[REQUEST] 3 macs all in one backup solution

[TECCS]

A customer of mine has recently had there mac break non repairable but HDD in tact.

She had a chat with me today saying they have an old imac, a new macbook pro, a soon to be new Imac if the insurance will pay. numerous iphones and ipads

They are looking to get all the devices working together and backing up all in one place and accessing files etc.

This is a home computer setup.

Would a NAS be the best option here?

Thanks in advance


Tom

 

[Archon Prime]

Sounds logical. the iOS devices are going to use iCloud for backup though. They can ensure that it's all done that way and if they want to have photos going to one of the desktop/laptops from there as a sync. Otherwise, for local backups, probably want to look at a Timecapsule or another 3rd party network storage device, maybe with multiple drives. Each computer could have it's own drive with Time Machine.

Something like this

https://www.synology.com/en-us/know...es_from_Mac_to_Synology_NAS_with_Time_Machine

 

[Slaters Kustum Machines]

I have used Western Digital My Cloud for this. Well it was actually a mixed Windows - Mac environment and it worked perfectly. There are options from 2-16 TB.

Here is a link for the dual drive (mirrored) options: https://www.wdc.com/products/personal-cloud-storage/my-cloud-mirror-gen2.html

 

[Markverhyden]

Both Synology as well as FreeNAS do perfectly well as Time Machine destinations. Personally I use FreeNAS as it's a much bigger solution, have something like 24TB in an old server case. iCloud is pretty simple but do not provide a full image backup option. I'd recommend adding a cloud solution, iDrive has a referral program where you can get paid. But other do as well.

 

[timeshifter]

Time Machine and or Time Capsule is the only solution I'd recommend.

Time Machine is the built-in backup software for the Mac that is the best thing since sliced bread. If you're not familiar with it you should study up on it. Hourly backups for the last 24 hours, daily backups for the last week, weekly backups going back as far as space allow. You can restore an individual file (or even a contact record or other item) or the entire computer to any of those points in time. Awesome.

Time Machine requires a drive connected to the Mac. Time Capsule is the same thing but is a shared device, so you can backup multiple Macs over the network.

As mentioned there are 3rd party products that will backup and even do Time Machine to their NAS, but I'm a lot more comfortable with a purely Apple endorsed solution, especially when it's crunch time and you're recovering from a disaster.

If their Macs all have the latest OS you could use iCloud drive. It will backup their Documents and Desktop folders from the Macs. Just make sure they have enough space in iCloud and that they don't let their plan lapse.

 

[Mainstay]

iOS devices backup to cloud (pay the $1 / month for increased storage) OR to the iMac via iTunes sync (happens whenever in WiFi range and battery is sufficiently charged).

OS X systems backup to a Time Capsule.

done.

 

[Markverhyden]

Apple stopped supporting wireless last year, which includes TC. That's why I stopped recommending TC's a while ago.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ndon-development-of-wireless-routers-ivs0ssec

 

[Mainstay]

Apple stopped supporting wireless last year, which includes TC. That's why I stopped recommending TC's a while ago.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ndon-development-of-wireless-routers-ivs0ssec

I missed this news release. A TC can be wired, of course... but if you think their whole product lineup is kaput then sure, abandon it.

Hmmm - then I'd go with a 2 drive QNAP. If it was just a single computer, I'd use a plain old USB drive.

In fact... thinking on this... I'd just use two USB drives, each computer has it's own backups.

 

[Archon Prime]

In fact... thinking on this... I'd just use two USB drives, each computer has it's own backups.

Be better though to have that NAS in Raid 1 at least for the backups. I don't think it would be beneficial to just have the 1 drive hookup. Depends on the client. If they have a lot of important data, then sure, otherwise an external might just work hooked up to the parent machine.

 

[Mainstay]

Single usb is simpler. I'd always couple it with BackBlaze or Acronis Cloud. 3-2-1 rule still applies.

 

[timeshifter]

Apple stopped supporting wireless last year, which includes TC. That's why I stopped recommending TC's a while ago.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ndon-development-of-wireless-routers-ivs0ssec

To clarify: the news reports are that Apple won't be making any new wireless products like the Time Capsule. They are still selling them and still providing support.

 

[timeshifter]

The added benefit of a Time Capsule or other network backup device, is that the backups have an actual chance of happening.

If you leave a disk with someone and tell them to plug it in once a week or whatever, the chances that they'll do that are pretty low. I've seen it many times.

 

[Markverhyden]

To clarify: the news reports are that Apple won't be making any new wireless products like the Time Capsule. They are still selling them and still providing support.

Everything I read said they had shutdown the division and re-assigned all the engineering team. In my book answering the phone does not constitute real support if there no one to issue patches and fixes. I've not seen a firmware update in ages.

 

[timeshifter]

That's a good point. It's a shame they abandoned that market. That news came out just a week or two after the JD Powers rating put Apple WiFi hardware at the top.

Depending on your budget and tempermanent and the customer's... you could get a used TC on eBay for about $80 and put a bigger drive in it. I've got one at home that I use with a 3TB drive.

Years ago I was soured on the idea of a 3rd party TC backup after all kinds of hassles keeping an HP Home Server box with Time Machine compatibility. It only worked well for a short period of time and even then it required some kind of special driver on the Mac. I know things have gotten much better with Synology and others, but I'm still a little gun-shy.

 

[TECCS]

Thanks for all the information guys. I will look into it. I was thinking the time capsule. I used to have one a while ago. I am concerned a little with individual drives especcially on the macbook. and i know the time capsule speciffically says more than one backup via time machine. I also know it will just work!!

I will however research the other options as they have been great