How do I combine two smaller drives into a single larger "virtual" Time Machine drive

[FuNGi]

Hi and thanks for any help with this. My MBP has a 320GB harddrive with like 240GB used on it but I only have two 250 GB harddrives so you can see the problem I'm in. I would like to combine into a single virtual drive so that it can accommodate my Time Machine backups. Any suggestions?

 

[FuNGi]

I'm getting some ideas on MROOGLE. Is it RAID 0? Striping?

 

[Mal]

RAID 0 (which you can do in Disk Utility) will do what you want, but remember, by spreading the data out on two drives, you're increasing your risk of failure by double (statistically speaking). It'd be safer to buy a larger single drive that can handle it all, or better yet of course to buy two larger drives and keep at least one off-site.

However, if cost is the primary concern, then RAID 0 will let you combine the drives you have to appear as one volume. Just open Disk Utility, click on one of the volumes (click the physical volume, not the drive name), and click on the RAID tab. You can configure your setup there.

jW

 

[Le Big Mac]

A short-term solution is also to exclude from backups certain things on your HD. Or do a single periodic backup to the second HD--for example if you've ripped lots of music from CDs and still have the CDs ("the what?"). Or even if you don't, copying the music files to the other HD and then not backing up the itunes library.

 

[FuNGi]

Thanks Mal! I appreciate your concern as well. Fortunately I will have the two 250GB harddrives and and a 320GB backup as my backup backup. So one will be at home and hopefully the two in RAID 0 at work.

I just don't want to get rid of these old harddrives. One used to work fine for a Time Machine and then I upgraded my stock drive to a 320 7200rpm drive so now have the two. This will save me the trouble of selling or trashing them!

I assume that after I click on RAID to configure one of them it will ask for the other as well thereafter?