Moving to the "Cloud" for storage and backups?

If your computer failed to boot, you would not be able to access your cloud backup! I know you have two PCs, but it might be complicated to access your cloud backup on one PC to restore the unbootable one.

I think the cloud is good for storing data, but not as a backup of your operating system. You can back up to a separate partition on the same disk as the Windows OS, but it is safer to back up to an external Device like a USB SSD.

I know of no other storage/backup solution that has seemingly caused more headaches than OneDrive!!! Completely counterintuitive to say the least!!!
('cept maybe Google Drive!!!)

jimbo45 said:

Using a NAS etc --is fine -- but even a NAS needs to have at least one copy of backup -- but again I think if your home was ravaged by fire / flood, earthquake, thermo nuclear war etc etc !! I'm sure you'd have far bigger problems to contend with than loss of some data however irreplaceable. Unpredictable events can (and do) happen - just look at that recent meteor strike in Russia recently - near a largish city in a stable area (no flood / earthquake etc risks) that could have caused real massive destruction .

Cheers
jimbo

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I don't think you read my whole backup post. You're right, a simple NAS is clearly not enough. However, I have automated backups to a separate physical drive on my system as my first layer. The automated backups to the NAS are another level. The NAS has a 5TB USB drive that it does it's own backups of the data store on the NAS, that's independent of anything I do on my computer. My NAS is in the basement in a concrete block enclosure, it's pretty well protected from fire. In addition, in the case of a fire the house is also equipped with sprinklers and a central fire alarm, so that's pretty well covered. Were my house is, floods are pretty much a non-issue, and SE-PA is not exactly an earthquake zone. As far as thermonuclear attack, the data will be the least of my worries in that case! In addition, all my really important data is in the cloud at MEGA. Finally, I have two 4TB USB NVMe drives that get alternated every other week for a complete backup of all my computer drives and are off-line at any other time. When I go on vacation or a trip, I take my most recent backup drive with me (yes they are encrypted to protect the data). All the backups of important data are verified every time they're created and they are differential backups, most with five generations. My weekly boot drive full backups are are saved for 12 generations.

I may still lose data, but it's probably not going to be from lack of backups.

I hate the way OneDrive activates with no option to not use it. It is constantly busy uploading which slows down any downloads. I use the tutorial on this website to disable it and I do it often as OneDrive is as relentless as a leech.

It's mesmerizing that you need a master's degree to use OneDrive!

I've used ModiDrive and Proton Drive in the past. YOU choose folders, YOU put items in those folders, it's mirrored in the cloud, period! Never the twain feck with each other! Simple!

kelper said:

If your computer failed to boot, you would not be able to access your cloud backup! I know you have two PCs, but it might be complicated to access your cloud backup on one PC to restore the unbootable one.

I think the cloud is good for storing data, but not as a backup of your operating system. You can back up to a separate partition on the same disk as the Windows OS, but it is safer to back up to an external Device like a USB SSD.

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The backup for the boot drive would be problematic, but I can always get to my data, even from my phone. I can also get to the data from any other computer since I know the login for my password manager. In my case, my backup computer is kept up to date with all the applications that I use, and my Thunderbird email client database is backed up every day to the NAS. If my main computer doesn't boot, it's pretty trivial to pop the NVMe drives into my NVMe drive enclosure to access any data on the main or backup drive.

I don't backup my whole PC, so I'm pretty ignorant... do any of these Reflect-Hasleo-type things have an option to boot from, for example, a PE USB drive and download an image from a cloudy source?

pseymour said:

I don't backup my whole PC, so I'm pretty ignorant... do any of these Reflect-Hasleo-type things have an option to boot from, for example, a PE USB drive and download an image from a cloudy source?

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I suspect they do, but I've never looked. If my multiple local backups all fail, I'll be reinstalling Windows. There has to be countless ways to skin the cat, however I settled on my way and so far I'm satisfied with it.

pseymour said:

I don't backup my whole PC, so I'm pretty ignorant... do any of these Reflect-Hasleo-type things have an option to boot from, for example, a PE USB drive and download an image from a cloudy source?

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Yes. With Macrium Reflect I can create a rescue boot USB drive at any time using any computer and restore from anywhere I've saved a Macrium Reflect image of my entire C: drive.

TraderGary said:

Yes. With Macrium Reflect I can create a rescue boot USB drive at any time using any computer and restore from anywhere I've saved a Macrium Reflect image of my entire C: drive.

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Does it restore directly from the cloud? From what I read it's limited to specific cloud services, Azure File Shares. FWIW, Acronis TI also has cloud capability, but I've never looked into it.

gunrunnerjohn said:

Does it restore directly from the cloud?

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All that's needed is access to a file. I would never store an image on the cloud as it would store/restore at the speed of my Internet connection and be unbearably slow.

gunrunnerjohn said:

From what I read it's limited to specific cloud services, Azure File Shares. FWIW, Acronis TI also has cloud capability, but I've never looked into it.

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TraderGary said:

All that's needed is access to a file. I would never store an image on the cloud as it would store/restore at the speed of my Internet connection and be unbearably slow.

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Well, I confess that gigabit connections have spoiled me. Hopefully, any imaging application can restore from a file!

When I boot into Macrium Reflect PE or RE environment, it has WiFi access. So you absolutely could restore from an image file you had saved online anywhere.

gunrunnerjohn said:

Well, I confess that gigabit connections have spoiled me. Hopefully, any imaging application can restore from a file!

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My current Internet speed right now is 960 Mbps, almost gigabit, and when I do a W11 clean install and download my OneDrive data of almost 200 GB, it takes several hours to complete.

Do you mean 2TB? 2GB should take about 18 seconds at 960 Mbps.

TraderGary said:

My current Internet speed right now is 960 Mbps, almost gigabit, and when I do a W11 clean install and download my OneDrive data of almost 2 GB, it takes several hours to complete.

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WOW, I can download the a 5G file in minutes, why does it take so long? Obviously, the installation process for Windows is longer, I was just referring to the download times.

gunrunnerjohn said:

WOW, I can download the a 5G file in minutes, why does it take so long? Obviously, the installation process for Windows is longer, I was just referring to the download times.

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I edited 2 GB to 200 GB. I'm at the mercy of the Microsoft servers for my 1TB of cloud OneDrive. For day to day work though, my OneDrive feels like real-time.

This is a very controversial topic and eveybody's going to have an opinion on it. As above if you have MS365 you already have at your disposal 1TB of storage, but be aware of a few things. If data security is a factor and you want or need to back up to the cloud, make sure you encrypt your data at rest. I'd also make sure where physically your data is being stored. Cloud storage providers have storage farms all over the world. In most cases you have no idea where your data actually physically resides. In some places like China, the governement has unfettered access to data stored in their country. In addition, it might be a good idea to read the fine print on who actually "owns" that data. Several foreign countries have laws that data stored in their country is "owned" by that company and/or country. Another consideration is that cloud storage (depending on how much you need to store) can get expensive, and after a few years you may have invested enough where you could have implemented your own cloud using a NAS. Backing up with a NAS is very easy and your data is generlly available locally, but you can also implement your own private cloud remotely if you want and make it accessible over the internet. You should also adhere to the 3-2-1 rule to prevent loss.

There are dozens of very good YouTube videos on how to sucessfully implement backups, This one covers one implementation using a Synology NAS, but there are many solutions available.

I am in the process of "cutting the cord" on cloud storage favoring a localized NAS solution, it's easier and safer.

It all really depends on accessibily, avaliability, reliability, security and cost. All of these need factor into your decision.

Jabiru

As I can read, I do not want advice on a ten minute video when I could read the same info in a minute. Written instructions are far more useful, especially when printed.

kelper said:

As I can read, I do not want advice on a ten minute video when I could read the same info in a minute. Written instructions are far more useful, especially when printed.

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I'll just say a big AMEN to that! It drives me nuts when people refer me to a video when the issue could be resolved in a few sentences!