Need a plan for backing up multiple devices for the family

[Cristatus]

I've got a mix of Android phones, iPhones, and Windows (and maybe soon a Linux and/or Mac, depending on how quickly I can get my data) computers, between 5 users.

I was thinking of off-loading all the data onto a dedicated external hard-drive per person, and then eventually onto a large external hard drive for redunancy.

The main questions:

Does this sound reasonable?
Seagate, WD, or Toashiba?

(C)

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Are you just trying to back up the devices, or actually sync data between them?

This sounds like a job for Cloud.

 

[Cristatus]

Are you just trying to back up the devices, or actually sync data between them?

This sounds like a job for Cloud.

I'm mostly just dumping data of which the majority is photos shared via family groups, or their own phone camera's.

Wouldn't sync'ing mean that the data would also exist on the device at the same time as the backup?

I need something that would allow me to download the data off of the device, and then I would eventually "manage" this offloaded data by deleting unnecessaries.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I'm mostly just dumping data of which the majority is photos shared via family groups, or their own phone camera's.

Wouldn't sync'ing mean that the data would also exist on the device at the same time as the backup?

I need something that would allow me to download the data off of the device, and then I would eventually "manage" this offloaded data by deleting unnecessaries.

Too much work. If you want to back up, just back them up to iCloud/GoogleDrive (or Crashplan, for the Windows/Mac systems) and don't worry about redundant data.

Syncing is usually per-application or per-dataset. (Shared calendars, shared photo albums, etc.) Ensuring the same data is on all the devices. Not really a point to it if you have multiple users as well, since each person will want different data on their device(s); sorry I mentioned it.

 

[Cristatus]

Too much work. If you want to back up, just back them up to iCloud/GoogleDrive (or Crashplan, for the Windows/Mac systems) and don't worry about redundant data.

Syncing is usually per-application or per-dataset. (Shared calendars, shared photo albums, etc.) Ensuring the same data is on all the devices. Not really a point to it if you have multiple users as well, since each person will want different data on their device(s); sorry I mentioned it.

Were talking >200 gigs per user.

I'm not sure that would be cost effective anymore with iCloud or GoogleDrive or Crashplan.

Also, CrashPlan for home is going to be phased out soon, according to their website.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Fine, Backblaze then.

Assuming your users are competent to manage the data on their devices (assuming that's a subset of what they have on their desktop/laptop) or use tools like iTunes to back their devices up to their "real" computer, then you can ignore the phones/tablets and just back up the big boxes.

 

[SeanFL]

For the phones, Google photos has been a superb tool for my family to backup photos and videos. The app allows people to clean off their phone when they need space as well.

If you want to add some redundancy to the mix, I've been using a tool called Resilio Sync
https://www.resilio.com/individuals/

You could setup individual folders to backup different people's files from pc, mac, and phones. There are options to make it a one-way transfer, and there's a free option that might do everything you want. I found it much faster to use sync over wifi than to plug in the phones over a usb connection.

Sean

 

[Cristatus]

For the phones, Google photos has been a superb tool for my family to backup photos and videos. The app allows people to clean off their phone when they need space as well.

If you want to add some redundancy to the mix, I've been using a tool called Resilio Sync
https://www.resilio.com/individuals/

You could setup individual folders to backup different people's files from pc, mac, and phones. There are options to make it a one-way transfer, and there's a free option that might do everything you want. I found it much faster to use sync over wifi than to plug in the phones over a usb connection.

Sean

About Google Photos: How do I re-download all my photos back to my device once they're not on my phone?

 

[Cristatus]

Fine, Backblaze then.

Assuming your users are competent to manage the data on their devices (assuming that's a subset of what they have on their desktop/laptop) or use tools like iTunes to back their devices up to their "real" computer, then you can ignore the phones/tablets and just back up the big boxes.

Holy moly, $5 per month for unlimited uploading? There must be a catch somewhere.