Backing up to iCloud

[Elliern]

Has anyone tried yet to back up to iCloud and if so how long did it take? I mean after loading the new iOS yesterday.

I downloaded the new iOS 5 yesterday. The information on the iCloud said to back up daily using iCloud. So, 'should' do it tonight. I am a little hesitant to try, just in case it creates other problems. But, know I will have to take the plunge sooner or later.

Has anyone had any problems? Thanks for letting me know of your experiences.

 

[Ncaissie]

I had no problem.
I only enable contacts, calendar, bookmarks and reminders though.

64GB 3G White iPad

 

[Davidmacpherson]

I completed my first iCloud backup reasonably quickly (my broadband at home is only 3Mbs).

Regarding daily backup, does anyone know if this is an incremental or 100% each time?

David

 

[Elliern]

I had no problem.
I only enable contacts, calendar, bookmarks and reminders though.

64GB 3G White iPad

Hmm, I did not know I had to enable anything! Geesh, more to learn. I thought I just had to plug it in, turn on my wifi and close the cover. So, where exactly do you enable what is to be backed up? And how do I choose? Sorry for being so ignorant.

Is it really necessary to back it up daily, if you don't have much? I go for a few weeks before adding anything new and then may add several apps and a few photos all in one day. If I didn't add anything since yesterday, do I still need to back up to iCloud?

 

[Ncaissie]

Go into settings and choose iCloud on the left.

64GB 3G White iPad

 

[richsadams]

Is it really necessary to back it up daily, if you don't have much? I go for a few weeks before adding anything new and then may add several apps and a few photos all in one day. If I didn't add anything since yesterday, do I still need to back up to iCloud?

Backup as often as you feel comfortable. If you honestly don't make any changes for weeks, simply backup when you do. A backup is just a safety net. If worst case scenario your iPad stopped working and had to be restored to factory settings...or even replaced, you can use your backup to restore everything. As long as you're happy with whatever your backup contains if you ever need it, that's all that counts. More here:

http://www.apple.com/icloud/

FWIW I'm now keeping a backup of my iOS devices on my computer (via iTunes) as well as one in (on?) iCloud. I won't be religious about the one on my computer...but if anything happened to the one in the "cloud" I'll still have something to fall back on. I have two backups (one on and one off site) for all of my computers as well. I'm a bit retentive that way...although it did save my bacon one time.

 

[Elliern]

Backup as often as you feel comfortable. If you honestly don't make any changes for weeks, simply backup when you do. A backup is just a safety net. If worst case scenario your iPad stopped working and had to be restored to factory settings...or even replaced, you can use your backup to restore everything. As long as you're happy with whatever your backup contains if you ever need it, that's all that counts. More here:

Apple - iCloud - Your content. On all your devices.

FWIW I'm now keeping a backup of my iOS devices on my computer (via iTunes) as well as one in (on?) iCloud. I won't be religious about the one on my computer...but if anything happened to the one in the "cloud" I'll still have something to fall back on. I have two backups (one on and one off site) for all of my computers as well. I'm a bit retentive that way...although it did save my bacon one time.

So, you just continue to back up the 'old fashioned way' using iTunes just like we did prior to the iOS upgrade? I like the idea of having a 'back up to the back up'.

Thanks for the advice and information. As usual it was very helpful.

 

[richsadams]

So, you just continue to back up the 'old fashioned way' using iTunes just like we did prior to the iOS upgrade? I like the idea of having a 'back up to the back up'.

Thanks for the advice and information. As usual it was very helpful.

However you like...you can backup to iTunes or iCloud or both. You can choose which by going into Settings > iCloud > iCloud Backup On/Off. If it's off you can continue to backup to iTunes.

With your iPad connected to your computer open iTunes and select your iPad. On the Summary page select which backup method you'd like to use...

To backup to your computer, open iTunes, locate your iPad in the left-hand menu, control-click or right-click on it and click on "Backup" in the menu.

 

[vitamin]

Can we backup multiple devices without syncing the contacts, calendar, and mail together. My wife and I use the same account for iTunes, but keep separate information. I don't want my contacts to be sent to her phone or vise versa. Thanks.

 

[donka]

I had no problem.
I only enable contacts, calendar, bookmarks and reminders though.

64GB 3G White iPad

This sounds like iCloud sync instead of back up.

One cool feature is you can go into your iCloud backup settings on your device to manage storage. I then select only certain apps that I wish to back up which can drastically reduce the size of your backup and the time it takes as well as saving the amount of storage space used. That way I have a backup of critical data for a worst case scenario when I am away from home and not unrequired data such as game saves, video content in 3rd party move players etc.. The listing of apps is sorted by backup size so you can easily turn off the backup for apps that use a large amount of space.
I also do a manual backup to my iTunes on my laptop and this is a full backup so the one I would normally use to restore if needed.

 

[Arcsylver]

My first backup took about 5 hours total for approximately 550 MB of data backed up to iCloud. I did this on launch day immediately after installing IOS 5. Which BTW went off flawlessly on my iPad 2. I waited until around 1230 PM Central time and had no issues at all with the entire process.

When the backup said it would take 5 hours I put the ipad on it's charger in the bedroom and let it do it's thing.

 

[epb]

Regarding daily backup, does anyone know if this is an incremental or 100% each time?

Incremental, thank goodness. My full backup is 7GB, and takes about 34 hours - once was enough.

 

[Beryl]

First backup took 2.5 hours on my 64gb iPad 1 using 4.5 gb. Bought more storage so it can hold iPhone and iPod Touch backups. 20gb should be enough. I'll probably backup up to the laptop a couple of times each month now.

 

[ipadbraincell]

Got to say a bit peeved with iCloud allowance, you get 5GB if you have 1 device or 20.

Having invested in their ip2 and ip4 both 32gb, surely it makes sense to allow per device not client?

As it is the iPad stole most of 5GB, stopping the iCloud backup after torturous upgrade to iPhone.

TURNED IT OFF!!! And gone back to my 3tb NAS.

 

[Beryl]

I have to agree there. We should get a little more for each device we purchase.