By this I mean what is the smoothest backup/sync experience I can have with the EX2 and the two Macs and iPhones in my household…?
For the Macs I have given up on the idea of getting Time Machine to work. As it is it would take 17 hours for me to complete the initial Time Machine backup over my LAN. And anyway I’m sceptical that were one of the laptops really to die on me that I’d be able to restore the entire system from the EX2 drive. I tried installing the desktop WD Sync application but it seems to be outdated. What is the best way to set up scheduled cloud backups (preferably versioned) of selected folders on my computer?
For the phones I have installed the My Cloud app and I’m able to backup new photos with the Auto backup feature. This requires me to remember to start the app and preferably to set the lock screen to never. I can live with this but is there a way for the backup to do all of the albums (not just the camera roll) and also sort the photos according to the photo albums? If not, restoring from this backup will be tedious.
Thanks for reading and I appreciate any input that can help me better understand the strengths of the EX2.
Personally - - → I am skeptical of “restore your HD” type options. I wonder how many people test that functionality and actually succeed.
For my money - - → in the Windows world - - → I generally think doing a fresh O/S install from a clean, updated O/S image is not a bad idea every few years. Then you reinstall the software you want - - -and have a fresh start.
With the modern installation files and whatnot- - -it’s not that bad. I use the NAS mainly as data file backup (and a source for my installation files)
As for backup software - - → I will let others chime in. I have never really gotten to the point that I trust any of it to work upon demand.
Personally - - → I am skeptical of “restore your HD” type options. I wonder how many people test that functionality and actually succeed .
I agree. I’ve tested two times when I really needed it and neither have worked.
For my money - - → in the Windows world - - → I generally think doing a fresh O/S install from a clean, updated O/S image is not a bad idea every few years. Then you reinstall the software you want - - -and have a fresh start.
I agree with this as well. As long as the failures are that far apart it probably makes sense to do a clean install every 2-3 years. At least for Windows and Mac. I wish this wasn’t true. I wish the systems were able to truly declutter by themselves, but yes it does still seem to be the case.
As for backup software - - → I will let others chime in. I have never really gotten to the point that I trust any of it to work upon demand.
You may be correct on this point as well, but I certainly hope you are not. I just can’t believe that something so essential as backups hasn’t been automated past the point I’m currently able to achieve.
The main advantage I was hoping a NAS could offer vs cloud storage was that in the case of failure I could just plug the backup drive into my computer and din’t have to download 1TB of my data from the cloud at speeds regulated by the service (at least Google Drive isn’t particularly fast). But I’m finding that NAS’ use their own file system and therefore you would need to transfer the files via your router. And for that to happen at a reasonable speed it would need to be connected to the LAN and our newer laptops no longer have that port.
But now realizing that there is no automated sync options, and no versioning offered in the WD software I’m beginning to long for a cloud based system after all. There might be some paid apps that do this with the EX2, right? But unless they are really cheap it’s like paying double, first for the hardware and then the software, vs just a 9,99/month package.
If there are some uses and features I’m forgetting please do enlighten me before I return the device
the power of a NAS is the fact it is plugged into a router. Available for simultaneous use to all the ‘puters at the same time, not just the one you are plugged into.
call me skeptical: I can’t see cloud services as an option for terabytes of personal data. First - it’s on the web. Just one change in a click-through license agreement to your data being someone else’s data. Do you really trust google to not data mine it? Second: what if someone discontinues the service? Poof gone.
For my money; I have an annual offsite usb backup PLUS an on-site USB backup PLUS the NAS.
My secret: my “master copy” is actually on a usb drive. There is no data on the PCs themselves. Makes it trivial to swap between using desktop and laptop.
why, oh why do the most expensive lap tops have the fewest ports? The least repairability?
The disposable consumer culture at work
My solution: USB hubs. The beauty of USB 3.1 and USB C is bandwidth. I have a usb hub/port replicator. One USB cable provides laptops with Wired Ethernet, usb sound card with 5.1 speakers, multiple USB ports, and dual monitors. Any serious job, I plug the laptop into the hub.
Don’t want to get a USB port replicator? There are USB Ethernet jacks you can buy for cheap.
Interesting points about trust issues with the cloud providers. I never give up privacy when there are other reasonable options. On the other hand I haven’t taken many precautions to actually protect our privacy eg though internet activity, browsing, email, proxies… so I sadly assume there will always be a way to get my data for someone motivated enough. As for longevity I trust that Dropbox, iCloud or Google will be around for 5+ years which is enough for me to commit.
For my money; I have an annual offsite usb backup PLUS an on-site USB backup PLUS the NAS.
This sounds semi-secure but definitely nothing compared to revisioned daily offsite backups (plus a, say, monthly on-site usb backup). I’ve always wondered how the hosting services never have drive failures… they must have at least two copies of everything right?
My secret: my “master copy” is actually on a usb drive. There is no data on the PCs themselves. Makes it trivial to swap between using desktop and laptop.
Fascinating. I can see how that could bring with it lots of advantages in mobility as well as recovering from hd failures. The only tradeoff is perhaps some comfort lost in always having a drive dangling from the laptop. And of course some would say running the system off an external storage will slow down performance. I remember a friend told me about the SD-card adapters made for the older macbooks to fit smoothly with the exterior. A great way to increase storage capacity.
I have a nice USB replicator, but didn’t know there were adapters for Ethernet. Seems obvious now but didn’t cross my mind. It’s a good point and if it works well with the NAS my argument about slow data retrieval is moot.
I’m considering adding Dropbox into my strategy to take care of syncing and versioning.
Apparently it can sync both iPhone camera rolls and one mac folder. So I would put all of my files in that folder. Can anyone verify that the Ex2 can keep up-to-date backups of my Dropbox folder? Is this easy to set up? How often does it ping the server for changes? Is this a feature the WD My Cloud Home products cannot do?
This would of course require paying for another service and cutting down my synced files to only the most important 2TB. But theoretically it would be very easy and all I’d need to remember is to do a manual time machine of my system files say once a month.
I have not found the external drives to be slow. I routinely use Lightroom off a HDD with no problem. For games and the like. . . I use the computer’s HDD or SSD. For spreadsheets and the like. . .the HDD is fine in terms of speed.
I am not bothered by the dangling USB drive on a laptop; If I am doing a bunch of stuff on the go - - I do put things on the laptop as appropriate for convenience. Then transfer off at a convenient time.
In all honesty, I started using the External drives a while back when my HOME machine was a desktop. My work laptop, technically owned by my employer, was inappropriate to store TB worth of photos and what not. But considering how much I travelled. . . .I needed my home stuff with me.
My backup frequency was generally driven by how often I get on a plane. . . . If the plane lands in the river, or something else goofy happens (I have experienced some goofy scenes) I don’t want to think twice about the computer bag when I am fearing for personal safety.
I am also not concerned enough about drive failure to bother with daily backups. . . .it’s not like drives really fail every day. Natural disasters don’t happen that often either. I have only had one house hit by a natural disaster. . . and I am not young. . . . and I am dealing with more than one house. (and even then, I had a few days warning of the event).
Dropbox has it’s advantages. For one. . .they have server redundancy. . . for “mission critical” stuff; there is much to be said for it. I am more or less “forced” to use OneDrive for work. It DOES get the job done.
For personal stuff; no thank you. I wear my tin-foil hat proudly. Which is why I have a NAS box. . .don’t trust OneDrive or DropBox enough. I prefer to roll my own.
