Arq Tips

Arq is a popular choice for people who want the benefits of cloud storage but also want greater control over their data than cloud backup providers offer—and the freedom to choose inexpensive cloud storage. If you use Arq for your versioned backups (or are considering doing so), keep the following in mind:

• All cloud storage is not created equal. Arq supports lots of different cloud storage providers, some of which are so inexpensive that they seem almost too good to be true. As I point out later, in BYOS (Bring Your Own Software) Internet Backups, some cloud storage services limit your upload rate—perhaps only after you’ve transferred a given amount of data or number of files in a certain month. The result can be that backups are disappointingly slow. So read your provider’s fine print and try some speed tests with a few gigabytes of data before you start to upload files by the millions.

• Backups run on fixed schedules. Compared to, say, Backblaze, which backs up your data continuously, Arq can run any given backup no more often than once per hour. So, if you’re moving to Arq from a competitor that backs up files as often as you save them, you might need to adapt your thinking and behavior, because Arq won’t make such frequent copies. (In addition, running less frequently means each backup is likely to take longer.) You can, however, work around this somewhat by setting up multiple backups to the same destination; make them identical except for the time. (For example, make the first one hourly on the hour and the second one hourly on the half hour.)

• Mind your settings. Arq helps you avoid unexpected expenses by pruning old backups according to your preferences and letting you set a budget (the maximum amount of storage space your backups can occupy, or the maximum price you’re willing to pay for storage). So review the settings carefully for each destination (pruning and budget options are on the Retention tab) and make sure you’re taking advantage of Arq’s money-saving features.

• Arq supports local backups too. Although Arq is best known as a backup app to be used with cloud destinations, you can also choose local hard drives, network volumes, or NAS devices as destinations. That makes it much more versatile than most cloud backup apps and lets you use the same app for both local and cloud-based versioned backups. Alas, Arq lacks the capability to make bootable duplicates, so you’ll still need a separate app for that.

Carbon Copy Cloner Tips

Although (as the name suggests) Carbon Copy Cloner is designed primarily for making clones, or duplicates (bootable or otherwise), of entire volumes, it can also sometimes serve as a tool for making versioned backups. (Read about using it to create duplicates in Create a Duplicate with Carbon Copy Cloner.)

I want to emphasize my “sometimes” qualification, which depends partly on your disk type and format, partly on which features you enable, and partly on your desired end result.

ChronoSync Tips

If you’ve selected ChronoSync for versioned backups, please do the following:

• Put synchronizers in containers. ChronoSync is designed around the concept of documents called synchronizers, which contain the instructions for backing up or synchronizing something.

  When you set up a backup or sync operation, you’re creating a synchronizer, which the app prompts you to save when you close the window or quit the app. Although ChronoSync gives you a wealth of options for each synchronizer, one fundamental limitation is that a synchronizer can apply to only a single volume or folder (and everything inside it). If you want to back up items from more than one location (perhaps even with different options) in a single operation, create one synchronizer for each folder or volume, save them individually, and then choose File > New > Container and add each synchronizer to the list. You can then run all the synchronizers in one pass, and even schedule the entire container to run at a predetermined time.

• Take the easy way out. ChronoSync is amazingly flexible, but the flip side of that flexibility is a somewhat complex user interface; for example, you have to choose one of 11 backup or sync operations for each synchronizer, but the names and functions of these operations are far from self-explanatory. Fortunately, ChronoSync includes a Setup Assistant, which walks you through each step of the process and creates the synchronizer you need without overwhelming you with technical terminology. To use this tool, just click the “Use a setup assistant” button in the main ChronoSync Organizer window.

• Look for new destinations. ChronoSync can now back up to Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, and SFTP servers, as well as other Macs running ChronoAgent (see below) and iOS/iPadOS devices running the developer’s InterConneX app. Although it previously looked as though ChronoSync would be adding new cloud destinations regularly, that hasn’t happened yet—but I wouldn’t rule it out.

• Dissect away. ChronoSync can optionally look inside a package (a special folder that acts like a file) when performing a sync, so that if just some of the contents have changed, only those items are copied. This is crucial for things like your Photos library, because without using this feature the entire library must be copied if even a single photo is added or changed. For reasons that are unclear to me, this feature is turned off by default, and you must re-enable it manually whenever you create a new synchronizer. To do so, click Options, choose Custom from the pop-up menu under Special File/Folder Handling, and choose Dissect from the “Package handling” pop-up menu.

• Use archives for versioned backups. To create a synchronizer that produces versioned backups, choose Backup (either Left-to-Right or Right-to-Left, depending on your setup) from the Operation pop-up menu and check the “Archive replaced files” box. Then click Options and, in the Archive Handling section, select the options you want, such as how many copies of each file to keep and when to purge older versions. (If you used Setup Assistant, as I recommended above, you may not need to do this manually, but it may be useful to know what’s happening behind the scenes.)

• Get a good agent. ChronoSync, by itself, can back up the Mac it’s on, and it can optionally use mounted network volumes as the source or destination. However, to back up to or from another Mac on your network with administrative privileges, keeping ownership and permissions intact—crucial for, among other things, creating a bootable duplicate over the network—you must install the add-on app ChronoAgent on the other Mac.

QRecall Tips

If you use QRecall for versioned backups, I suggest the following:

• Learn the lingo. QRecall has its own special vocabulary. You may find the app easier to use if you translate its jargon into more familiar words. When you see capture, think “store a versioned backup.” (QRecall uses archive to mean a special file in which versioned backups are stored.) When you see recall, think “restore,” and when you see restore, think “restore to the original location.” A layer is essentially a snapshot that contains only the items copied during a particular incremental update of a versioned backup. You can merge (combine) layers for convenience; you can also do a rolling merge, in which layers are combined according to your specifications after a certain number of days.

• Let the Assistant help. To get help setting up complex options in QRecall, Choose Help > Capture Assistant.

• Use multiple keys to save space. Although you can use a single QRecall license key on multiple computers, doing so means each computer must store its data in a separate archive. If you purchase an individual license for each Mac, they can all share a single archive—significantly reducing the overall size of the backup, because QRecall doesn’t store any duplicated data.

Retrospect Tips

If Retrospect is your weapon of choice, consider these tips:

• Get the right edition. If you’re backing up a single Mac (whether to one or more external hard drives, to the cloud, or both), you now want Retrospect Solo. If you want to back up multiple Macs over your network to shared storage—or if you want to back up from a NAS—you’ll need Retrospect Desktop. But note that the same software is used for all editions; the license you enter determines which features are enabled.

• Understand the terminology. Retrospect has always had a somewhat odd way of referring to certain activities, though its terms have changed over the years. On the plus side: what older versions called selectors (which could either include or exclude files) are now called rules; the ambiguously named Backup Server feature is now called ProactiveAI Backup; and destinations (whether local drives, network locations, or cloud storage) are called media sets. However, what was formerly duplicate (namely, the operation you choose if you want a bootable duplicate) is now the less specific copy, while scripts—specifications for backup operations—keep the same name, even though they don’t resemble what the rest of the world calls scripts (procedures written in a language such as AppleScript).

• Ask for assistance. Retrospect is a big, complex app with lots of features and options, and it was evidently designed with IT professionals (rather than consumers) in mind. So it can be daunting, but it also offers user-friendly help: start by clicking Backup or Copy on the toolbar, and a Backup Assistant or Copy Assistant appears, walking you through the process of configuring sources, media sets (destinations), and other options. On the first screen of the Backup Assistant, you can even select your destination drive and then click Use 1-Click Backup for a fully automated guess at how you want your backups set up! (You can edit this to your liking by selecting 1-Click Backup in the Scripts category.)

Test Your Versioned Backup

When your first full versioned backup is complete, test it by choosing a few random files or folders to restore. If your backup software has a restore feature, use it; if not, you’ll have to restore the files manually (usually with drag-and-drop).

To test your backup, follow these steps:

1. Restore to a different location. Most backup software lets you restore files either to their original locations or to another location of your choice. For this test, restore your selected files to a different location—say, your desktop, where you can find them easily.

2. Check the restored files. Compare the restored files to the originals using the Finder’s File > Get Info command. Each pair of files should match exactly: same name, size, icon, creation date, and modification date. You should also confirm that the files open correctly. If the files were not copied, were not identical, or didn’t open, then either your backup software or its user made a mistake! Check your software’s documentation, and if necessary contact the developer’s technical support department for assistance.

3. Try an in-place restoration. Temporarily move one of the original files you backed up to a different location (again, your desktop works well for this), then use your app’s restore feature (if it has one) to restore the file to its original location.

4. Check the restored files. Again, check each file carefully to make sure it’s correct.

If the files are correct regardless of the location to which you restored them, your versioned backup is working properly.