Katy, I haven’t moved to cloud storage yet largely because of the long initial upload time requirements. I have three WDC 3TB external hard drives that I use for both TIme Machine backups and Aperture Libraries and Vaults. I keep them in different locations and back up to them whenever I am in one of those locations. I always have Time Machine running automatically to an external HD wherever I happen to be. Finally, I also have two additional 1 TB drives (these things are really cheap). One of them is a portable for taking multiple Aperture Libraries with me when I travel.

Good question! I just moved to Backblaze and had to reconfigure my 2TB ext HD as it would not back up Time Machine back ups. My ext HD has 2 drives in it, so one is TM and the other my Aperture Library. Now Backblaze recognizes that ext drive and I selected it along with my Mac HD for backing up to same. I’m curious if anyone knows the answer. I thought I read that it doesn’t back up metadata, here on AE and that you have to manually tell Aperture to apply it to any or all master photos in your Aperture Library.
Once I’m all backed up on Backblaze, I’ll add the metadata, etc.
With that said, I have 2 separate 1TB drives that contain Aperture Vaults, I did the Backblaze as an additional “safety net.”

If I disconnect the ext HD and click on Aperture, no images are on my Mac’s HD. Only on my ext HD that’s connected to my Macbook Pro has the library. 2 separate portable HD’s have my Vaults, etc. I don’t have enough memory on my Mac HD due to the size of my library.

You can have multiple Aperture libraries if you choose. You just have to hold the Option key when you open Aperture. It will ask which library you want to choose.

The library can be located on any attached HD. That includes any internal HD or external HD connected via Firewire, Thunderbolt or USB. But USB 2.0 is not recommended because it will be too slow. USB 3.0 is great but only the newest Macs and external HD have it.

Referenced vs. managed is related to where the image originals (called masters in previous versions of Aperture) are stored. Where the library file is stored doesn’t matter. If the originals are stored inside the library file, they are managed. If they are outside the library, they are referenced.

The default Aperture settings are a managed library stored inside the Pictures folder of the current user named “Aperture Library”.

You can create a search filter inside the browser that will find all referenced images in your library. First select “Photos” from the library pane and then create the filter in the browser.

Thanks for the info. I am waiting for their customer support to confirm that my Aperture Library is being backed up. My Mac HD is 95% done and will hopefully be finished uploading to Backblaze today.

Now that we know the vaults can be backed up there, I will plug in one of my ext HD’s that has the vault and back that up as well, etc.

I guess you’ll have to add the metadata to each image, etc.

My understanding is that any external drive that has not been accessed for 30 days or more will be deleted from Backblaze.

Katy,

I’ve been using Backblaze for a couple of years now. I don’t understand the statement about not backing up metadata. The metadata in Aperture is stored in special files inside the library package. I just checked my Backblaze backup online and it contains every single file that is inside my library file on my local drive. There must be a disconnect somewhere between what you asked Backblaze and their answer.

I’m wondering why you want to backup a vault in the first place. The vault itself is only a backup of your library. And it is only as up to date as the last time you manually told Aperture to update it. It would be better to have Backblaze backup the original Aperture library file. Is there a reason you want to backup a backup that I’m not thinking of?

John,

The 30 day counter for an external drive starts counting if you disconnect (or turn off) that drive while Backblaze is connected to the internet. The Backblaze SW notifies the online service that the drive is no longer connected and the timer starts. However, if you turn off your computer so that backups are no longer happening, there is no counter. For example, if you go on a 3 month safari and leave your computer at home turned off, the backup of any external drive will not be deleted.

Katy,

You may be confusing vaults and libraries. Aperture keeps all of its data in a “library”. Inside the library are database files, previews, thumbnails and other files Aperture uses to keep your images organized. It also contains all the adjustments you make to your images and their metadata.

A vault is a backup copy of your library. A vault will only exist if you ask Aperture to create one. It doesn’t happen automatically. Once you create one, you need to tell Aperture when you want it updated.

Another important concept to keep in mind is referenced vs. managed libraries. A managed library contains all the items I mentioned above plus it contains all your original images. A referenced library does not contain the original images. They are stored outside the library and therefore can be almost anywhere. They could be on an external disk.

Since a vault is only a backup of the library file, if you have a referenced library which doesn’t contain the originals, the original images don’t get backed up by a vault. You need to backup them up separately.

So what Backblaze should be backing up is the library file and, if your originals are referenced, the folder that contains all the originals. By backing up the library file, the metadata gets backed up.

Backblaze backs up files. Metadata is stored in files (inside the library). Therefore the metadata gets backed up. I’m still not sure what the Backblaze rep was thinking when he told you metadata isn’t backed up.

If you want to learn more about how Aperture handles files, I suggest you get Joseph’s ebook available here.

Or join Lynda.com for a month and take the Aperture training available there.

Thank you Tom!! Much appreciated. Katy as well!!

Thomas I have quick question. If my Aperture Library resides on an external HD, is that managed or referenced? I’m assuming it’s managed because if I disconnect my external HD and open Aperture up from the dock, there are no images, etc.

Yet, when I do my weekly Vault backup which I do on two separate portable ext HD’s, it always warns that there are for example, 53 images that are referenced and not included on this Vault back up, etc.

Thanks

Thomas,
Thanks for the clarification of the clock/ counter for those looking into Backblaze.
I wanted to point out that disconnected drives are purged after 30 days.
I have multiple Aperture libraries dating back to 2005 on 24 EHD’s (12 Tb original plus redundant vaults), many of those drives are disconnected for months at a time.
Backblaze may not be the answer for the large storage/ backup requirements generated over the long term.