Sep 4, 2024
One Drive is a synch system and I had my desktop version synching to the cloud. There was a problem when some of the files didn’t synch properly to the cloud, and the system decided to “synch” everything from the cloud to the desktop version. The problem with this is that the cloud version didn’t have all the correct files and chose this as the main file to synch my desktop to. This resulted in some of my files being lost. After many hours on the phone with them and emails back and forth, One Drive was not able to go back to previous versions to restore the missing files. Not good.
I use the Apple Time Machine backup on my computer and a service called Backblaze which backs up my desktop, however, it doesn’t back up cloud services such as One Drive, so I couldn’t restore the previous version from there either.
So the hunt began for a cloud synching provider that could also be backed up by Time Machine.
What is the difference with Synch and Backup? It is important to understand that a synching service such as One Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud do just that – synch your files so that you can work on multiple devices with the same information. This is important with my lifestyle of traveling often, as I can work on my laptop or phone wherever I am, and the files are the same as those on my desktop.
Most people have this option. However, the problem with just having a synching service, is that when files accidentally get deleted or the provider screws up such as happened with One Drive, you could lose files. It is important to also have a Backup service that maintains previous versions of your files that you can restore if files are deleted.
Solution:
I now have my “synch” system as Google Drive. My desktop is the “home” version that is “mirrored”. This means that I can work on my phone, laptop, or ipad, and the same changes I make there happen on my desktop.
Because this system is physically on my desktop with the Mirrored version, my Time Machine and Backblaze back this up. So I now have history versions that will go back 30 days or more depending on what setup options you choose. Should there by a problem with Google Drives synching, I can go to my Back Up version and restore back to before the problem occurred. Time Machine backs up to a physical hard drive I have that is attached to my desktop, and Backblaze is a cloud service. Here is a diagram to help it make sense.
What are you using to protect your files? Do you have s Synch AND a Backup service? Most people I have spoken with to find the solution, don’t have that as they haven’t had an problem with the Synch provider. I suggest that you add a backup provider to your system before you need it (and hopefully you never do, however it is great peace of mind.)