Google Drive and Backup

[Drezha]

Looks like Google are rolling out an update to their Sync client on the PC – you’ll now be able to backup to Google Drive as well.

Ars Link

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Bob Williams]

Great Heads-up, Drezha!

I am looking forward to that. I won’t download it, though: rather wait for Google to give the (usually) comprehensive explanation and directions. Google may seem a bit dictatorial to some, but for me, it changed the way I use and sync my devices for the better. I also disagree with Ron Amadeo’s dislike of Google Photos, that is one part I really like.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Dave Rice]

It’s not that he doesn’t like Photos, he just doesn’t see why he needs a copy of every photo he’s ever taken copied to every device.

I agree, the places for photos is on the google server not the device. You just temporarily pull down what you need to see there and then.

[The Duke]

He is a bit of a strange guy tbh, he often appears on twits android show.

But I do agree, not all photos do need backing up, but I’d rather the app backed everything up, as it take 2 seconds to delete the picture, that then will remove itself from your cloud.

Google drive sync looks decent, I’ve only seen the marketing release blerb, and not actually seen it, but it seems to look good. Ment to be a full pc back up solution.

Given how messy my google drive is, crone os users will know what I mean, I need to do some tidying up before I let it lose on any of my win pc’s.

Also another issue is I don’t my work files going on Google drive. But I’d imagine you can deselect t any folders/drives you don’t want to to look at.

Also at this point I don’t have the space to do full pc pack ups on Google drive, iirc I have about 50gb free on there. Plus already have my back up routines well drilled.

 

[blacklion1725]

On a related note – if you are on the Insider builds of Windows 10 they have finally restored the “Smart Files” or “Placeholder” feature – now called “Files on demand”. The old (8.1) version was superb – and might have got a bit of traction for cheap windows tablets if they didn’t kill it with W10 – but that is MS for you. Anyway the new version is at a glance even better – you can chose what syncs and what doesn’t – but more importantly you have the option to see everything on your OneDrive whether it is synced or not. There are also more options than before, but just bringing this back has made me very happy, and makes Offoce 365 (with 1TB OneDrive) a great deal again – especially if you shop around.

[Drezha]

I bought Resilio Sync which allows for the same placeholder option. Can’t say I have it enabled, but it is handy know it’s there (I normally just don’t sync the folders to my laptop and access them via SFTP on my NAS if I really need them).

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Dave Rice]

TBH I can do all this sort of thing with my Synology NAS with a lot more control.

Cloud Station Backup lets me backup individual folders from a PC to the NAS. Cloud Station Drive lets me sync folders across multiple PCs or even multiple NAS. You can have multiple folders as the target and decide which PCs will sync with what and each user has a private “home” folder. They both have versioning i.e. up to 32 levels of history.

Mobile wise, DS Photo allows you to do what you can do with Google Photos including auto backup when in WiFi and sharing with others. DS File lets you do the same with files.

I can then back all this up to an external USB drive (or a Cloud drive like Google drive) with up to 65535 versions saved with cross-version deduplication. You can plug the USB drive directly into a PC if necessary to restore the data.

But what the heck, for home users it’s all free and great if you have the bandwidth. For businesses that demand more security and control the Synology can do more for a couple of hundred quid.

[The Duke]

Dave, Why 65535?

[Dave Rice]

Binary, 65536 is 2^16. 16 bits = 2 bytes. So the range is 0 to 65535. For a daily backup that’s 179 years ?

The compression and deduplication algorithms are very efficient but 31 days is good enough for me. You can also manually lock a backup, which I have done in anger when about to do a major infrastructure change.

If you want the ultimate “who cares about wannacrypt” solution, this is it. The problem with most sync services is the lack of versioning. It also comes in handy for every day user cock-ups.

From the backup and sync perspective Google is catching up with Synology, from the photo app perspective the reverse is true. But I am coming across more and more businesses that do not trust “the Cloud” and are willing to spend a modest amount to be in control. It’s not the “spying” that really bothers them (although it does), it’s the user login data breaches. With the data protection laws about to ramp up whether we leave the EU or not, they are right to.

[The Duke]

Very good Dave tar. I don’t think a lot of business like handing over control to a 3rd party. As you say especially in a day where the laws are up for potential change. The EU has a good track record with regards to data and competition laws, the uk on the other hand, seems to want to control out flow of data more and more.

Hopefully, IF we leave,  we will have to keep the majority of EU laws, in exchange  for access to the EU market. Still a big IF though.

[Drezha]

Though reading up on the subject, it seems that the Government now have a “Cloud First” policy where they’ll look at storing information on the public clouds before setting up their own!

Using the storage for encrypted backup is handy. I’ve my Synology set to offsite to a Dropbox account at the minute – I would use Amazon Drive, but for some reason, it’s not connecting properly so I can’t. But agree with the Synology comments – it’s one of the better purchases I’ve made. I’m considering offering storage on it for friends and family for backups, as they try and get me to fix their machines once they get a virus anyhow. Might be easier to just have the backup coming to my Synology directly anyhow!

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[The Duke]

Good idea Chris. Will make fixing stuff much easier. Os wipe, down load their data. 20mins job dons.

I wouldn’t offer it, I’d inform them of the terms of you IT support roll. If your not backing up with Dr Chris, Dr Chris won’t fix your broke arse computer.

Also you have you refer to yourself on the 3rd person as you make your demands lol

 

[Drezha]

The Duke wrote:

Good idea Chris. Will make fixing stuff much easier. Os wipe, down load their data. 20mins job dons. I wouldn’t offer it, I’d inform them of the terms of you IT support roll. If your not backing up with Dr Chris, Dr Chris won’t fix your broke arse computer. Also you have you refer to yourself on the 3rd person as you make your demands lol

Only real issue is the other halfs family are Ireland in the middle of nowhere and still have a limited BB package!

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[The Duke]

Make them mail you weekly cds lol.

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