MacBook--Time Machine--iMac

[Buerkletucson]

I backup my iMac by Time Machine using an external drive.
I would like to add an additional drive to my iMac and then share the drive to my MacBook for Time Machine to access.

Is this possible?
I can see the shared drive but TM doesn't.

Otherwise can I put an external drive on my router USB port and use that for MacBook TM backup?
I don't want to spend the money on a Time Capsule since I will only be backing up my Macbook occasionally and my important files are on my iMac.

 

[deeddawg]

Using you imac, only supported way I know of is via OSX Server. See http://www.howtogeek.com/216077/how-to-perform-time-machine-backups-over-the-network/

I've not had much success using a router-attached drive in the past, but things may be different now. Whether it works, and how well it works, will be entirely dependent on your specific router.

Also don't forget to have a secondary offsite backup method to solve for the "house burnt down / someone stole all my stuff" scenarios. I've been pleased with CrashPlan as it's always working. I tried the "use an external drive and keep it at my office" plan for a while. Then I realized the realities of how rarely I actually did that and decided to be honest that it just wasn't going to work for me.

 

[Howard2k]

Tried the drive attached to the router too. Both a DLink and a Netgear router. Both scenarios were crap, but I didn't purchase the router with that intent. I did purchase a NAS and that supports Apple TM. So my iMac backs up to my NAS over the wifi, as well as local USB drives as I plug them in. I have three external drives and a NAS that I use. Probably overkill, but I have had a HDD failure once and TM saved my data.

 

[IowaLynn]

Clone #1 for last month or pre- OS X update and another for post update plus TWO drives for TimeMachine.

No harm in having 200GB or something partition on TM drive as a boot system nice and handy. Having a recovery partition thanks to CCC there is a bonus.

 

[Weaselboy]

I backup my iMac by Time Machine using an external drive.
I would like to add an additional drive to my iMac and then share the drive to my MacBook for Time Machine to access.

Is this possible?

Yes... all you need to do is install OS X Server on the iMac and it will work and is officially supported by Apple.

https://www.apple.com/osx/server/features/#time-machine

 

[IowaLynn]

PS: no USB3 just USB2
http://www.everymac.com/app/

Wrong thread

 

[Buerkletucson]

Thanks for all the great replies!

Yes... all you need to do is install OS X Server on the iMac and it will work and is officially supported by Apple.

https://www.apple.com/osx/server/features/#time-machine

Man, I love this idea.......little leary of this review though.



Customer Reviews
Unusable
by gsfprez
If you install this and turn on any service - including something as simple as file sharing - Server slowly begins to eat the space (about 2 gigs a minute) on the boot drive until, eventually, it fills up and the computer crashes. There is no means of having any service turned on without this happening. I’ve installed it twice, on brand new 100% clean installs, on two different Macs and i have no services turned on, and this problem persists. Do not buy. I will be requesting my money back from Apple.

 

[Weaselboy]

Man, I love this idea.......little leary of this review though.

Meh... you can find some bad reviews for any software. Other reviews there look okay. I think it is worth a try.

 

[deeddawg]

Agreed. While I don't own the app, if I had a need for it I'd give it a try without any compunction. If it doesn't work I'd push for a refund. Yes, when I have the choice of options, I'll go with the best reviewed one that fits my need, but in this case you have ONE single app that'll do what you wish to do.

Also, it's difficult to know from a review just exactly what the reviewer was doing and how much of his issues originated from the app or from the space between the keyboard and the chair. Yes, often the reviews are spot on, but sometimes they aren't really relevant. There have been plenty of items I've read simply horrid reviews about but worked just fine; in some cases it became obvious that the unhappy reviewers hadn't read the directions or otherwise were at fault for their troubles and the item was just fine.

 

[Buerkletucson]

Meh... you can find some bad reviews for any software. Other reviews there look okay. I think it is worth a try.

OK, you convinced me to go for it and give it a try.....only $20 anyway.
Thanks for the information, once I get it and try it out I'll report back.

Might not be until the weekend.....but thanks for the great tip!

 

[Weaselboy]

OK, you convinced me to go for it and give it a try.....only $20 anyway.
Thanks for the information, once I get it and try it out I'll report back.

Might not be until the weekend.....but thanks for the great tip!

You are quite welcome. I'm looking forward to what you think of this setup.

 

[duervo]

Customer Reviews
Unusable
by gsfprez
If you install this and turn on any service - including something as simple as file sharing - Server slowly begins to eat the space (about 2 gigs a minute) on the boot drive until, eventually, it fills up and the computer crashes. There is no means of having any service turned on without this happening. I’ve installed it twice, on brand new 100% clean installs, on two different Macs and i have no services turned on, and this problem persists. Do not buy. I will be requesting my money back from Apple.

I've had Server running all the time (well, except for the obvious OS X updates requiring restarts) since January, 2012, when I took delivery of my Mac mini and set it up. Never, ever had anything like that happen. I cannot help but question that reviewer's sincerity and/or technical ability.

- Server is the cheapest method to do what you want to do. I've tested TM using this method, to backup my MBP, and it works fine.

- Getting an Airport Extreme router is the next expensive option. I've also tested this method with my Airport Extreme, and it works too.

- Getting a NAS like one from Synology, that can do it as well, is the most expensive option. This is the method I currently use, and have used since September 2012 (when I bought my DS1812+.) I bought the NAS for other reasons. The TM capability was just icing on the cake for me.

 

[Buerkletucson]

Ok, I just couldn't wait until the weekend.....

Purchase the Server for $20 and had it up and running in no time.
This is so sweet and works beautifully.....this is EXACTLY what I wanted to do.
Thanks again so much to "Weaselboy"

Some screen shots....

Server:

Client:

Client:

 

[duervo]

Now that you have Server running, you can discover what else it enables you to do:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/11/a-power-users-guide-to-os-x-server-yosemite-edition/

(Mentions Yosemite, but it's still relevant for El Capitan.)

 

[Weaselboy]

Ok, I just couldn't wait until the weekend.....

Oh good. Glad this is working out.

 

[Buerkletucson]

Just an FYI...
After running the Server for 2-days I can honestly say it works great.....and absolutely no memory usage problem as indicated by one of the reviewers I posted above.

Excellent solution...

 

[deeddawg]

If you haven't yet done so, consider posting a *positive* review on the App store for others who may follow and be put off by the other person's experience.