> Send in the clones

Backups are about making data recoverable. Clones provide a bootable drive you can start up from in the event of your drive failing. Or you might be away from your Mac but need access to all of its data, apps, and setup. Or you can keep a snapshot of an old Mac or old system version, complete with data and apps. Various apps offer cloning, like Carbon Copy Cloner ($39.99,

bombich.com) and SuperDuper ($27.95, shirt-pocket.com). In brief, you choose a source (usually your Mac) and a destination. Click a button and the clone is created, which can take several hours if there’s a lot of data. Further options include scheduling (overnight is a good time), incremental updates (copying across only new/updated files), and omitting specific files/folders. You should test any clone you make: connect the drive to your Mac, go to System Preferences > Startup Disk, select the clone, restart your Mac, and play around in the cloned system for a bit to ensure everything’s present and fully working.

Apps like Carbon Copy Cloner create a clone backup. A basic clone is simple enough to make, and there are options to fine-tune the backup.