Let's Talk Back-Ups!

​You get home after a hard day’s work, flop onto the sofa with a cup of tea, and open up your Mac. You wait patiently….nothing happens. Mmm… You check the charger, the plug socket, press the start-up button again. Zilch! Mild panic starts to set in.
 
Then you remember your local IT guys at Blue Apple Systems – phew! Everything’s going to be fine. Next morning you make a quick phone call and pop down to Alfold to see Richard, pass him your precious laptop, confident that all will be sorted in a jiffy.
 
Then the question: “You do have a back-up of this machine, don’t you?” “Erm… well… I keep meaning to, but... It will still be okay, won’t it?”
 
Your life flashes before your eyes – wedding photos… kids’ birthday parties… years’ worth of company accounts... ARGHHHHHH!!!!
 
So – let’s talk about back-ups!

​iCloud
 
Most Mac users will be aware of iCloud (a topic for another blog), but may not be aware that – in terms of a back-up solution – it may require some manual setting up by the user before it’s going to back-up your files. And there are limitations; it can back up photos, emails, contacts, calendars etc. But it isn’t going to back up ALL the files you have stored on your hard drive, your desk top, etc.
 
To see what’s currently being backed up on your iCloud, go to System Preferences / iCloud and see which tick boxes have been checked (you need to do this on every Apple device).

​External Wi-fi Drive
 
A second option is an external wi-fi back-up drive (such as Apple Time Capsule). Once set up on your network, the system will back-up your files automatically. Sounds great! However, such systems can be notoriously unreliable, and you won’t necessarily know that the back-ups have stopped working until it’s too late and you really NEED the back-up… not so great!

​Local External Hard Drive
 
This is the solution that we recommend to the majority of our customers. It is by far the most robust and reliable solution. It simply requires the user to manually plug a small external hard drive into their Mac at regular intervals, and then store the HD somewhere safe (NOT in the same place as your Mac!).

​This solution is not expensive, with hardware starting from around £60 to £70, and we can talk you through the process, show you how to use it, and offer on-going support as and when required.
 
If you would like to know more about a reliable back-up solution for your Mac, please contact Richard on 01403 753666 or Richard@b-apple.co.uk. We look forwards to hearing from you!