Internal drive for Time Machine?

[rockinrocker]

Is there any way to use an internal drive for Time Machine?

I thought I'd check and see if anyone's been able to do it somehow before deciding which drive I need to get (my current external backup's pretty much full).

Thanks.

 

[kabelabs]

you just tell it to use an internal drive. I use a 1tb drive in my 4th bay for time machine.

 

[rockinrocker]

oh, really? I thought it had to be external for some reason.

cool, that's good news.

anyone else doing this?

 

[Dark Dragoon]

oh, really? I thought it had to be external for some reason.

cool, that's good news.

anyone else doing this?

There should be no problem doing this,
I also use an internal 1TB drive for Time Machine.

 

[student_trap]

ditto all above, except i use a 750 gig drive

 

[wheezy]

I have a 500GB WD Green in Bay 2 for Time Machine, they only talk about using an External cause everything but the MP can only internally have one HD.

 

[liquid stereo]

Done it twice

My 2x2GHz G5 had two 250GB drives. One was the main drive the other was used solely for Time Machine.

My new/current MacPro has a 300GB, 76GB, and 1TB internal drives. The 300GB is the main drive while and 1TB is the Time Machine drive.

Everything works smoothly.

Cheers!

Is there any way to use an internal drive for Time Machine?

I thought I'd check and see if anyone's been able to do it somehow before deciding which drive I need to get (my current external backup's pretty much full).

Thanks.

 

[Phil A.]

The only problem I can see with using an internal drive for Time Machine is around the security of your backups - if your machine gets stolen your backups disappear with it...

 

[gotzero]

I use an internal time machine drive for the MP, but it fills up fast.

I have two VMs running constantly, and I think time machine backs up the two 40GB drives every hour...

 

[Phil A.]

I use an internal time machine drive for the MP, but it fills up fast.

I have two VMs running constantly, and I think time machine backs up the two 40GB drives every hour...

If you're running VMs, it's normally best to exclude them from Time Machine and back them up some other way otherwise, as you say, you'll run out of space very quickly!

 

[rockinrocker]

If you're running VMs, it's normally best to exclude them from Time Machine and back them up some other way otherwise, as you say, you'll run out of space very quickly!

yeah, doesn't it make another whole copy of the partition every time something changes on it?

 

[Horst]

I have a 500GB WD Green in Bay 2 for Time Machine, they only talk about using an External cause everything but the MP can only internally have one HD.

Each his own, but for me having an internal backup drive kind of defeats the purpose.

 

[HunterMaximus]

As others have noted, an internal drive can work fine as a Time Machine drive. Whether it's a good idea or not depends largely on your intended use. If you're using Time Machine as your sole backup, you're exposing yourself to additional risk - PSU issues can easily fry both internal drives, controller problems could fry both, etc. Is it a huge additional risk? No, but it is more than if your backup drive is an external one with an independent power supply. It largely depends on how much you value your data and how much that added protection is worth to you.

I think there are some definite advantages to using two backup drives - one for Time Machine, one for SuperDuper/CCC. That way not only do you have double redundancy, you get the version-backup functionality of Time Machine, and the bootable functionality of SuperDuper/CCC. Given how cheap disks are these days, it's a good option to consider. Have the TM drive internal for maximum speed, and you can have an external SuperDuper/CCC drive do nightly backups. For even more security, add a 2nd SuperDuper/CCC drive and rotate them offsite (work, friends/relatives house) to protect against theft/fire/etc.