Backing up an external drive and mac on two separate drives with Time Machine

Discussion in 'Mac Accessories' started by Martin00, Mar 21, 2013.

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  1. Martin00, Mar 21, 2013

    Martin00 macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2013
    #1
    Hi all,

    I have a MBP with 1 To and an external HD of 1.5 To, which I am trying to back up on a 2 To Time Capsule.

    The mac is only about 50% full now (so 0.5 To), but it will get full quickly and will lead to the Time Capsule being unable to backup all the data.

    I've connected a 1 To HD to the Time Capsule via USB, but have not found a way to backup the 1.5 To external HD on one disk (ideally the Time Capsule) and the computer on another (ideally the external plugged in the TC).

    So the problem is that time machine will only backup the external drive as part of the mac's backup, and the addition of the two is greater than any drive I have. I am trying to avoid having to buy a 3 To external that I would plug into TC.

    Any ideas?

    Thanks!
     
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  2. jdechko, Mar 21, 2013

    jdechko macrumors 68040

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    Jul 1, 2004
    #2
    What sort of files do you keep on the external hard drive? Is it mostly static content, such as movies, which are accessed but not changed?
     
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  3. FreakinEurekan, Mar 21, 2013

    FreakinEurekan macrumors 68040

    FreakinEurekan

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Eureka Springs, Arkansas
    #3
    Not using Time Machine, no.

    I assume what @jdechko is hinting at, is that if you have some sizable content (e.g. movie files) that are essentially static so don't need versioning, you could back those up (not with Time Machine; do it manually or via a script or 3rd party utility) to the 1TB external drive on the Time Capsule. In Time Machine you'd then exclude the directories containing those large files from the backup so that everything else is managed by TM to go to the 2TB drive on the TC.
     
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  4. Martin00, Mar 22, 2013

    Martin00 thread starter macrumors newbie

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    Mar 21, 2013
    #4
    Thank you very much, I indeed have a few, big static files. I'll give that a go and hopefully it'll last longer than I think it will. I'll probably end up buying a 3-4 To external to wire on TC anyway.

    Thanks again!
     
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  5. Weaselboy, Mar 22, 2013

    Weaselboy Moderator

    Weaselboy

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    Location:
    California
    #5
    Time Machine won't do that. It can only backup whatever you have chosen to that destination. There is no way to "split" the backup like you want.

    You could do that with aftermarket software like Carbon Copy Cloner or Superduper though.
     
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