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Opinions Needed on Backups for 27" iMac

T

TarikoftheNorth

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 26, 2014
6
0
All,

Here's my current setup:

  • Mid-2011 27" iMac
  • 16 GB (4x4) Memory
  • Internal 1 TB HDD
  • External 256 SSD (as boot)
  • A new 3 TB external HDD
  • A new 4 TB external HDD
  • An older 2 TB Time Capsule HDD

I am thinking of setting up my backup system like this:

  • Use Carbon Copy Clone to backup both the 1 TB Internal and External 256 SSD to the external 3 TB HDD* connected to the iMac
  • Use Time Machine to backup both the 1 TB Internal and External 256 SSD to the external 4 TB HDD connected to the Time Capsule (in a central area away from iMac)
  • Use the 2 TB Time Capsule to backup my son's laptop via Time Machine

*I'm a photographer, so the unused space on the 3 TB drive will eventually be used for storage and backed up via TM.

What do you think? Should there be any partitions along the way or just keep the drives as one partition each? Any other recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks,

TarikoftheNorth
 
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You seem to have ample storage options for the local backups.

I recommend using all 3 backup options, Time Machine, clone and off-site.

Currently, I have one 3TB external HD in two partitions, one 2.75TB and a 250GB for an OS X clone.

I have a 500GB external SSD in two partitions of equal size, one for OS X and the other for BootCamp.

I use Time Machine and back up to the larger partition on the external HD. I have Carbon Copy Cloner do a daily clone of the OS X partition to the 250GB partition. I also use WinClone and keep a regularly updated backup of the BootCamp partition on the larger ext HD partition.

Finally, I do a full system backup to CrashPlan.

As mentioned above, without off-site backup the rest is putting all your eggs in one basket.
 
This is my setup and it's been flawless. I haven't need any sort of backup yet, but IF I do, I'll be ready!

qfnl.png
 
Another vote for multiple backup techniques to multiple physical locations. I do:
  1. Time Machine
  2. Alternate cloning to two HDDs, one always offsite.
  3. Crashplan cloud backup as last resort.
 
So, are you recommending I use an offsite backup system? :)

I hear ya loud and clear. I used to never have a backup. Now, I'll have three!

Thanks!
 
MacOG728893 said:
This is my setup and it's been flawless. I haven't need any sort of backup yet, but IF I do, I'll be ready!

Image
Click to expand...

Looks like a nice system. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, but have you actually tested it? I've heard lots of people say that they have a great backup system, but have never actually restored any files from it.
 
I have used crash plan for almost a year now, but it keeps reseting my backups, i want to backup my 4TB disk, but after 100GB of backups it just resets ITS SO ANNOYING.
 
With storage so cheap now, it just makes no sense to run without backups.

My System

Imac 27" 3TB FD Backed up to 3TB TC excluding my iTunes library.
rMBP 13" 500GB SSD also backed up to TC

2TB WD Dedicated backup for rMBP ( this backs up mission critical data)

4TB Pegasus R4 containing my movie and music collection AND Aperture Library.
4TB Segate USB 3 External mirrors the above.

I'm not bullet proof, but It's as close as I can get.

Next step is two more 4TB drives and down the line, since the Promise is pretty much full, I will pull the 4X1TB HDD's ( still under arrant) and replace them with either 4X2TB or 4X4TB depending on funds.

It's worth remembering that the Promise is NOT a backup...RAID0 and one dead drive means goodbye data...hence the Seagate mirror.

You just can't have enough backups, but I allow my TC to backup up everyday stuff...the precious photo's, music and movies are on the other two.

You'd think I'd be set, but although this totals 16TB of space, I have roughly 2TB free between the iMac's FD and the WD that I use with my rMBP.

The good news is that storage is cheap these day's, and there is no reason to run unprotected.

The off house backup is a good point...that I don't have at present...I shudder to think what it would cost in iCloud or any third party for offsite backup.
 
Macman45 said:
Sounds great, but not available in the UK..:mad:
Click to expand...

Is that a UK restriction, because Code42 only states the following in the CrashPlan EULA:

Code 42 makes no representations that the Code 42 Products and Services are appropriate for use in other locations outside of the United States. If you use the Code 42 Products and Services in or from locations outside the United States you are responsible for compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

I happen to be a US citizen, but I live in Japan and have been using Crashplan from here for the past few years with no problems.
 
I have about 30GB of files stored on DropBox as a backup, but I don't think there's any way an online backup service (Crash Plan included) would make sense for me: I have about 3.0TB of stuff at home that needs backups, and it's ever increasing at a rate of about 250GB every 6 months.

An online backup service would be saturating my FIOS for weeks, if not longer.

Presently, my backup plan includes two directly-attached Time Machine volumes (which Mavericks automatically manages & rotates every hour).

Additionally, I have a 2TB USB 3.0 portable drive that I manually copy the most important stuff to about once every two weeks -- then I keep it off-site. I may replace it with a 4TB portable drive now that at least one company makes one (even though it's a 2x2TB RAID) -- it's still nice and portable... and bus-powered.

Once you hit a certain volume of data, the difficulty in keeping it backed up begins to limit the options.

...unless someone has some good suggestions I haven't thought of.
 
xraydoc said:
I have about 30GB of files stored on DropBox as a backup, but I don't think there's any way an online backup service (Crash Plan included) would make sense for me: I have about 3.0TB of stuff at home that needs backups, and it's ever increasing at a rate of about 250GB every 6 months.

An online backup service would be saturating my FIOS for weeks, if not longer.

Presently, my backup plan includes two directly-attached Time Machine volumes (which Mavericks automatically manages & rotates every hour).

Additionally, I have a 2TB USB 3.0 portable drive that I manually copy the most important stuff to about once every two weeks -- then I keep it off-site. I may replace it with a 4TB portable drive now that at least one company makes one (even though it's a 2x2TB RAID) -- it's still nice and portable... and bus-powered.

Once you hit a certain volume of data, the difficulty in keeping it backed up begins to limit the options.

...unless someone has some good suggestions I haven't thought of.
Click to expand...

My primary machine has 1.6TB of primary data, and it is backed up fine to Crashplan. I have a total of 8 machines that back up tp CP... in aggregate, well over your 3TB volume. Yes, your 3TB backup will take a while, but so what? Does it really matter? You can also throttle it if you want... and let it take months... once again, who cares? Once you are backed up, it will just purr along and you will never know it is running.

I'd recommend just turning on your backup set in stages, starting with the most important data... and moving over time to the crap that you don't care so much about.

/Jim
 
JustMartin said:
Looks like a nice system. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, but have you actually tested it? I've heard lots of people say that they have a great backup system, but have never actually restored any files from it.
Click to expand...

I've never restored from it and sure hope I never have to. However, I know people who have without any issue.
 
SaSaSushi said:
Is that a UK restriction, because Code42 only states the following in the CrashPlan EULA:

Code 42 makes no representations that the Code 42 Products and Services are appropriate for use in other locations outside of the United States. If you use the Code 42 Products and Services in or from locations outside the United States you are responsible for compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

I happen to be a US citizen, but I live in Japan and have been using Crashplan from here for the past few years with no problems.
Click to expand...

Yes, some kind of EU stuff is involved...I guess with the amount of data I have not liable to increase too much now, pulling the 1TB ( x4) out of the Pegasus and replacing them with 4X2TB is probably the most cost effective way to go...add in another 4TB USB 3 drive and I should be set for at least a year. I can also make more use of the storage on my iMac...I have the 3TB FD and have around 2TB free...I just don't want stuff sprayed around all over the place...my system, works...guess I'll stick with it.:)
 
MacOG728893 said:
I've never restored from it and sure hope I never have to. However, I know people who have without any issue.
Click to expand...

ok, in my experience, a backup system that you've never restored anything from may give you a warm, secure feeling. But, it's not a backup, you're just copying the files somewhere else that may or may not be accessible when you really need them. Do yourself a favour, create a couple of disposable files, let them get backed up, delete them, empty trash and then check that you can get them back. Better to practise this without the added pressure of *having* to do it (possibly against a deadline).
 
JustMartin said:
ok, in my experience, a backup system that you've never restored anything from may give you a warm, secure feeling. But, it's not a backup, you're just copying the files somewhere else that may or may not be accessible when you really need them.
Click to expand...

CrashPlan is fairly foolproof. I have restored files from my cloud backup there on many occasions. Frankly, I worry a lot more about the accessibility of my local backups with possibility of hardware failures, etc.

MacOG728893's backup system looks very much like my own. I do keep a local backup of BootCamp (WinClone) though.
 
Macman45 said:
Yes, some kind of EU stuff is involved...I guess with the amount of data I have not liable to increase too much now, pulling the 1TB ( x4) out of the Pegasus and replacing them with 4X2TB is probably the most cost effective way to go...add in another 4TB USB 3 drive and I should be set for at least a year. I can also make more use of the storage on my iMac...I have the 3TB FD and have around 2TB free...I just don't want stuff sprayed around all over the place...my system, works...guess I'll stick with it.:)
Click to expand...

Crashplan IS available in the UK, I live just north of Birmingham and all my macs upload to Crashplan. Currently have over 200Gb of data backed up with them. The only thing that is specific to the US is having a physical hard drive posted to you to speed up the initial upload and backup. It took a few weeks to do the initial backup over my broadband connection, just backing up my pictures. For my movie and TV collection they are backed up on a couple of NAS devices, as they are several terabytes in size.

Brian
 
Hope you don't mind a beginner question.
I am new to the iMac world and searched the forum but can't find my answer.

All new (Feb 2014) - iMac 27 (optioned up processor), 16 GB ram, 3TB Fusion drive.
I have a 500 GB partition for Bootcamp running Win 7 Pro

4TB Lacie Thunderbolt drive
Several Seagate and WD 2, 3 and 4 TB drives. Some are USB, one is FW (400) and one is an eSATA only. I have a FW to Thunderbolt adapter and a FW 400 to 800 cable.

I have tons of music and movies which I plan on keeping as standalone on the portable drives for backup, rather then having a program back them up.
2.5 TB of stored music although 2/3's of it are all just rips and not really being used, many dupes)
4-5 TB's of movies, mostly BR.

I am really looking for a "best practices" before I start moving stuff all around.
My iTunes folder is about 68 GB

I plan on doing 200 hundred or so hours of video download (cam corders) and processing with FCP X. From what i have read it seems it might be best to store all the FCP video on the thunderbolt drive and work on it from that drive for speed purposes instead of the internal drive.

I have not even opened up Time Machine yet as I didn't want to start with a less then optimum plan.

I need to run Windows stuff.

So, do I;

Keep my iTunes folder on the internal fusion drive?
Keep all FCP stuff on the Lacie Thunderbolt drive

Still use the Lacie drive for Time Machine?
Use one (or more) of the Seagate or WD Time Machine compatible drives for backup instead?

Would the Thunderbolt drive be best for backup or a waste of the speed capability?

I also have a 1 TB Raid NAS drive on my home network

Thanks in advance.
 
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I use Time Machine with an external USB drive. And then I also use Carbonite for offsite backup. Luckily haven't had to use either yet but I like having two levels of protection.
 
porthole2 said:
Keep my iTunes folder on the internal fusion drive?
Keep all FCP stuff on the Lacie Thunderbolt drive

Still use the Lacie drive for Time Machine?
Use one (or more) of the Seagate or WD Time Machine compatible drives for backup instead?

Would the Thunderbolt drive be best for backup or a waste of the speed capability?
Click to expand...

You don't need a fast drive for music or video streaming, and backups, as long as they are incremental, work fine with slow drives as well. FCP can make good use of fast drives. My backup drives are all USB2 or bare drives in a USB2 "toaster" -- that keeps the costs down especially since I use two backup sets so one can be offsite at all times.
 
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