Online Storage vs. Physical Storage |

When it comes to our technology, We like to make sure it’s safe. We use security systems, passwords, cases and more. But nothing is worse than that dreaded moment when your hardware crashes. When that happens you need to go buy a new computer/phone/tablet. But what if you had irreplaceable pictures on there. That’s why Kevin and I live but the phrase “BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP YOUR DATA.”

My iDevices back up to my Mac and to my iCloud storage. My Mac also backs up to iCloud.
All of my graphic and video work that I do is kept on my external drives, as well as well as my Dropbox. All of my scripts and idea sheets are typed in Word for Mac and then copied and pasted into Google Drive and sometimes even into Pages which syncs with iCloud. I make sure if, God forbid, any of my hardware crashes, it’s data is safe.

So I want to talk about backup options. There are two main ways of data storage and back-up: to the cloud, or to an external drive.

I use cloud personally, though I will probably get a 1 terabyte external pretty soon. Cloud is pretty easy actually. You have all of your files stored to where you can access them anywhere, you can manage backups, and even schedule them. I use a number of online storage sites, such as DropBox, iCloud, Google Drive, Amazon Cloud Storage, and a few more. Cloud’s biggest advantage is the ability to access your data anywhere, when you need to. The downside to these online storage sites is that, God forbid, they get hacked and your data gets stolen. Then you’re screwed.

Now as I said the other way of storage is an external/physical drive. Those are just like the ones in your computer now. These have so pros and cons as well. They are easy to back-up to, i.e. Most harddrives are compatible with Mac’s TimeMachine program. Most are very small and portable. Another advantage that these have as well, is say you have a app, say Final Cut Pro X, and your friend wants it. You can put it on a hard drive and put it on his computer. Easy as that. But now for the downside. These drives can crash. Just like the one in your computer, these can just go kaput.

Each way has its pros and cons. Its up to you which one you use, but I recommend jumping on it, even free online services and inexpensive hard drives, It’s all worth it in the end.