Some Time Machine questions ...

[mgpg89]

I'm interested in buying an external HD to back-up my MBP using Time Machine, but I have some questions left.

I have the MBP's contenst (which I want backed up) and also another external 1TB (iomega ultramax) which contains all my movies/tv shows etc ... I want this Iomega HD backed up as well.


So what happens if my Iomega drive crashes?
Can I just purchase a new HD and put the contents back on there from the Time Machine back-up?

Is it that simple?

 

[TheHoff]

When you set up TM it will ask you what volumes to include in the backup. Obviously you don't include the drive that the TM is backing up to but you can include your system drive and your media drive. You'll need a 1.5 TB backup drive to hold both the media and the Macbook, right? As long as your media drive and the backup drive are both connected at once, you'll be fine.

You could also just Time Machine the Macbook and run an rsync command once a week to keep your shows in line.

rsync -v -a /volumes/YOURDISK/users/YOURNAME/documents /volumes/BACKUPDISK/documents

 

[mgpg89]

When you set up TM it will ask you what volumes to include in the backup. Obviously you don't include the drive that the TM is backing up to but you can include your system drive and your media drive. You'll need a 1.5 TB backup drive to hold both the media and the Macbook, right? As long as your media drive and the backup drive are both connected at once, you'll be fine.

You could also just Time Machine the Macbook and run an rsync command once a week to keep your shows in line.

rsync -v -a /volumes/YOURDISK/users/YOURNAME/documents /volumes/BACKUPDISK/documents

Yes, I'd need a 1,5TB drive then. Preferably FW400, but USB2.0 is alright too. Any suggestions?


And what does this rsync command do actually?

 

[TheHoff]

Yes, I'd need a 1,5TB drive then. Preferably FW400, but USB2.0 is alright too. Any suggestions?


And what does this rsync command do actually?

rsync is like a manual time machine... it compares two directories and makes the second one just like the first without copying any excess.

I have two 1 TB drives in an array externally but I built it with an eSATA and USB 2 compatible case:

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?mode=productreviewread&product_id=30936 (fixed link, now goes to eSATA version)

Obviously the eSATA isn't as good for a Mac but it is fast enough with USB 2. The beauty of Time Machine is that it runs in the background and you never have to think about it. It is running while you're plugging along doing something else so it isn't a place where you have to be so concerned about speed. Having eSATA on the RAID allows me to hook it to a PC or to an Expresscard eSATA if I had to transfer a large amount of data off -- that would kill even a firewire connection in the time required.