External hard drive question.

[zowenso]

Hello. I currently have a mid 2010 Mac mini with Sierria 10.12.5 and I'm looking into getting an upgrade lol. Im due. I have a WD My Passport for Mac 2TB external hard drive. Its partionied so I have one space for photos and videos and then another section for time machine back up. Its been so long I cant even remember how I did that haha. My question is this, When I get a new Mac, I highlight and eject the two icons for the hard drive (one of media and one for time machine) on my desk top. When I plug this back into a new Mac, will the new Mac recognize the the hard drive is partitioned for a time machine back up or will I have to do something for that to work? Also, is there a chance I will lose anything on my external hard drive when I eject or plug it back in?


Thanks. Owen

 

[chscag]

Best advice I can give you is when you get your new iMac, buy a new external drive of appropriate size and dedicate it to TM backups only.

Never use your backup drive to store things like photos and videos.

 

[zowenso]

Oh wow. So it’s not a good idea to partition an external hd for tm back ups? Geesh. Didn’t know that. So you are saying I should have two ex hard drives set up?

 

[chabig]

He is saying that. Think. You don’t have a backup for your photos and videos right now. If your “backup” drive fails, they’re gone.

 

[HDFan]

1. Make sure you have at least a 3-2-3 backup strategy.

2. Do not rely on a TM backup. They are unreliable. Make sure you have other cloned or cloud backups.

 

[wardie]

1. Make sure you have at least a 3-2-3 backup strategy.

2. Do not rely on a TM backup. They are unreliable. Make sure you have other cloned or cloud backups.

Did you mean 3-2-1 or have you got something more in mind? OP read this:

https://us-cert.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/data_backup_options.pdf

 

[HDFan]

Thanks. I hadn't seen that.

As I recollect Larry Jordan (my favorite video NLE trainer) some years ago recommended a 3-3-3 strategy:

3 backups on
3 different media types (disk, tape, cloud, etc.)
3 different locations, 1 a safe deposit box

This may have been before that article was written.

He has a more recent article recommending the 3-2-1 strategy:

3 – 2 – 1 Backup Strategy | Larry Jordan

larryjordan.com

Since he is involved in video production a good backup strategy is crucial to his business. A 3-3-3 strategy would be a best case strategy when possible.

One thing the article doesn't mention is the deterioration of the signal on magnetic disks and SSDs in long term storage:

Understanding Life Expectancy of Flash Storage for LabVIEW Real-Time Systems

This document discusses how several factors impact the Drive Endurance formula when used to calculate how much data can be written to a drive before it becomes unreliable. Selecting the right flash-based storage device for your application often demands a tradeoff between cost, capacity, and...

www.ni.com

Hard disks also experience signal deterioration, along with mechanical issues such as the lubricants drying out. If kept in long term storage they need to be read occasionally to refresh the signal. Assume the same is true for SSD's.

My understanding is that tape signals are less subject to deterioration, but couldn't find any supporting data.

But there is theory and actuallity. It has been well over a year since I replaced/refreshed my bank backup disks.

 

[wardie]

I posted this on another thread somewhere recently. For consumer level and not using magnetic (HDD/tape) or SSD (uh!?) or cloud, seems like optical Blu-ray Recordable is a good choice. But not what OP asked...

Hard-core data preservation: The best media and methods for archiving your data

Daily backup isn’t archiving. If you want your data to survive the decades, you need to use the right tools.

www.pcworld.com

Back to the point I think the answer is:

1. Get a new hard drive dedicated to backup only for your new mac. Either one that is (a) the same size as new hard drive and use a cloner program (CCC, SuperDuper etc), or (b) one that is at least double you new hard drive and use that for Time Machine. Or do both (a) and (b).
- Make sure these options are set to run automatically, as the thing that always fails here is humans forgetting to do it.
- Don’t store you actual ‘primary’ data and a backup of it on the same physical drive. If the hardware fails you lose it all.

2. Also use a cloud backup service, or some other way to get your data offsite, if you don’t want to take the (small?) risk of losing everything in a total house theft/fire etc.

Personally I do a mix of 1 (a) plus 1 (b) and a limited about of 2 with most vital stuff.