when is it enough? how to properly have 1 cloud backup
Hi, I don't consider myself a novice but neither an expert. For as long as I can remember, I've been backing up my photos, videos, and documents primarily, but nowadays I'm at a crossroads: I don't know how to do it, what the best type of backup is, what system to use, and what is long-lasting and suitable for the passage of time.
Before starting, I'll specify my current hardware and anticipate that, above all, what I need is flexibility, adaptability, and not being tied to a specific operating system or device. In the future, I will change devices, but I'll come back to this later.
How I use my backups and devices today:
Currently, I have an iPhone, a MacBook, and a Windows desktop. Two years ago (and since around 2014), I had an Android. Storing files on HDDs, SSDs, even DVDs, or any physical device was easier back then; I just copied and pasted with Windows. Nowadays I have an iPhone and that copy-paste option is often complicated, especially since my favorite system is Windows, and it's not as easy or compatible to connect the iPhone to a Windows desktop and copy and paste. That's why I got a MacBook, in addition to its features, because of the ecosystem. There, I have a photolibrary with all my original photos taken with the iPhone.
For many years, I've used Google Cloud and I've had Google Photos backup active in storage saver mode, and since I have an iPhone, I've used iCloud in the same optimized mode. Yes, I pay and use both systems because Google is my historical repository of files, and iCloud is my current repository only because my phone is an iPhone. I don't really like Apple and its operating system, and in the future, I'll probably switch back to Android and Windows 99%, and have Apple devices just in case.
My way of using cloud services:
I want them to be a quick, reliable, simple access repository for every file I have ever owned. if I need one photo, I don't mind having it in non-original quality because I rarely need it for something "professional" (I edit photos and videos) or important where original quality is required. That's the utility I give to Google Photos: easy and quick access to all my photos and videos.
My ideal backup style and cloud system for the future:
I want to continue having a quick-access-cloud-system. Google Photos and Drive are my favorites for the ease and flexibility it offers; I can access my files, photos and videos, and docs from any device, wherever I am. This is something I don't want to give up. But of course, Google has its downside, which is depending on Google, its servers, its system, and everything that comes with it. However, I love the utilities of Google Photos, like having your photos cataloged by places, years, months, people appearing (using facial recognition), being able to search by terms, for example, "dog" or some type of text and find all matches. I love it, and it's something I’d like to maintain.
I've learned about NAS systems and they caught my attention, but I don't know if it's the right choice at the moment because I have around 2TB of total data. So, I wonder, is it worth it for so little? (having the NAS maybe I could add some forgotten data on DVDs, and I could upload everything I have on Google Cloud, and on other physical drives there, but I'm not sure about that now).
Now, I don't quite understand how the interface works. Can I install something similar to Google's facial recognition, sorting by places, dates, or even term search, to find and organize my files on the NAS? Is it possible?
On the other hand, I think it would be the perfect replacement for Google Photos because, if I understand it correctly, it's the same thing, only I manage it locally. But here I also have doubts: what would be its access app? If I did it right now, could I access it from iPhone, Mac, Windows, Android, any operating system? technically a NAS is offline storage if I disconnect the internet?
