Apple HDD backup options ?

andyred

andyred

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Hi

After a bit of advice from experienced Apple users.

Looking to set up the Time Machine on a Mac and get a dedicated external hard drive. Now I can go silly and get the Apple Airport Time capsule, but I was after other options that people have used.

I presume if it was wireless I could time machine more than 1 machine to it - when daughter returns from uni ? Doesn't have to be wireless, but needs to be reliable.

What are the options people have used ?

Thanks
A
 
Have tried various wireless options but none are as good as a Time Machine IMHO. I also have another USB HD plugged into the back of it and then alternate backups so I have 2 going at any one time. Both up in the loft so out of the way and unlikely to get nicked should I ever be burgled.
 
Synology NAS, supports Time Machine backups and a LOT more besides. Win Win!!
 
Have a look at carbon copy cloner as well as time machine. It's a paid for app but I feel worth it. Currently I have timemachine backing up the whole of the mac HDD to an external WD hard drive, carbon copy cloner backing up only my lightroom folder to a second external WD hard drive (runs every Wednesday at 10pm and turns the computer on and off to do this too), carbon copy cloner is also set up to copy the lightroom folder to a third external WD hard drive that's an off site backup. Carbon copy cloner automatically runs the backup to the third external hard drive whenever I connect the external hard drive to the mac, all I have to do is click proceed.

Since I've set all of this up the only thing I have to do is bring the off-site hard drive home once in a while to update the off site backup. I have thought of getting a fourth external hard drive so I can swap the off site backups to ensure I always have an off site back up. Currently there is a time when I have all external hard drives at home so it's not ideal.

You can set up carbon copy cloner to complete full backups, partial backups, run the back up at any time you want, turn the computer on to do the back up and off again, be able to identify a certain hard drive when it's plugged in and automatically perform the backup. It's a powerfull backup program/app and takes away the human element that is usually the weakest link in a backup system (ie remembering to do it!).

I wrote about my backup system on my website here.

I currently just use WD my passport external hard drives, they are small and don't need an external power source so are ideal. I have thought about NAS too but not got around to doing it. I do also backup all final hi res JPEG files to my website even if I'm not going to have them on public display. I have some hidden storage folders where all hi res files go as a sort of manual cloud backup. I've yet to find any good automatic method of uploading files to these 'cloud' storage folders.
 
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Cheers guys

Will have a look at your back up system Rob
 
I have a WD My Passport 2 Tb drive for Time Machine and also Carbon Copy Cloner ( paid for).i use the same drive for both and a separate 1tb drive that gets its Clone system updated regularly.
Allan
 
I do pretty much the same as rob-nikon but I use Super Duper. I prefer using a bootable back up rather than Time Machine as I find it a bit awkward but others swear by it and I use it as an easy way to scroll back and replace files. Super Duper can be used free but the paid for version allows scheduled back ups and is worth the money. I had reason to be grateful to it just this week when my partner's Mac died taking with it years of work, restoring the whole thing to a new machine took a couple of hours and was problem free. Use any reliable external hard drive, just be sure it's big enough.
 
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