Today’s Question: In the past you have recommended GoodSync for backing up photos. Recently you have been discussing BackBlaze. I’m trying to understand if you use both (and if so, how) or if BackBlaze has replaced GoodSync in your workflow.
Tim’s Quick Answer: I use both GoodSync (http://timgrey.me/greybackup) and Backblaze (https://timgrey.me/onlinebackup), with GoodSync providing my local backup and Backblaze providing my offsite backup.
More Detail: A good workflow for backing up your photos and other important data obviously involves making an additional copy of that data. Ideally, a copy of your data is also stored at a separate physical location, so that if there were a serious issue at your primary location, you still have a backup copy that can be recovered.
My primary tool for backing up my photos is a software application called GoodSync (http://timgrey.me/greybackup). I define jobs for each of my hard drives and use GoodSync to back up my primary drive to two backup drives. So, for example, I backup my Photos drive to both a “Photos Backup 1” drive and a “Photos Backup 2” drive.
I don’t happen to have a convenient way to keep one of my backup drives at a separate physical location, and so I use Backblaze (https://timgrey.me/onlinebackup) as an online backup solution that enables me to have a backup stored somewhere else.
Another advantage of an online backup is that it is relatively easy to maintain when I’m traveling, provided I have access to a relatively fast internet connection. Backblaze simply runs in the background, updating my online backup based on new or updated files on my computer.
This hybrid approach gives me greater confidence that no matter what causes me to lose photos or other data, I should be able to recover from one of my backups.