Joe51 Loc: Connecticut

Whatever method you choose, choose it ASAP. I just had an 18 month old external hard drive crash, with absolutely no warning. It had over 25,000 images on it! Fortunately I've always been a bit annal about backups. So I didn't lose anything. So get it soon!

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Good information. NetApp (Network Appliance) actually popularized RAID 4, and it’s a good compromise between large and small file performance IF properly implemented. The trouble with small manufacturer non-commercial RAIDs or NAS with a hardware controller (as opposed to letting Windows do the striping in SW) is that you have to trust your data to not only their custom controller but their file system as well if it’s a NAS, and they rarely have the budget for the kind of extensive engineering, testing and support you need.

I picked up a used NetApp F630 with all the licenses years ago, and it ran in my unheated/uncooled basement for 9 years without a failure - had to retire it because the drives were so small. You could do the same thing today (used commercial equipment is worth squat), but most of the drives would be FibreChannel and expensive to replace. Now if you could find a SATA based low end machine from Dell/EMC, IBM or NetAPP...

arathorn357 Loc: Sydney, Australia

Yes - a full system restore takes a couple of hours using CCC - apple's TM takes a couple of days - I have done both and TM is badly in need of a re-write.

Also CCC much more customisable for different types of backups and different schedules - sometimes you want manual, sometimes automatic. Ask the users of both how they feel...

Bill P

Is there a comparable program to CCC for Windows?

arathorn357 Loc: Sydney, Australia

No and the maker Bombich Software say they have no current plans to make one.

Not a Windows user at home, but here is a ranked list of what are said to be comparable Windows alternatives - long time since I had a PC here, but back in the day Acronis True Image seemed to be the go, but have no up to date experience - others here will have more up to date info.

https://alternativeto.net/software/carbon-copy-cloner/?platform=windows

RonCron

Amazon has all sorts of M disc from 3 pk 25 gb to 25 pk

Try Backblaze unlimited storage cloud based

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

And 100 GB as well.

jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

I totally agree. Have 2 Synologies on site and a back up Synology off site. Everything is seamless and automatic. I keep a hard drive copy for both onsite NAS systems as a separate backup, because I'd rather have one too many copies than one not enough.

Synology products, software and updates, customer service and seminars are top notch.

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

I concur - I use synctoy. It's free.

aellman Loc: Boston MA

CLOUD BACKUP!!!!!