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Migration Assistant time

D

danNYtrack

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 1, 2013
18
0
I will be receiving my 2012 27" iMac (with Fusion Drive) on Thursday so I am trying to get my ducks in a row now. I currently have a 2011 21" iMac with a 500GB HDD that is fully backed up to a Time Capsule (over Wi-Fi not LAN). The HDD is pretty full with only about 50GB of free space. I plan on restoring from my Time Machine backup when I first start up the new iMac.

The question is how long should I expect this to take? How has this worked out for some of you? I have seen it posted here that someone's new iMac took 24 hours to restore! I dread the thought!
 
If you restore via wireless LAN, it comes down to the transmit speed, which might be 20 MB/s at best, and since Time Machine is slow overall, it will probably be around 5 to 10 MB/s in the end. That means copying 450 GB at 5 MB/s will take around 26 hours, at 10 MB/s it will be like 13 hours.
Via Gigabit LAN it would take more like 3 hours, if you get 50 MB/s.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
If you restore via wireless LAN, it comes down to the transmit speed, which might be 20 MB/s at best, and since Time Machine is slow overall, it will probably be around 5 to 10 MB/s in the end. That means copying 450 GB at 5 MB/s will take around 26 hours, at 10 MB/s it will be like 13 hours.
Via Gigabit LAN it would take more like 3 hours, if you get 50 MB/s.
Click to expand...

So I should run an ethernet cable to my Time Capsule? I have a 20Ft cable lying around I could use. Will it automatically run through the cable or should I disable wifi on the iMac first to be sure?

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Macman45 said:
I used Thunderbolt with my new 27" Source was a 2011 27" data migrated was < 400MB in 56 mins...Smooth as silk, as posted these times will increase a lot when using wifi or Ethernet though.
Click to expand...

I wish I had a Thunderbolt cable to do this! It would almost be worth the investment.
 
danNYtrack said:
So I should run an ethernet cable to my Time Capsule? I have a 20Ft cable lying around I could use. Will it automatically run through the cable or should I disable wifi on the iMac first to be sure?
Click to expand...

It might or might not... depends on how the "service order" is setup in Network Prefs. To make sure, I would just turn off the wifi.

Yes, if you have an ethernet cable around for this, it will be FAR faster. Definitely do this.
 
Weaselboy said:
USB 3 would be much faster is you can do it. Ethernet would be ~1Gbps and USB 3 real world is a little over 3Gbps.
Click to expand...

But since it is a platter based HDD, USB 3.0 would not be that much faster anyway. Gigabit Ethernet can offer up to 110 MB/s in practice, almost no HDD will be faster, especially when using Migration Assistant and all those tiny files.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
But since it is a platter based HDD, USB 3.0 would not be that much faster anyway. Gigabit Ethernet can offer up to 110 MB/s in practice, almost no HDD will be faster, especially when using Migration Assistant and all those tiny files.
Click to expand...

True... probably not much. I have used both and USB always seems faster. I think ethernet stumbles a bit with network overhead trying to churn through all those small files like you mentioned.
 
Whatever you do, DON"T USE WIRELESS!

I usually use ethernet. I make one last backup from my old iMac. Pull the old iMac, plug in my new iMac then run the restore. 400GB of data takes me about 3 hours over ethernet.
 
danNYtrack said:
So I should run an ethernet cable to my Time Capsule? I have a 20Ft cable lying around I could use. Will it automatically run through the cable or should I disable wifi on the iMac first to be sure?

----------



I wish I had a Thunderbolt cable to do this! It would almost be worth the investment.
Click to expand...

Maybe you could borrow a T/Bolt cable? It was a no brainer for me as I already had one for my R4, but somebody must have one.
 
Macman45 said:
Maybe you could borrow a T/Bolt cable? It was a no brainer for me as I already had one for my R4, but somebody must have one.
Click to expand...

I wish... I don't even know anyone with a Mac! I actually would've bought one a couple weeks ago if I had thought about this beforehand but since my iMac is arriving tomorrow (I hope!!!) it's too late.

----------

Spent a great deal of time trimming the fat last night in preparation of my new iMac's arrival. I managed to get it down to a lean 287GB of data to transfer. Not bad considering I went from 25GB free space to 196GB free! I wish I had the willpower to tackle my iTunes library, I could probably dump a good 10GB there alone.

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Weaselboy said:
Exact same end result... just go with whichever has the fastest connection.
Click to expand...

I thought migration assistant and Time Machine backups were the same thing.:confused: Doesn't MA utilize your Time Machine backup?

I have a Time Capsule that I am going to be connecting with an Ethernet cable for my new iMac's setup. Please correct me if I am wrong but this is what I assumed I would be doing:

1. Plug Ethernet into new iMac.

2. Start new iMac (if it asks to connect to wireless network I will NOT do so)

3. When it asks to utilize MA to restore from backup I will point it to my Time Capsule's Time Machine backup.

4. Wait a painfully long time before playing with the greatest new toy I have ever gotten.


Is this basically how things will be going for me?

Thanks for all the input.
 
danNYtrack said:
I thought migration assistant and Time Machine backups were the same thing.:confused: Doesn't MA utilize your Time Machine backup?
Click to expand...

Migration Assistant is an application on your Mac that access the Time Machine backup to import data.

danNYtrack said:
I have a Time Capsule that I am going to be connecting with an Ethernet cable for my new iMac's setup. Please correct me if I am wrong but this is what I assumed I would be doing:

1. Plug Ethernet into new iMac.

2. Start new iMac (if it asks to connect to wireless network I will NOT do so)

3. When it asks to utilize MA to restore from backup I will point it to my Time Capsule's Time Machine backup.

4. Wait a painfully long time before playing with the greatest new toy I have ever gotten.


Is this basically how things will be going for me?

Thanks for all the input.
Click to expand...

Exactly. :)
 
Weaselboy said:
USB 3 would be much faster is you can do it. Ethernet would be ~1Gbps and USB 3 real world is a little over 3Gbps.
Click to expand...

Well, I guess that means I'd have to use ethernet since old(er) iMacs don't support USB 3.

Dumb question, as it's been awhile since I've migrated to a new Mac: When going from old Mac to new Mac via ethernet, is it a standard cable? No reverse pin configuration issues?

ETA: I guess another option besides ethernet would be to get a Firewire 800 (which my old iMac supports) to Thunderbolt adapter.
 
dandrewk said:
Well, I guess that means I'd have to use ethernet since old(er) iMacs don't support USB 3.

Dumb question, as it's been awhile since I've migrated to a new Mac: When going from old Mac to new Mac via ethernet, is it a standard cable? No reverse pin configuration issues?

ETA: I guess another option besides ethernet would be to get a Firewire 800 (which my old iMac supports) to Thunderbolt adapter.
Click to expand...

Older PCs you needed a crossover ethernet cable, but all newer Macs like yours have "auto sensing" that will detect a regular ethernet cable and it will work just fine.

FW 800 would be fast. I would hate to buy that darn cable just to be able to use it one time though.
 
Weaselboy said:
Migration Assistant is an application on your Mac that access the Time Machine backup to import data.



Exactly. :)
Click to expand...

New Question:

Should I just directly connect the two iMacs instead of going through the Time capsule? Also, How do I identify the speed rating of the Ethernet cable I have to ensure it is the fastest possible? I could always swing by the local RadioShack to pick up a faster (Gigabit?) one if need be.
 
danNYtrack said:
New Question:

Should I just directly connect the two iMacs instead of going through the Time capsule? Also, How do I identify the speed rating of the Ethernet cable I have to ensure it is the fastest possible? I could always swing by the local RadioShack to pick up a faster (Gigabit?) one if need be.
Click to expand...

In theory the speeds should be the same, but I always find access to the Time Capsule drive kind of slow. I would directly connect the two.

You will want CAT5E or CAT6 grade ethernet cable. Both will support Gb ethernet. If you have some cables, look really closely on the sheathing and the 5E or 6 is usually indicated on there. Unless it is really old and cheesy cable, it is very very likely CAT5E.
 
Weaselboy said:
In theory the speeds should be the same, but I always find access to the Time Capsule drive kind of slow. I would directly connect the two.

You will want CAT5E or CAT6 grade ethernet cable. Both will support Gb ethernet. If you have some cables, look really closely on the sheathing and the 5E or 6 is usually indicated on there. Unless it is really old and cheesy cable, it is very very likely CAT5E.
Click to expand...

It says CAT 5 Patch Cable. No good? I can always pick a new cable up tomorrow before the imac arrives. Sorry for swamping you with all these questions. I just want all my ducks in a row.
 
danNYtrack said:
It says CAT 5 Patch Cable. No good? I can always pick a new cable up tomorrow before the imac arrives. Sorry for swamping you with all these questions. I just want all my ducks in a row.
Click to expand...

You need cat5e, however, often patch cables like that are cat5e and it just says cat5. You might be okay. If it was me and you can swing it, I would stop and grab a new cable though.
 
Weaselboy said:
Older PCs you needed a crossover ethernet cable, but all newer Macs like yours have "auto sensing" that will detect a regular ethernet cable and it will work just fine.

FW 800 would be fast. I would hate to buy that darn cable just to be able to use it one time though.
Click to expand...

Actually, even ancient Macs have it.
 
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