Amazon Cloud Drive For photo backup / archive?

[jrp50635]

At present, I back up my photos onto external drives and since they are inexpensive I store some of them at friends' houses. This works, but is slightly tedious, and requires me to remember to take new backups around periodically.

I am toying with putting my pics on the cloud. Google has free unlimited storage but it reduces picture size / quality. There are whole PC backup solutions such as backblaze, but I am never sure how long such companies are going to be around.

The Amazon solution seems rudimentary, but it is the biggest provider of cloud storage (indeed a number of other cloud storage providers build their services on top of its infrastructure -- DropBox is starting to build its own). With Prime, the cost is about that of a 2Tb drive each year.

What at have been others' experiences?

 

[Richard Gough]

I'm an Amazon Prime member and I use Cloud Drive as a backup for my photo files, both from my camera(s) and iPhone.

I usually shoot raw+jpeg with my Stylus 1 camera and unfortunately Amazon doesn't support raw files from Olympus cameras. This has two side-effects. Firstly, I can't view .orf images on Amazon (not important as I only use it as a backup and use SmugMug for "publishing"). More importantly, Amazon only allow Prime members up to 5GB of non-supported image files (and other documents) before charging $60 per year. These limitations can be circumvented by converting unsupported raw formats to .dng files which are supported, but I haven't bothered doing that yet as I haven't reached my limit with my Olympus raws.

I think the interface for Amazon Cloud Drive is rather clunky and its display capabilities are not very sophisticated. However, it's a useful additional archive and I'll continue using it while I'm a Prime member.

 

[robgendreau]

I echo Richard's reservations. There is very limited RAW support, which is important since it affects the cost.

I do have lots of DNGs, so it works for that.

The uploader is pretty lame, and there's not much control over the organization; basically it's folder by folder or everything. If there was a publishing option in Lr or other DAMs I'd like it a lot more.

 

[Autoxave]

Depends on what your primary purpose is with cloud storage. Backup can mean different things.

Is it for photo archival and not primary for viewing? Than I would recommend Amazon Cloud Drive. It is cheap. Amazon is trustworthy and a reliable service. If you use the Mac app called Arq, than you will have an automated process of uploading the files to Aamazon Cloud Drive with client side encryption, so the security is all first class. In addition - top class redudancy. However, you can not view your images because they will be encrypted.

Is it for archival AND viewing? I would recommend Google Photo (actually Google Drive) because the service will always be there. Though you have to pay for RAW storage. Flickr is a another choice, but with recents financial problems at Yahoo you have to be careful. You do also have other "specialized" photo sites like SmugMug.

 

[MrXYZ]

I would go for an option that is easy to set up, performs automatic incremental backups, can be configured to meet your individual needs, integrates seamlessly with the Mac OS, handles any type of data, does not throttle upload speed and is reasonably priced.

The only thing that I have found that meets those requirements is Crashplan.

I don't know how much you spend on a 2TB drive so it's difficult for me to compare cost. But with a multi-year subscription I got on sale Crashplan costs me $3.33 a month for unlimited data storage. (The best price I can find at the website is $5/month; I would ask them if they still offer multi-year plans.)

You can use the Crashplan software to do local data backups on your external drives or a friend's remote computer too. They work much like Time Machine but unlike Time Machine it is more configurable and problem-free. And you can download the software and use it for non-cloud backups for free. That would give you the chance to see how easy it is to configure and how well it works.

You can get all the recommendations you stand on this forum. I suggest that a much better way to go is to visit Take Control Books and download a copy of "Backing Up Your Mac: A Joe On Tech Guide for $10. It has a weird title but it is The Best Book on Mac data backups of every form and function, period. REALLY. I've written about it in greater detail elsewhere on this forum if you want to search for the info. The chapter covering Cloud backup options is worth the cost of the book all by itself.

If you really want to dig into Crashplan the Take Control folks also have an ebook all about Crashplan. If you put together an order of 3 or more books you can get a 1/3 discount. I have over ten of their ebooks and I haven't been disappointed by any of them. I still use them and I have been using Macs for 20 years.

 

[CameraCarl]

Crashplan is great assuming you don't already have a lot of files to back up. I have about 3TB of image files which would have taken about a year to back up online. Crashplan will send you a hard drive to upload images on, but their price for this service is higher than buying a spare hard drive. So I bought that hard drive and store it off site.

 

[Autoxave]

The problem with Crashplan is that the app is based on Java. Although the Java engine is embedded in the Crashplan app it is still Java. Arq is native Mac.

 

[MrXYZ]

Crashplan is great assuming you don't already have a lot of files to back up. I have about 3TB of image files which would have taken about a year to back up online. Crashplan will send you a hard drive to upload images on, but their price for this service is higher than buying a spare hard drive. So I bought that hard drive and store it off site.

Based on my experience I have to disagree with you. If Crashplan was really as slow as you think hardly anyone would be using it.

I got Crashplan over 3 years ago. My initial back up was around 2TB. I only had the basic Charter broadband package at the time so it was slow compared to today. Really slow. I don't recall the exact amount of time to complete the upload but it was a matter of days, not weeks. I was surprised at how fast it was.

You can configure CP so it is uploading 24/7. When you aren't actually using your Mac it can use all the resources it needs. The settings allow you to tell it that in the middle of the night the computer is all yours. Upload like crazy. I never experienced any problems that were caused by the Crashplan software. When I was pushing my Mac the CP software would throttle itself based on my settings.

Since you already have your data backed up, it doesn't matter if it takes awhile to do the initial seed. Set up CP so it is only backing up your image files if it is the most important data to you. When that is complete you can add other data to your backup set.

How about this: You can use Crashplan free for up to thirty days, including the Cloud backup service. Download the software and start uploading. Read the instructions because the default configuration may not be the fastest option. The software tells you how fast it is uploading your data. You can then calculate how long it will take to upload your data. Keep in mind that the upload speed varies during the day. If it is too slow, you haven't lost anything but a little time.

 

[MrXYZ]

The problem with Crashplan is that the app is based on Java. Although the Java engine is embedded in the Crashplan app it is still Java. Arq is native Mac.

Read this to learn about Crashplan and Java. Here is an excerpt:

The CrashPlan app has passed numerous independent security analyses and has been used for years in many security-conscious industries, including health care, biotechnology, aerospace engineering, higher education, and software development.

The things I listed in my initial post is what is important to me. If the Java-based Crashplan had ever caused me problems I would not be using it. Joe Kissell wouldn't extol the virtues of Crashplan if he thought that it would cause problems for people. A lot of people use Crashplan without having problems because of Java.

 

[Autoxave]

Was not aware of Crashplan beeing HIPAA compliant, meaning that security is good. But still Java though , i.e. not native Mac. But I guess therir software is highly optimized so that you don´t feel the difference?

 

[Autoxave]

Seems that the encryption key is stored on a server, not good :-(

http://support.code42.com/CrashPlan/4/CrashPlan_App_Reference/Security_Settings_Reference

 

[MrXYZ]

Seems that the encryption key is stored on a server, not good :-(

http://support.code42.com/CrashPlan/4/CrashPlan_App_Reference/Security_Settings_Reference

If you don't want to have the key stored on the Crashplan server you don't have to do that.

The third and most secure encryption option is called Custom Data Key . You forgo the key CrashPlan generates automatically and create your own custom data key. With a custom key, there is no password; you must always enter the entire key to restore data. Nothing is stored on Crashplan servers.

There is information on the CP website and the "Take Control of Crashplan" ebook about the pros and cons of using the three encryption options.

 

[MrXYZ]

One more thing regarding the encryption key issue...

If you have data that is particularly sensitive you can go one step further and encrypt the files before uploading them to Crashplan. That way if you opt for the least secure option where both your password and key are stored on CP's servers Crashplan employees will not be able to access those files.

The other encryption options make it impossible for anyone to access your files without your private passwords. I think that I am more security conscious than most people and I am comfortable leaving my key on Crashplan's servers. I encrypt my most sensitive files before uploading and my private password is a strong one. And frankly, my most sensitive files would only interest relatively few people and I am certain they do not have the means to gain access to them.

 

[FrEersels]

+1 for Arq.

I use it with OneDrive (1TB included with Office365) and it works really great.

I used Crashplan before but if was too slow for my use. I'm located in Europe, it took weeks to backup.

 

[Autoxave]

I have several computers to backup, i.e. if I want to use Crashplan I need their family plan which costs $150. A lot cheaper with Arq ($50) + Amazon Cloud Drive ($60) for an unlimited amount of computers with a higher level og security (yes, I know, ´you can achieve a similar degreee of security by using Crashplan, but the workflow of doing this is more complicated). The drawback is that you can not view the files, it is only for archival purposes.

 

[MrXYZ]

I have several computers to backup, i.e. if I want to use Crashplan I need their family plan which costs $150. A lot cheaper with Arq ($50) + Amazon Cloud Drive ($60) for an unlimited amount of computers with a higher level og security (yes, I know, ´you can achieve a similar degreee of security by using Crashplan, but the workflow of doing this is more complicated). The drawback is that you can not view the files, it is only for archival purposes.

I get around the Crashplan Family plan pricing by simply plugging my wife's external drive into my Mac Mini and let Crashplan do its thing. Her data doesn't need to be uploaded daily as she doesn't make many changes on her MBP. If someone has been rotating external drives to a remote location going the plug-and-play route is a lot simpler. So that may appeal to some folks.

As far as the security "issue": I think that being worried about keeping the key on the CP server is bordering on paranoia. Do you really think that what you have stored on your computer is valuable enough for a Crashplan employee to go to considerable trouble (at the risk of being arrested and losing his job) to try and access the a 448-bit key via a brute force attack? Are you trying to tell me that you know that Crashplan does not have adequate controls to monitor such internal activity on its servers? Does it not matter to you that it is generally accepted as a fact that not even the NSA has the capability to crack a 448-bit key?

I was mistaken: It's not bordering on being paranoid; it is paranoia. Unfortunately, there is no cure for that affliction.

As far as the workflow being more complicated with Crashplan, how much more difficult is it to enter the key than a password that unlocks the key? The answer: It is no more complicated. Store the key in 1Password or a similar encrypted database and it's as easy as one click.

Just to show that I don't think that Crashplan is the only option worth considering, I took a moment to check out Arq.

Arq gets a thumbs-up in the Take Control book as possibly the best way to access Amazon storage. So if you want to that route Arq sounds like a winner. Here is an excerpt from Kissell's book:

Arq supports versioning, encryption and file-level deduplication, and it faithfully backs up and restores all Mac metadata (such as file ownership and permissions, access control lists, extended attributes, Finder tags, and aliases)—a rare capability among online backup tools.

(Do you see why I highly recommend the Take Control book? I sincerely hope that this discussion will result in people buying it!)

There is this caveat regarding Amazon S3 storage:

In any case, given Amazon’s pricing structure for S3 storage, if you keep more than about 160GB of data online, other services are more economical. As it turns out, even Amazon now offers a cheapU er service, called Glacier (alt.cc/ag), with prices as low as $0.01 per gigabyte per month—but the catch is that because Glacier is inU tended for longUterm storage, it can take several hours to access files when you want to restore them.

Pricing may have changed since the ebook was released, so just take it as something to check out before taking the plunge. When I was using Amazon S3 storage the pricing bordered on the arcane. Hopefully things have improved since then. I would also read user comments about Crashplan, Arq, and particularly Amazon S3 storage, unless Autoxave and my opinions are enough for you. ;-)

And seriously consider getting Backing Up Your Mac: A Joe On Tech Guide. It's in its third edition and it is getting better with age. The chapters on local data backups, including lots of info on specific hardware and software, are as good as the Cloud section. And the guide to how to set up a bullet-proof data backup system will save you a lot of time and sleepless nights. Enter the code WINTERFEST2015 at checkout and save 25% ($2.50) on the ebook. I just checked it and the code still works. (Codes often have a daily quota so try again the following day if it isn't accepted.)

Ok, that's it for me! Seeing as how Crashplan is not paying me to market for them, this will be my last post on the subject. (Believe it or not, I don't work for Take Control Books either!) Good luck to the OP and anyone else searching for online storage service.

 

[Autoxave]

Yes, It is a good book!

Amazon Cloud Drive has unlimited space and you don´t pay for uploading/downloading data other than a yearly price of $60 a year. It is not S3 or Glacier. And Arq is really a wonderful Mac app. Putting stuff in external drives in order to avoid the family membership is not going to work for me.

 

[elliotn]

+1 for Arq.

I use it with OneDrive (1TB included with Office365) and it works really great.

I used Crashplan before but if was too slow for my use. I'm located in Europe, it took weeks to backup.

I'm also based in Europe and Crashplan didn't work for me. However I configured its settings, I couldn't upload more then 25GB a day.

I then trialled Backblaze and discovered it is MUCH faster (200GB a day). It will back up my 5TB archive in less than a month. Crashplan would have taken over 6 months.

Backblaze uses multithreading to optimise uploads for those who are based a long way from their servers in California. I've tested this extensively and it is able to consistently saturate my 18mbs upload connection. Backblaze is the same price as Crashplan (they are both much cheaper than Amazon Glacier, if you're backing up TBs of data).

 

[Autoxave]

Amazon Cloud Drive has acceptable speed from my location in Europe. Approx 30 GB in 24 hours via the Arq app.