Cloud backup

[jean2579]

How do you back up a laptop info to the cloud? We run windows 7.

[freakiness]

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@jean2579 wrote:

Thanks everyone. The reason I wanted to know is that during an online discussion in the last few days we were told that if we were in either a fire or flood prone area, and we are in both, then eveerything should be backed to the cloud for retrieval after the event, and that all docs should be dcanned into laptop and then stored in cloud. I must admit that I find it very confusing.

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It sounds like a good idea and is not hard to set up. Drop Box allows 5GB I think free and Google Drive has 15GB free storage.  You can set both up to auto upload.  These methods do not store a back up of the system or programs, just the contents, eg. photos and documents.

Dropbox offers a lot of bonus and free space, I've got 50GB worth of bonus space so far.

[poddster]

Uploading to the cloud chews up your monthly allocation in no time at all and it can take hours if your upload speed is less than 10mbps if you have large uploads. Do the math.

Uploading an entire laptop disk image( which could be as large as 50 GB) would not be very wise, to restore that image it would have its own complications because you would have to have some means to connect to the cloud i.e. an operating system already on the system that you are restoring to.

The 'Cloud' is a bit of a con job designed by ISPs and and storage providers.

There are some on here who sing the praises of the Cloud and NBN.

It is best to do your own research ar to your backup scheme.

Imagine if all your stuff is in the Cloud and your Internet is down, you can catch up with the gardening, maybe for days 🙂

May i suggest that you look before you leap 🙂 

[jean2579]

Thanks all for sound advice. I really must do an up to date computer course.

[freakiness]

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@poddster wrote:

Uploading to the cloud chews up your monthly allocation in no time at all and it can take hours if your upload speed is less than 10mbps if you have large uploads. Do the math.

Uploading an entire laptop disk image( which could be as large as 50 GB) would not be very wise, to restore that image it would have its own complications because you would have to have some means to connect to the cloud i.e. an operating system already on the system that you are restoring to.

The 'Cloud' is a bit of a con job designed by ISPs and and storage providers.

There are some on here who sing the praises of the Cloud and NBN.

It is best to do your own research ar to your backup scheme.

Imagine if all your stuff is in the Cloud and your Internet is down, you can catch up with the gardening, maybe for days 🙂

May i suggest that you look before you leap 🙂 

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Uploading files only chews through your monthly allocation if it's a small data plan.

It's not necessary to upload a disk image to save files from loss.

If the internet is down the files back up later. They are still on the computer to use whenever you want.

Did you read the bit about backup in case of fire or flood? It is a sound idea to back up to the cloud to minimise the risk of loss.

Can you not resist making nasty little digs about the NBN?

[monman12]

 POD was not having a dig FN, but making sense.  (how is the NBN snail going? and now with looming competition!)

POD:  "I have found Acronis to be the best one "  I agree , but still have fond memories of  "Ghost".

 Acronis with their latest  True Image 2014,  offer a 5Gb (bait) free cloud backup. My important domestic  stuff though is backed up on 2  other HDDs and a key ring thumb drive, and I am also considering making a 32 Gb thumb drive bootable so I can have all I need with me.

nɥºɾ

[freakiness]

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@monman12 wrote:

 POD was not having a dig FN, but making sense.  (how is the NBN snail going? and now with looming competition!)

POD:  "I have found Acronis to be the best one "  I agree , but still have fond memories of  "Ghost".

 Acronis with their latest  True Image 2014,  offer a 5Gb (bait) free cloud backup. My important domestic  stuff though is backed up on 2  other HDDs and a key ring thumb drive, and I am also considering making a 32 Gb thumb drive bootable so I can have all I need with me.

nɥºɾ

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Of course it was having a sly dig about the NBN.  There was no other reason to mention it.

The poster asked about backing up to the cloud due to the risk of flood or fire, which makes more sense than backing up to a local HDD that is likely to suffer the same damage as the computer they are backing up.  The cloud is the ideal solution for backing up documents that they might need to access easily from anywhere and photos/videos.

Most ISPs offer some storage space as well.

[cherry*135]

Dropbox cloud storage is 2GB initially.

[poddster]

That was not a sly dig but an out and out statement that the NBN like the Cloud are sucker bait I make no bones about it 🙂

the cloud and the NBN are symbiotic and have their roots in the wallets of gullible people 😉

[freakiness]

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@am*3 wrote:

Dropbox cloud storage is 2GB initially.

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Yes, it starts at 2GB plus 250MB for signing up  😄 plus adds another 3 if you auto camera upload. 

There are other bonuses linked to the device brands and other random offers.  I've got over 50GB free at the moment and it increases regularly.  I like the ease of using it but it will expire if not used for over a month. That's not a problem with auto uploads because they are more frequent.  I've been testing google drive as well but not going to get rid of drop box because I like it.  

https://db.tt/6FXeCvL1 

I'm not sure but I think it might have been 5GB free when I signed up and reduced shortly after.

[freakiness]

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@poddster wrote:

That was not a sly dig but an out and out statement that the NBN like the Cloud are sucker bait I make no bones about it 🙂

the cloud and the NBN are symbiotic and have their roots in the wallets of gullible people 😉

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So what is the use of backup that is affected by the same flood or fire as the original?

why do you think she would need to do the gardening if the internet is down?

Your opinion is only your opinion, which is dated and biased.