TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

May I suggest that you Google TCP/IP and read up on the characteristics, especially the transport layer and error correction and retransmission of lost/damaged packets.

irishrover61 Loc: Miami, FL

I use a service called CrashPlan. For $60 a year you get unlimited storage and automatic backups. Unfortunately you can not view the files but I am more concerned with having an additional backup plan in the event my NAS device or backup HD's fail or are damaged. you can check them out with this link: https://www.crashplan.com/en-us/

Texzen Loc: Sugar Land, Texas

Since you are on a Mac, iCloud is the best cloud tool for you. Even a file on the desktop of your computer is stored automatically in the cloud. Having two external drives may or may not eliminate the need for cloud storage, depending on if you have the same pictures backed up to both drives. If not and you have files stored on a single drive then you are vulnerable to losing them if the drive fails. I have used Google Drive and DropBox and still do for work documents. I store all personal data on one external drive (using Time Machine automatic backups) and on iCloud. Finally, when you store your files in a cloud system, you have a mirror of those files on your hard drive in you Mac as well. ☁️

berchman Loc: South Central PA

Seagate has a bad reputation for reliability. Toshiba and Western Digital drives have a better reputation.

johnst1001a Loc: West Chester, Ohio

I use ICloud with my Mac. I have a Macbook Pro for when I travel and an Imac when I am at home. Having files on the cloud allows me to access the files, be it photos or regular files from any computer, which is good because I can do some work on my photos with one computer, then if I am using a different computer, I can pick up where i left off.
Icloud is free for the first few gigs, then you have to pay a bit. I have kept my gig demand pretty low as I only keep about 10 gigs in the cloud, which is quite a few photos or files. The rest I leave on my computer.

The other route you can take is to buy a network drive. It is simply a hard drive that you connect to you cable modem's ethernet connection. You set it up as a readable drive from any computer. My brand is MyCloud which is a Western Digital product. My network drive is 8 TB. So, for speed sake, I work on photos using my ICloud service, then when I am finished with them I upload them to my 8 TB drive and delete from the cloud. I only have about 2 TB of files on the network drive, so I have a 2 TB drive to back up the 8tb drive. I will have to buy another back up drive at some point but they are cheap.

Another option is to get a 500 gb solid state drive and carry it with you when you in your computer bag. However, invariably you will leave it somewhere. I use it on my Imac. I upload photos on to my SSD, and us it to open and close photo files. They open much faster.

How do I keep it all straight, well, I'm retired, and with that two things happen, you have plenty of spare time to fool with your files, or second, you won't remember you had the files so who cares if they are messed up. I haven't hit that point yet. I do have about 80,000 photos now, all personal, travel type, family etc.. I sort them by year and then by event, such as a folder for a birthday or a holiday, and sometimes even a sub folder.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

It's not really a backup, but...
I use my smugmug website as one. I backup my raw files and LR library to external drives, then upload the high Rez jpgs to the site. That way I at least have access to my images from anywhere. That and it's a great way for me to share with family and friends.

Harry_in_England

I would not store anything 'in the cloud' even if they paid me!
For a start, I would then only be able to access my data whilst online - and ALL internet connections are unreliable.
Secondly, if the company I chose either went bust or I had a dispute with them I would lose everything. This happened with apple itunes - one of their staff used my debit card details to download music, effectively stealing from me, and when I complained, apple cancelled my account so all the music I had paid for was no longer available to me.
And thirdly, I seriously believe this 'cloud' idea is just a fad anyway and will not last.
Call me what you like but I will never be persuaded to trust anyone else with my personal files.
Oh, and I'm not a conspiracy theorist - I don't believe the government is spying on me but I still don't trust anyone to look after my intellectual property properly. If I lose something I can just blame myself but at least I will take proper care of my own stuff.
Ok, end of rant.

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

Personally, I use the WD Cloud drives as they are actually hardware that are in my office and connected to MY internet. However, I use them to backup images that I take while on the road to get the images home incase I lose my usb hard drive or my laptop. The WD Cloud is only a small part of my home/office backup. I use external hard drives and my bank's safe deposit box for my most secure backups. But I do put a copy on the WD Cloud as well. This gives me access to my "historical" collection (meaning all of my previous shots) while away from the home/office so that I can use my laptop to show examples of my work to potential clients. Technically, it is a backup as it gives an additional location for my files that is not physically on my main computer but it is on my computer network so is accessible from all of my computers (both in the office and on the road).
Like I said, though. They main 2 things I do with the WD Cloud is upload to it when on trips and also I create temporary folders for clients to look at but not download sample images of their shoot. It gives them the ability to look at their "contact sheet" to order enlargements, canvas, metal and other specialized presentations. It also makes it easier for the wife (when she is traveling) to upload shots she has taken so that I can begin processing them and then she can view the "finished" product while still visiting friends up in the Philly area. It saves time and money shipping things back and forth and waiting on her to get back to start processing.
One advantage to my "WD Cloud" is that it is behind my firewall and I can control access to it. In addition, I OWN it so I don't have to worry about some clown at Amazon or some other company compromising my images etc. I can always unplug the cloud either from the internet or from my network to completely isolate it. And, I get updates to it just like I do for my computers and other devices. Mine is a multi hard drive chassis type of cloud but you can get 3TB 4TB and other individual sizes for $150 or so and you don't have to pay monthly or annual charges just the initial price of the hardware. It plugs into my local network and goes out to the internet through it (and through my firewalls. Actually, I have 2 firewalls with a "demilitarized zone" between that has my webservers and my cloud sitting in them. I have 100mb internet through Spectrum but can upgrade that if I choose (yes for a "nominal fee"). The WD Cloud drive has a gigabit Ethernet connection that connects to my network and the internet so it is only limited in speeds under 1GB by the speed of my internet. My local network is all Gigabit so locally, I can access it quickly. As with all Wi-Fi, your access to it from the outside will be controlled by whatever your internet speed is where you are accessing from (if it is under the output of your Cloud location.) But 100mb has been fast enough for me.

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

I had a short spell of membership to a 'Cloud' storage system....Till they went T**s - up, and closed down. Use my own two external drives, I stay in control.
Just read Harrys' posting and agree with him.

par4fore Loc: Bay Shore N.Y.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

I use BlackBlaze as my cloud storage Unlimited HD and data for $60/yr

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

For actually storing images, rather than just putting them there for display, you want a site that will accept large files without reducing them in size. If I were to go to the cloud, I'd consider BackBlaze. I also use externals for backing up, but if my house burns down, the originals and the backups will be lost. What a disaster! All those pictures of dogs, trees, and birds - lost forever.

cochese

External drives, I use laptop drives for space savings and cost savings. I have enclosures that make them into USB drives. Then I bought a fireproof safe, just a small one, but it should be able to 30 or more drives, that can withstand over 1000 degrees F for 3 hours.

JeffR Loc: Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Anyone have comments about Flickr? I see they offer 1TB for free.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Dusty, I have three local backups. I would suggest you look into backblaze. The selling factor for me was they have no upload limits per day. The others I checked did.
--Bob