Back up Workflow and HHD vs SSD

[KCPhoto]

Hello! I’m having a bit of a headache dealing with a failed external HDD and trying to figure out the best way to copy my backup copy onto a second new HDD.

Currently, I have two external HDDs plus a cloud backup service (which I signed up for years ago, so I’m sticking with it). Last year, an external drive crashed—my Time Machine backup—and yesterday my main HHD stopped working. Both were Seagate, so I’ll be switching to WD!

First question: You mentioned in another thread that you don’t recommend mirroring software. I’m considering using Carbon Copy Cloner to copy my second backup drive so I can get back to having two external hard-drive backups. What’s the difference between using CCC and simply dragging and dropping the files? CCC would make things much easier and give me confidence that everything copied correctly. The drive is 5TB.

Second question: I feel like I’m starting over with my backup system and want to do it right.

Do you recommend not working directly from an external HDD? I’ve done this for years because my 2TB iMac doesn’t have enough space for all the files I’m actively working on for photo sessions.

I also saw that you don’t recommend SSDs. I feel like everywhere I read SSD’s are the way to go. Or should I stick with HDDs? I was thinking of buying two new 4TB WD HDDs for backups, using CCC to keep them synchronized, and continuing with my cloud backup—giving me a 3-2-1 setup.

What would you recommend for a solid backup plan? And should I keep as much as possible on my iMac’s internal drive, or is it okay to continue working directly from HDD #1?

Thank you!

Kat