Beginner What is the best cloud back up service?

Messages
673
Name
Aura
Edit My Images
Yes
I've tried Google drive, but it takes ages. Flickre is on the way out, I don't have much money and I used portable sticks. What would you recommend please?
 
What is it you’re looking to backup. I use Backblaze to back up my entire hard, it takes ages initially but then it only uploads the changes, new files. It costs about £3.5 ish a month or £40 for the year (pricing is in usd). I can send you a link for a free month if you want to give it a try. Alternatively there is also Dropbox, MS Cloud, iCloud although for storing copies although I wouldn’t describe these as a true backup just secondary storage and for viewing images in the world, whereas Backblaze runs in the background amending your backup automatically as you make changes
 
What is it about Google drive that takes ages?
The upload to any cloud provider will take about the same amount of time. I am not sure what your issue with Google drive is, could you clarify?
 
First check your upload and download speed using a site like this:

http://www.speedtest.net/

Your network might be the limiting factor.

Microsoft gives you 1TB of OneDrive storage with their Office 365 Personal package for £60 a year. Google One does 2TB for £80 a year.
 
Last edited:
Lately, I often come across positive feedback of Amazon storage, but personally, I'm not familiar with it. Also, how about Dropbox?
 
Lately, I often come across positive feedback of Amazon storage, but personally, I'm not familiar with it. Also, how about Dropbox?
It's good if you want more than photo storage. If you are just interested in photos like me then Amazon prime is best value as far as I know. Rest of my important files which are mainly docs easily fit on the 15GB free from Google docs

There are also storage options with Lightroom CC now. That may be an interesting option. Something I may consider in the future.
 
Last edited:
I've tried Google drive, but it takes ages. Flickre is on the way out, I don't have much money and I used portable sticks. What would you recommend please?

What kind of "back up" do you want?

1. Do you mean you want some of your files put on the cloud storage so that you can access them from any computers, for the purpose of keep working on the same file, from any computers, anywhere?

OR...

2. Do you mean you want to make copies of all your original files and keep the copies somewhere safe on the cloud, so that if you find your original file(s) is/are missing, you can restore the file by making a copy from the back up to your computer, wherever you are?


Google Drive and Flickr are not really a backup services, they are more of an online storage services, you Save your files to those so that you can share your files, or work on your files from anywhere. For actual backup, you need proper online backup services like Backblaze, and similar services.
 
What is it about Google drive that takes ages?

The photos when they upload, even one at a time. Took all night to download even one. Amazon storage charges doesn't it? Dropbox is ok, but it charges after a while.
 
Last edited:
The photos when they upload, even one at a time. Took all night to download even one. Amazon storage charges doesn't it? Dropbox is ok, but it charges after a while.
What numbers do you get from speedtest?

Most services charge for a decent amount of storage. You can put 'unlimited' photos on Google Photos for free, but only if they are 16 Megapixels or less. Amazon Prime does give you 'unlimited' photo storage for no extra charge, doesn't limit resolution, and allows raw files.
 
What numbers do you get from speedtest?
Keep getting
PAGE ERROR
with it

Refreshed page and got
21
DOWNLOAD Mbps
9.45

UPLOAD Mbps
0.52
whatever that means
 
Last edited:
I am with Amazon prime, does that mean I can get free storage too?

Yep. Unlimited free photos. Downside is that you lose it if you stop paying for Amazon Prime.

Edit to add if you go to your account and look at the drop down menu, it's called Amazon Storage. You download the desktop app and away you go.
 
Last edited:
Keep getting
PAGE ERROR
with it

Refreshed page and got
21
DOWNLOAD Mbps
9.45

UPLOAD Mbps
0.52
whatever that means

If you consistently get numbers like that, then your connection is slow, especially for uploads (from your computer to the cloud service). Mbps = Megabits per second. 1 bit = 1/8 of a byte, so 0.52 Megabits per second = 0.065 Megabytes per second. So it would take just over 15 seconds to upload a megabyte, or over 5 minutes to upload a single 20 Megabyte raw file (roughly what your D5300 outputs). Unfortunately, although your numbers are on the low side for a standard broadband connection, they may well be limited by the quality of your local phone connection rather than the ISP, and it may not be possible to get a dramatically better connection without paying for fibre broadband, which will generally be at least 9 Megabits per second for upload (~17 times faster) and at least 35 Megabits per second for download.
 
Last edited:
I am not sure what your issue with Google drive is, could you clarify?
If you consistently get numbers like that, then your connection is slow, especially for uploads (from your computer to the cloud service). Mbps = Megabits per second. 1 bit = 1/8 of a byte, so 0.52 Megabits per second = 0.065 Megabytes per second. So it would take just over 15 seconds to upload a megabyte, or over 5 minutes to upload a single 20 Megabyte raw file (roughly what your D5300 outputs). Unfortunately, although your numbers are on the low side for a standard broadband connection, they may well be limited by the quality of your local phone connection rather than the ISP, and it may not be possible to get a dramatically better connection without paying for fibre broadband, which will generally be at least 9 Megabits per second for upload (~17 times faster) and at least 35 Megabits per second for download.
Does that mean I'm slow and need to go to fibre?
 
Does that mean I'm slow and need to go to fibre?
Pretty much.

Even with fibre, it's worth doing some back of the envelope calculations so you know what to expect. What size files or folders do you want to store? In Windows, you can just right-click on a file or folder, select properties, and read the size in megabytes. If all your photos are in one place, just get the size of the top level folder (directory). Otherwise, measure some typical file sizes and estimate how many of them you want to store. Then we can work out how long it would take to upload them all to the cloud. Some services might be a bit faster than others, but I think the network itself is likely to be the limiting factor on most domestic connections (right now, yours certainly is!).
 
With the basic Sky broadband package you might hope to get around double the upload speed you actually see, but lots of things can affect this, including the quality of the line. And I'd say even 1 Megabit per second would be too slow for cloud backup of significant numbers of image files. So a fibre package would probably make sense.
 
Only thing is they charge a fortune for it, and I need help seting it up.
 
I get similar internet speeds (download 3.3Mbps Upload 0.75Mbps) and I've totally discounted any form of cloud backup until the network/exchange is upgraded. I could go with Virgin but don't like the idea that they would have a monopoly as the only fibre provider for my home.

I currently use 2 portable hard drives for offsite backup. One is kept away from home and the other is kept at home until I take it off site to swap over.

Do need to use cloud backup?
 
Only thing is they charge a fortune for it, and I need help seting it up.
You can probably do a lot better than Sky on price, and setting up may just involve swapping out the router:

https://broadband.moneysavingexpert.com/fibre-broadband-deals

This assumes you have the option - in some areas the infrastructure hasn't been upgraded to support competitive fibre providers (looks like Rob has this problem). Note also that some companies hike the price when the initial deal runs out, so be prepared to change again or re-negotiate in a years's time.
 
Last edited:
You can probably do a lot better than Sky on price, and setting up may just involve swapping out the router:

https://broadband.moneysavingexpert.com/fibre-broadband-deals

This assumes you have the option - in some areas the infrastructure hasn't been upgraded to support competitive fibre providers (looks like Rob has this problem). Note also that some companies hike the price when the initial deal runs out, so be prepared to change again or re-negotiate in a years's time.
Thats my biggest problem that it’s not competitive. I would love to go fibre but don’t want to be held to ransom as they hike prices after the deal reroof. Whilst I haven’t experienced super fast broadband at home I’m not going to miss it.

Got to love BT’s optimism:CF1F5DD6-7BD3-420E-B256-6EF00F619C18.jpeg
Wow 4Mb!!! Where do I sign?

@LouiseTopp have a look at what fibre broadband you can get but also consider offsite backup options too.
 
If you have a lot of pictures, cloud backup is not for you. Especially not at the internet speeds you're getting.

Not only does it take a huge amount of time to upload the pictures, if something does go wrong, how long will it take to download them back to your computer?

Much better to use multiple backups on external HDDs, and keep one off-site in case of robbery or an accident.
 
can you recommend a external hard drive make please?

Seagate, WesternDigital, and Samsung are the well known external hard drive manufactures. Just pick whatever you see as suitable for your needs.

SanDisk is also good, but they're usually more into memory cards and USB memory sticks, I don't know if they have any external hard drives.
 
Does that mean I'm slow and need to go to fibre?

OR... be ruthless in what you actually need to save, and only store finished JPEGs on the cloud, which are a fraction of the size of Raws.

Backing up everything as Raw files to the cloud will just gobble huge amounts of data and take forever even with a fast connection. Most people use a local hard-drive to back-up everything. It can be set up to run automatically on say a daily basis. It can save everything on your computer too, not just images. For extra security, you can do a double hard-drive back-up and store the other one remotely. Then use the cloud for potential disaster scenarios - theft, fire, flood etc.

How you mix and match the various options depends on personal circumstances, eg I don't use a laptop/tablet that might get stolen or left on the train etc.

My PC also runs a mirror-drive, which IMHO is the best way to cover a hard-drive failure (common!). It's just like a back-up drive, but runs simultaneously alongside the normal hard-drive unit. If that fails, it flags up a notification but you can just continue working as normal off the mirror with no hassle or delay.
 
You can get 50GB free storage from Mega:

www. mega.nz

I've used it for years and had no problems.

For my broadband I use Three and their MiFi router which gives me quite good speeds without needing to go to the bother of installing fibre:

http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Devices/Huawei/HomeFi?memory=0&colour=Black

I have the 40GB a month at £23.00 monthly which definitely is enough for me - you can also watch Netflix etc without it impacting on your data (but the ads will count!)

The speeds you can get depend on the time of day but I can easily get 50GB/Sec download and 20-30GB/Sec upload - ATM 80MB/sec down and 50GB/Sec up.
 
Last edited:
To back up my files I've used Seagate external drives for years and had no problems at all with any of them.

But I never leave them connected, only connect them when I need them and then use the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon.
 
I've heard Seagate is good?

No matter what, any technology can fail regardless of who is the best at making the equipment, even top well known machines could still fail.

But Seagate, along with WesternDigital, Samsung, SanDisk, and Lexar, to name a few (whether they make HDD, SSD, CF, SD), are the top best manufactures, and their technology are better and could last longer, than some unknown Company and their Brand-X technology.

Seagate is good. WesternDigital is good. Samsung is good.

Only Acme's external HDDs would come part the moment you switch them on. :)

If you want to, go for Seagate if you hear they're good.
 
2Tb holds lots. But its not a backup. Its a copy.
A backup would be a 2nd 2TB kept at your mums house and updated each time you add to the first HD, so if in the event your house burns down, your data is still safe.

If you have Amazon Prime, you can get some free storage space presumably as long as you maintain membership of Amazon Prime. You can't blame Amazon or Google for being slow if its your upload speed which is the culprit.
 
All my photos are backed up to multiple devices, external HDDs, Mega, Blu-Rays, Flickr, Hotmail's One Drive etc.

I keep both the original RAWs or JPEGs and then compress the JPEGs using Easy Thumbnails to keep the images the same but using 90% compression can reduce a RAW from my 1Ds MKii (16.6MP) or a JPEG ( about 10-12MP) down to about 2-3 MP for online storage.
 
I use Apple Time Machine to back up to a local external drive. This is I guess my primary back up. If my computer dies or I buy a new one, I should be able to plug my external drive in and be up and running again very quick;ly as if nothing has happened. Similar software is available for windows I think. Essentially once set up you forget its there and it just runs in the background always making sure everything is up to date though it will keep historic data too.

I then have a back blaze account that continually backs up to cloud storage. This doesn't allow for backing up program files. So it would never be a quick fix but it is basically there so that if my house burns down or gets flooded, all my personal files, photos etc can be retrieved. First back up takes forever but after that it's just running in the background keeping things up to date, no user input needed. Think it costs about $5 per month for unlimited storage which seems pretty reasonable.
 
I am using OneDrive as my cloud back-up as I get 1TB of storage as well as MS office for £59 a year (or £5 something a month if you want to pay monthly) which is a great deal when you compare it to just buying storage on its own.

My workflow is to have OneDrive installed on my 1TB secondary drive. I use Lightroom to import RAW files directly from the SD card into folders I create on this drive. Everything in this drive is then backed up to the cloud in the background. My Lightroom is catalogue is saved on my main SSD drive (same as windows installation) - However I have Lightroom back-up the catalogue every time I close it onto the 1TB drive which means this is also automatically backed-up to the cloud.

Heaven forbid my computer blows up, I re-download all my RAW files along with the backup of the Lightroom catalogue and away I go.
 
The speeds you can get depend on the time of day but I can easily get 50GB/Sec download and 20-30GB/Sec upload - ATM 80MB/sec down and 50GB/Sec up.
Hate to break this to you, but those speeds are wildly wrong, 4G doesn't come close to 50GB/Sec, in fact not even 50MB/Sec, the measurement would be in Mb/sec (Megabits, not megabytes MB or gigabytes GB)
 
Hate to break this to you, but those speeds are wildly wrong, 4G doesn't come close to 50GB/Sec, in fact not even 50MB/Sec, the measurement would be in Mb/sec (Megabits, not megabytes MB or gigabytes GB)

Quite correct and my bad!:)

I must also add that I have never actually downloaded any programs or files at those speeds - the most I have got was 10Mb/Sec and most sites are slower than that - but I suppose that is actually due to the sites not my connection.
 
Back
Top