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Please suggest sensible "once-only" backup solution
- Thread starter rjalex
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Since Big Sur Time Machine relies on APFS snapshot synchronization. So obviously you end up having your files copied, but in a way that is much more efficient than just a file copy.
And that's why macOS includes utilities like ditto and rsync that can be used to reliably archive files.
Thumb drive could work, if I remember correctly they're data retention span is up to 20 years. But there are big quality differences.
Point is: you have to take extra precautions with long-term passive data storage.
Yes the Roman was sleeping 
Thanks for the ton of good considerations.
In summary, I have my Documents folder weighing around 240GB.
That data I can rightfully retain.
I'm not even sure I'll ever need any of those files and in the long term (2-3 years) even if I'd lost this stuff I wouldn't care too much.
I definitely do not want to use TM to "clone" the system too. The software licenses on that office machine are the company's not mine.
I did use CCC in the past and understand I could use it to backup just the Document folder but the problem in this case is that I cannot install CCC (not any other software they didn't preapprove) on the office machine.
The "use case" is that in the next year or so I MIGHT want to recall a name and email or perhaps one of my powerpoint or excel files, but that's all and therefore I would never want to copy this machine Documents on the precious real estate of my home machine (again it's almost 240GB).
Thank you all
PS For my photos etc I have a RAID NAS doing TM and that gets backed up from times to times to an external HDD kept at another place.
Thanks for the ton of good considerations.
In summary, I have my Documents folder weighing around 240GB.
That data I can rightfully retain.
I'm not even sure I'll ever need any of those files and in the long term (2-3 years) even if I'd lost this stuff I wouldn't care too much.
I definitely do not want to use TM to "clone" the system too. The software licenses on that office machine are the company's not mine.
I did use CCC in the past and understand I could use it to backup just the Document folder but the problem in this case is that I cannot install CCC (not any other software they didn't preapprove) on the office machine.
The "use case" is that in the next year or so I MIGHT want to recall a name and email or perhaps one of my powerpoint or excel files, but that's all and therefore I would never want to copy this machine Documents on the precious real estate of my home machine (again it's almost 240GB).
Thank you all
PS For my photos etc I have a RAID NAS doing TM and that gets backed up from times to times to an external HDD kept at another place.
The simplest thing you can do in this case:
1. Grab an external HDD, format it clean (let's call it Backup)
2. Start the terminal and type ditto -V ~/Documents /Volumes/Backup/Documents
3. Wait until it's done
Then you can still decide if you want to go for a more advanced archiving strategy. If you really want reliability, consider getting a second HDD to moving the data onto an M-disc. And do the yearly/biyearly data refresh on the HDDs, magnetic platter loses charge with time!
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In the realm of 250GB I’d just buy an external SSD (doesn’t need to be an m2/tb variant, a USB+SATA ssd is fast enough) and copy the files over.
I’d probably use rsync personally but that’s because I’m already familiar with it. There are plenty of GUI options to copy a large amount of data like that.
I’d probably use rsync personally but that’s because I’m already familiar with it. There are plenty of GUI options to copy a large amount of data like that.
Thanks! Fixed the post.
That is not a good idea! Data retention time of commercial SSDs can be quite bad, they are optimized for performance, not for holding the charge. I would not use them as a passive storage medium.
There's nothing inherent about the OP's post that suggests s/he can't just have it connected to their current computer and use any remaining space.
Check with your IT team first as the security team might have controls stopping data exfiltration. Moreover, if it is a company device you may not even be allowed to take the data off the Mac. Please read your AUP and consult the IT team before continuing. If you don’t, you are at risk of breaching company policy.
Question was something that can hold data for 2 - 3 years. An SSD is fine.
My information might not be up to date anymore, but if I remember correctly, a consumer grade SSD is only guaranteed to retain data for a year at around 30 degrees celsius. I have little doubt that modern drives are much better than that, but the fact is that you simply an't rely on them. An SSD is one of the worst possible passive storage mediums.
1. Get a 500gb drive (SSD or platter-based)
2. Erase/format it to HFS+ using disk utility (Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format)
3. Connect it to your work Mac
4. Navigate to the documents folder, and just "drag and drop" the folder to the external drive.
5. Let it copy. Put the drive in a safe place.
IF the finder won't copy the documents folder, one or more files may have become corrupted. This will cause the ENTIRE copying process to fail.
In that case, use CarbonCopyCloner instead -- it is designed to "ignore" corrupted files and to keep going until all the "good files" are copied.
CCC is FREE to download and use for 30 days. Get it here:
Carbon Copy Cloner - Download
TIP:
CCC has a feature to "copy some" files (not do an entire clone).
If all you want is to copy the documents folder, I'd do this:
Get CCC set up as if you were going to clone the work Mac to the external drive.
Chose to copy "some files" from the popup menu.
Now, DE-SELECT EVERYTHING EXCEPT the documents folder by "unchecking" the items.
Yes, there will be considerable unchecking you have to do.
When done, run the clone, and CCC will copy ONLY the documents folder to the external drive.
That was easy, wasn't it...?
2. Erase/format it to HFS+ using disk utility (Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format)
3. Connect it to your work Mac
4. Navigate to the documents folder, and just "drag and drop" the folder to the external drive.
5. Let it copy. Put the drive in a safe place.
IF the finder won't copy the documents folder, one or more files may have become corrupted. This will cause the ENTIRE copying process to fail.
In that case, use CarbonCopyCloner instead -- it is designed to "ignore" corrupted files and to keep going until all the "good files" are copied.
CCC is FREE to download and use for 30 days. Get it here:
Carbon Copy Cloner - Download
TIP:
CCC has a feature to "copy some" files (not do an entire clone).
If all you want is to copy the documents folder, I'd do this:
Get CCC set up as if you were going to clone the work Mac to the external drive.
Chose to copy "some files" from the popup menu.
Now, DE-SELECT EVERYTHING EXCEPT the documents folder by "unchecking" the items.
Yes, there will be considerable unchecking you have to do.
When done, run the clone, and CCC will copy ONLY the documents folder to the external drive.
That was easy, wasn't it...?
As an aside, I saved my programs and backup docs from a job I quit. They called me back to consult, and I brought the data I had to help backup my memory, and see what I was thinking when I wrote them. Hah. They completely changed directions after I left, and I was the one that had to learn, just to figure out where they went, and why. What I saved was pretty much useless, as the rest of the programs I wrote were either constant daily production, or deprecated and no longer being used. I meant well, saving that stuff, but other than showing a perspective future employer my coding style, they were pretty much useless. I deleted most of them, and moved on. *shrug*
What data? How big the data set? Maybe you should consider converting the data to something like PDF beforehand? Looking at the technical specs for the MacBook mentioned I assume a SSD formated EXFAT will probably do. Get a Samsung T5 or T7 (if needed), copy your data and put it somewhere safe.
Thanks guys/gals
As I said before because of my role I do have an authorization to copy the data onto a external disk (almost everyone has the USB copying inhibited). I will be happy if the data will be readable for a year or so. After that I mostly expect it to be stale anyways. So will probably go the Samsung T5 route and ditto / rsync route. Are there good GUIs to Mac's rsync?
PS Shouldn't say it but the main manual work on the current machine is to delete all emails that are not my right to preserve and the easiest way for me has been selecting a "By Person" view and trouncing all emails sent from certain people. As an example zapping 750+ emails from my country manager was a delight, obnoxious spammer
PPS The above is not to shrink the backup size, it barely does so, but to only save stuff I hold the rights of preserving
As I said before because of my role I do have an authorization to copy the data onto a external disk (almost everyone has the USB copying inhibited). I will be happy if the data will be readable for a year or so. After that I mostly expect it to be stale anyways. So will probably go the Samsung T5 route and ditto / rsync route. Are there good GUIs to Mac's rsync?
PS Shouldn't say it but the main manual work on the current machine is to delete all emails that are not my right to preserve and the easiest way for me has been selecting a "By Person" view and trouncing all emails sent from certain people. As an example zapping 750+ emails from my country manager was a delight, obnoxious spammer
PPS The above is not to shrink the backup size, it barely does so, but to only save stuff I hold the rights of preserving