is it? I have automatic TM backup at the three locations I usually stay, the office, at home and the weekend apartment. For photos, I have 2 x 4TB 2.5" disks that room all my photos with 2TB empty so far. Those two disks are always in my bags, and they are backed up using CCC to 8TB (2+2+4) at the same three locations. It's old-tech, but reliable, fast and easy to understand for a semi-old man.

 

[Frankly]

I do a few offsite drives in case of fire or disaster but they may be a year out of sync. Which isn't the end of the world in the case of such a disaster.

In the case of a real disaster, like a national EMF failure, a meteor, nuclear bomb, etc. then what does it matter? Simply getting back from survival mode will be years of distraction from worrying about your photos and pointless business records.

I do take my portfolio - 200 images - and upload it to free cloud storage but not TBs of everything. I also will make large jpgs of my best work and put it on my website, Flickr, etc. since in a worse case scenario you could pull them off of there and still have a workable portfolio.

I can also fit the essential non-photo stuff onto a 32gb flash drive and stash those around or even put one in my car, keychain, etc. (Encrypted)

Honestly if my art and professional portfolio got destroyed I'd feel bad but could keep on working, after all you're only as good as your last photo. But what would gut me is loosing the old family photos, kids growing up, etc. That's often why people die in house fires.

Prioritize and Minimize!

 

[glenerrolrd]

Thanks for the insights . My issue is not about a back up strategy for my photos ..but rather having a back up of my MacBook Pro HD . Yes TM does that but you need to run TM frequently and take your TM drive with you . The cost of 1TB of cloud storage is about $10month ..hardly an issue . However its the limitation on my ISP (both Xfinity and ATT have 1TB per month limits ) then its $50 month to get unlimited .

My MBP has a 2TB SSD drive and I was using about 750GB ....with my raw files off line on a another 2TB SSD . I use LR for all my post processing being primarily a Leica shooter with an M,SL and S ....can t quite use Capture One .

Obviously the way to solve this problem is to analyze the traffic or usage of the Cloud storage . Two primary culprits ...my desktop (which is messy ) and my iTunes library . The desktop is the killer ..because as I keep my permanent raw files off the MBP ...I start by downloading new images to my desktop . After a few quick attempts at editing ...I move the folder to my offline Master . But in the mean time I might have 50-100GB of DNG s on the desktop. Sloppy but that is not it .

It was the LR folder which was 270GB in itself ...how could it be ? The short answer is the Previews were not clearing after a day as setup ..in fact they were never clearing . This is a bug in LR ..so check your preview file . My settings are correct and it never clears or even resets to a smaller size . The forums have plenty of support for my bug theory .

My other big one was my iTunes library which is huge containing lots of videos . Time to clean it up and take things off line . :

My final nail was that my wife of course shares the ISP connection and she loves the fact that she just backed up 40K images to her iCloud account and streams Netflix 4K like its never ending .

I think I maybe doomed to paying the $50 month . :banghead:

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

I think I maybe doomed to paying the $50 month . :banghead:

We are mostly here to keep our suppliers happy and profitable. What other reasons are there for human life on earth?

 

[T.Karma]

We are mostly here to keep our suppliers happy and profitable. What other reasons are there for human life on earth?

If so, then we are here to get a better deal.

 

[algrove]

I use LR for all my post processing being primarily a Leica shooter with an M,SL and S ....can t quite use Capture One .

I think I maybe doomed to paying the $50 month . :banghead:

As you said, you are doomed, just pay up. No other solution with that many variables.

 

[iiiNelson]

Thanks for the insights . My issue is not about a back up strategy for my photos ..but rather having a back up of my MacBook Pro HD . Yes TM does that but you need to run TM frequently and take your TM drive with you . The cost of 1TB of cloud storage is about $10month ..hardly an issue . However its the limitation on my ISP (both Xfinity and ATT have 1TB per month limits ) then its $50 month to get unlimited .

My MBP has a 2TB SSD drive and I was using about 750GB ....with my raw files off line on a another 2TB SSD . I use LR for all my post processing being primarily a Leica shooter with an M,SL and S ....can t quite use Capture One .

Obviously the way to solve this problem is to analyze the traffic or usage of the Cloud storage . Two primary culprits ...my desktop (which is messy ) and my iTunes library . The desktop is the killer ..because as I keep my permanent raw files off the MBP ...I start by downloading new images to my desktop . After a few quick attempts at editing ...I move the folder to my offline Master . But in the mean time I might have 50-100GB of DNG s on the desktop. Sloppy but that is not it .

It was the LR folder which was 270GB in itself ...how could it be ? The short answer is the Previews were not clearing after a day as setup ..in fact they were never clearing . This is a bug in LR ..so check your preview file . My settings are correct and it never clears or even resets to a smaller size . The forums have plenty of support for my bug theory .

My other big one was my iTunes library which is huge containing lots of videos . Time to clean it up and take things off line . :

My final nail was that my wife of course shares the ISP connection and she loves the fact that she just backed up 40K images to her iCloud account and streams Netflix 4K like its never ending .

I think I maybe doomed to paying the $50 month . :banghead:

Have you thought about BackBlaze as an alternative?