Backing up multiple macs to Time Capsule

[littvay]

Dear Everyone

This might be a naive question. I have 3 macs in the house that I hope to make 4-5 as I convert all the family. I know that I can back up all the machines in the house but how will the Time Capsule know how much space each of the machines are supposed to use when they back up. For example, my girlfriend needs version tracking like crazy. She has 60GB but uses no more than half of it, so I would allocate at least 100GB for her. My parents do not need version tracking so their 100GB (about 70GB used) would get 110GB max. I need just a little so I would use the rest of the 290GB (as I have 250GB drive, 200GB used.)

So would I partition the Time Capsule? Or can I set how much space each time machine backup can use? Or what? Or do I have no options? I'll just trust Time Machine/Capsule to make the right decisions for me? (I don't think so.)

Thanks.

Levi

 

[transitman]

I need to know this also...

 

[pgeller]

me too...

Has anyone backed up more than one machine to time capsule?

thanks
philipp

 

[DoFoT9]

you cannot allocate certain amounts for backups. however you can do multiple backups of computers onto the 1 time capsule. i have got 3 computers backing up to it currently (i only do manual backups to save space)

 

[skorpien]

Just a thought: you could void your warranty, open your TC, remove the drive, partition it into the right sizes you need and put it all back together. According to this article, TC provides no way to partition the drive but supports partitions on the drive if you're so inclined. Otherwise, you can only use it as a single backup drive for all 3 computers.

 

[littvay]

I have already figured out what I'll do (and Apple sure made a mistake).

I'll buy the 500GB and back up my 250GB Macbook on it. Than I'll buy an external drive that I can partition for the rest. Apple just made me buy the cheaper product with the lower profit margin.

 

[grimslade]

That's not a bad idea. I back up my iMac and my MBA to the same 1TB TC. For reasons I don't fully comprehend, the sparse disk image of the iMac has ballooned to 600GB in just a couple of weeks, so it is eventually going to crowd out my MBA.

Unrelatedly, I can't get either machine to back up to the TC since I updated the firmware. I'm tempted to start over again with both (it's only two weeks worth of backups I'm losing anyway...) and see if the ballooning recurs. But why you can't set aside a certain amount of space for each is beyond me. Bad design, Apple people!