How much space does Time Capsule need?

[adamvk]

I'm just wondering...

Say I have 200GB of data, programs, etc on my Mac. I then buy a 500GB Time capsule. Can I only backup everything twice because 2x200= 400GB? Or does time machine compress everything? If so, how many times would I be able to backup 300GB of data?

Thanks

 

[hellomoto4]

No, time machine is smart and only will back up the files that have changed, not the whole HD again.

 

[Blue Velvet]

It works like this: You do the initial backup which takes up 200Gb. Then, every new file you create, download etc, every new song you add, every new email... etc is then backed up and added to that 200Gb.

If you don't use the Mac a lot, that 500Gb drive will let you go back to backups that are made many months ago. If you have a lot of big files going through your Mac, then it will only backup as far as it can.

One day, no matter how large your backup drive is, it will run out of space. And Time Machine has an action plan. It alerts you that it will start deleting previous backups, oldest first. Before it deletes any backup, Time Machine copies files that might be needed to fully restore your disk for every remaining backup. (Moral of the story: The larger the drive, the farther back in time you can back up.)

http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/timemachine.html

 

[adamvk]

Ah, Ok, thanks for help