Hi there!

I've just been installing a lot of plugins on my new Macbook Pro and even I have all the installers and external sound libraries on an external SSD, I am thinking that if I need to format my laptop or something bad happens to my system in the future, I will probably lose all the plugins and library folders.

Since I have the 50GB iCloud plan right now, it is possible to save those folders just in case? Or maybe is better to do a Time Machine backup? Or maybe I can do the backup and save it on the cloud.

I am not that experienced on MacOS so any advice will be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

 

No clouds. Get yourself a good backup disk imager, make an image of the entire system and keep it locally offline on a large hard drive. It's the only way to be sure. If you're going thru all the trouble to make backups make it count.

 

You can, and iCloud is fine for backup, though it works best if you're using several pieces of Apple gear. I like it personally for making a secondary backup.

I somewhat then second @saccamano here. Clouds are great and a good addition, but they're not a solid backup plan. I personally use several, as part of a personal save hygiene. So in short: 3 copies of the data, 2 on different mediums (say, HDD, SDD or optical disc), and one offsite (cloud is fine for this as long as it's not private data, do encrypt those).

So mine is simple, keep a local (working copy), backup daily to an external drive, and sync to a cloud. For ultracritical stuff, like private keys and such, I keep a copy on several providers, but encrypted.

Maybe I'm paranoid but you only need to lose your shit once...

Oh, and since a lot of stuff these days relies on reliable comms, make sure you've got backup emails and onetime codes also sorted.

 

That is not what Time Machine does? With a backup disk imager you mean a software that do that and then save it on one of my external HDD right? Thanks

 

My opinion here, TM works well, as it stores the system configuration which you can setup again from. A system image (Acronis and such) works properly only on identical hardware. So in my view it's preferable to use dedicated system (such as TM) rather than bit-to-bit copy. But maybe that's just me.

But again, as long as you're doing something means you're taking this seriously, as everybody should.

 

I would do two copies, one external disk with the intallers, and another external disk with time machine copy of the working system.

Other options are to install a NAS system, but in your case is enough.

 

best to use Time Machine when dealing with preserving data on macOS.

100% agree with @Will Kweks

 

For Mac check out “Super Duper”. Backup options include full startup disk copy which you can boot right away and all programs work. Afterwards you can use the “smart update” option to bring your backup startup disk up to date. Bulletproof for many years, you can use it alongside Time Machine (I never used TM), just make sure you use the latest version for Sonoma. Cloud won’t help you if your startup disk fails and you can’t connect to the internet

 

Yea. Like Acronis or Norton ghost, ect... I think there are MAC versions available but not entirely sure as I am not a apple person.. Even if those aren't available for your platform there are others that will be.

 

Last edited: Dec 27, 2023

Actually in the case of acronis there is (or there was even) the facility to do bare-metal restores to a variety of different hardwares. I think true-image has a similar function as well. But that is really only needed in the case where you're maybe building out a whole pile of machines that differ somewhat in configuration and hardware.

 

That's the point. Windows and macOS are VERY different systems. And so much more with the APFS file system and Apple Silicon processors. So please don't suggest anything you experienced as a Windows user to a macOS newbie as it will most likely lead to problems.

Reinstalling macOS on a new system and then migrating from a Time Machine backup is the only way a non experienced user should go nowadays.

 

100%. Not only a Time Machine backup, but also a full ISO installer of whatever MacOS version you are running on an external drive. If something actually goes wrong, having a completely default installer image can be helpful. I have seen people reinstall their problem more than once.

Cloud is a waste of time. Or give possible visibility to any uploaded data.

 

Local disk imaging for backup is not a new concept and is available for any platform under the sun. Just a matter of using the proper tool for the proper platform. Most of these tools have versions for apple AND windows. While the systems are very different as you pointed out the processes for the end user are very much similar. No offense intended.

 

Not exactly. If you read the op's comments I quoted, there is one fundamental "end user" process which is a normal thing on Windows based DAW machines which does not apply to MacOS DAW users. Formatting hard disks because of software installations. What the OP is describing is almost an entirely Windows scenario. I remember when I was on PC, I actually had used Partition Magic to split my C: so that formatting and reinstalling Windows, Cubase and Waves was faster. I got very efficient at doing it, because on Windows you format pretty damn frequently.

It's a Mac. we don't do that stuff at all. There is no need to format a HDD to correct a software install, you just log in and fix it. When that sort of thing needs to be done; it's because a drive has failed, or because you are adding a new one. That's why backup is still important. Not because you signed on to some website with a misconfigured firewall and got rootkitted or cryptolockered via osmosis. Or god forbid, installed Cubase.

 

Thanks for the replies. I think I will take a look at Time Machine then as it looks to the better or most comfortable option for a non experienced user as me.

I just want to backup my plugins/apps/libraries for the future.

 

All I was referring to is that with most of these imaging tools being menu driven the dev's strive to make the experience on each platform as uniform as possible.
As far as the windows reference to "often needing to re-format your hard drive because of 'software installations'" - I have no idea what that means. If you were having to "reformat" your windows system over and over again that sounds like some kind of hardware issue that went uncorrected. I have been on the PC platform for decades and never experienced the kind issues you describe. Apple systems have hardware failures just as PC systems do, and the results of those failures can cause problems. Backing up the entire system with a disk imager (or whatever your tool of choice may be) is just good practice for any platform because there are no error free platforms on this planet that I know of... Everything computing wise is prone to failure and to not have your stuff backed up adequately is just asking for trouble.

 

Time Machine is your best bet. It backs up your entire system, including plugins, libraries, and settings, so you can fully restore your Mac if something goes wrong. iCloud isn't ideal for this—it’s limited in space and doesn't back up system-level files or plugin authorizations. You can also keep your installers and license files on a cloud service like Google Drive or Dropbox for extra peace of mind. Stick with your external SSD for storage, and add a Time Machine backup to a separate drive for full protection.