Moving from iMac to rMBP - Time for a Time Capsule?!

[olisones]

Hi all,

I've just sprung for a rMBP after years with a iMac and more recently a Air as a secondary device. I've been looking into backup methods and general HDDs - my idea is a to get a Thunderbolt RAID set up (something like a Lacie 2Big) for day to day work (video/photography) but I am thinking of keeping backups separate.

For those with Time Capsule, is it a good option when exclusively using a notebook? Does it hamper connection speeds? Obviously, I will only benefit when I am at home, but not having to be tied to a desk to backup when not working is quite appealing.

Look forward to your thoughts.

Cheers!

 

[mihirkamat]

Just bought one about a month ago, after many years of
using a plugged in USB drive.

Works great, faster than I expected. Just do your first
backup over GB Ethernet, and you should be OK after that.

In all other respects it works just like an Airport extreme.

I used the NAS method in the past with time machine (with a
synology NAS), but it was never 100% reliable - which for
backups was a deal breaker.

Hope that helps.

 

[thekev]

I'm curious what you mean by "thinking of keeping backup separate". Do you mean off site? If you're thinking of a RAID level with redundancy as its own backup, it's a common mistake. RAID still requires a backup just as much as any single disk volume.

 

[olisones]

I'm curious what you mean by "thinking of keeping backup separate". Do you mean off site? If you're thinking of a RAID level with redundancy as its own backup, it's a common mistake. RAID still requires a backup just as much as any single disk volume.

As in, keeping my working drives (scratch disks) separate from the hourly back up that Time Machine performs. Surely though, RAID1 would mean two versions on the TB drive?

 

[thekev]

As in, keeping my working drives (scratch disks) separate from the hourly back up that Time Machine performs. Surely though, RAID1 would mean two versions on the TB drive?

RAID 1 does mirror data. It doesn't mean that it's a valid backup. Corruption is still an issue. Raids still crash. Controller failure can occur in a hardware version. I've found that not everyone who uses these even has a uninterruptible power supply in case of outages. The point was not to rely on RAID 1 as a self backup. Say your data is saved onto the RAID 1 array. You'd still need to back that up.

 

[olisones]

RAID 1 does mirror data. It doesn't mean that it's a valid backup. Corruption is still an issue. Raids still crash. Controller failure can occur in a hardware version. I've found that not everyone who uses these even has a uninterruptible power supply in case of outages. The point was not to rely on RAID 1 as a self backup. Say your data is saved onto the RAID 1 array. You'd still need to back that up.

Thanks for the clarification. I have various FW drives that I could use as another backup once my workflow is finished - I just wanted to utilise the speed of the Thunderbolt connection in my day-to-day work. I guess RAID10 would be ideal but also very expensive with TB!

 

[talmy]

You always need an offsite backup of some sort to protect you in case of theft, fire, or natural disaster. I clone my drives (I use SuperDuper! for this, although CarbonCopyCloner works just as well) and keep the backups in a separate location. I also use CrashPlan as a second offsite, "cloud" backup. You can never be too safe with non-replaceable files.

 

[ixodes]

You always need an offsite backup of some sort to protect you in case of theft, fire, or natural disaster. I clone my drives (I use SuperDuper! for this, although CarbonCopyCloner works just as well) and keep the backups in a separate location. I also use CrashPlan as a second offsite, "cloud" backup. You can never be too safe with non-replaceable files.

I've been cloning mine too.

There's a lot of peace of mind when one keeps a copy offsite.

It's the single best method I know of.

 

[thekev]

You always need an offsite backup of some sort to protect you in case of theft, fire, or natural disaster. I clone my drives (I use SuperDuper! for this, although CarbonCopyCloner works just as well) and keep the backups in a separate location. I also use CrashPlan as a second offsite, "cloud" backup. You can never be too safe with non-replaceable files.

I wish I knew a good solution for backing up many terabytes of data off site. This still seems like a use case for tape + fireproof storage/containers to me.

 

[talmy]

I wish I knew a good solution for backing up many terabytes of data off site. This still seems like a use case for tape + fireproof storage/containers to me.

I just use a bunch of 2TB bare drives that I put in a "toaster" to connect for backing up. My offsite location is far enough away that the chance of losing both is extremely small.

 

[Benbikeman]

As someone who recently had to restore from a Time Machine backup, suffice it to say that I'll be doing clones as well.

TM is great for recovering individual files accidentally deleted or corrupted, a clone is much better for restoring a complete system.