Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Time Capsule - can you partition the drive?

Yeah, I agree. The Time Capsule drive is FAT32. Which explains why backups are contained within sparseimage files (their internal file structure is HFS+).

The easiest way to get around the limitation of being unable to partition the TM disk is to just create a sparseimage file for your own data. It can grow with your data (up to the maximum amount you specify at creation) but won't take up that space unless it specifically needs it. That allows TM to access every bit of free space it possibly can while still keeping your data segregated. The most useful bit here is that you can encrypt your non-backup data for extra security.
 
Creating a Partition in Time Capsule...

xraydoc said:
Its really very simple.

• Open Disk Utility (in your Utilities folder)
• Go to File -> New blank disk image
• A "Save..." style dialog will pop up. Choose your Time Capsule as the save location and give the disk image a name ("Data on Time Capsule" or whatever you want)
• Choose a volume size (there are several presets but in your case you'd choose Custom and pick your size. Leave Volume Format to default (MacOS Extended Journaled). Choose if you want it encrypted or not (you'll have to enter a password to access it, but it'll be safe from prying eyes). Leave Partition at its default and Image Format as read/write.
• Click Create and it'll make a disk image on your Time Capsule of what ever size you've chosen (say, 200GB). This will use 200GB on your Time Capsule, but that space will be safe from being used up by Time Machine backups.

To read/write data to this disk image, open the Time Capsule drive in the Finder just like any other drive and double click on the disk image icon with the name you've chosen. It'll mount on your desktop like any other drive of 200GB in size (or whatever size you've specified); you may then copy/save/create/delete/etc. any data you choose on it.

As far as your Mac will be concerned, it'll be just another network-based disk volume. It'll all work rather well, and will prevent Time Machine from using up the whole Time Capsule device if that's what you want.
Click to expand...


xraydoc,

Now this sounds rather "silly," but considering that I create this partition... would I be able to use Time Machine to backup the partitioned "first drive" per se (on Time Capsule's second partition)? (Yes, my head is spinning).

Why? To save the data (obv.). -- With hopes that the partitions create a barrier between any vulnerability from one to the other.

? I suppose it would be moot if the 'capsule' were to be damaged somehow, the backups on the second partition would be ultimately destroyed along with the data from the file server ?

I know it sounds like a stupid question, but in all my years of computing (yes, I admit I just switched from PC to Mac), I've never partitioned nor backed-up on-site (I've always backed-up via Net).

I'm just wondering if I have some logic here.?
 
sharing data in TC

My intention is to move my itunes library from an older iMac G5 (prior to selling it) into the TC in order to share it with other 2 MBs without jeopardizing the main TC function, which is back up data.

Apparently there are four solutions:
1. Disk Partition.
In response to ergdegdeg in my case the disk didn't appear in Disk Utility even after reseting the TC and opening DU prior to setting up TM for first time.
The disk comes up in DU while backing up with TM, however partitioning the disk while backing up interrupted the backing up process and disconnected the disk taking it out from DU.
I haven't been brave enough to break the warranty by opening the TC to connect directly to the disk via USB SATA and do the partition.
This lead me to the second choice,

2. Disk Image.
In response to xraydoc, this worked beautifully as long as is mounted by one user at a time. Unfortunately I need more than one user to have access simultaneously to the data. As far as I could investigate (including apple technicians over the phone) there is no way to do this.

3. Sharing the 'same space' for data and backup.
As xraydoc suggested, it may take up quite a long time for TM to fill up 500GB (400GB as the library size is ~100GB), so I could paste and increase my library for some time there without the limited space problem. However, after a certain point I will have to manually delete older backups.

4. External HD connected to TC.
My last option is to use an older HD (very noisy) to connect to TC and leave the new and shiny 500GB alone for TM to fill up over the years.

I believe I am stuck with 3 for now and 4 in the medium-long term if I am fed up with deleting backups manually.


Maybe I'm being very redundant here but just wanted to summarize all options and see if any one has a better solution to the situation.
 
Assuming there is no reason to need an old version of a file, would there be any issues with deleting all backups on a Time Capsule drive if it were to fill up, or if it was crowding the other space that you wanted to use for media or something? Then it would just start clean with a present backup and you'd have all of the space available again.

I mean, really...How often do you wish that you had the two week old version of a file? Unless its business or media (image or video editing) related, I don't think many people do need that feature.
 
I partitioned!!

I just partitioned my TC, here goes:

1. Make sure you have enough free space in TC to fit the new partition.
2. Enter time machine, and then exit, or begin a backup and then cancel it, so as to mount the drive on finder. Before it disappears, open it and access a folder or something, like putting your foot in the door before the drive disappears.
3. Open disk utility, select the TC icon, click on the partition tab.
4. there will be a box that represents the drive´s space, and a tab above it, you can set the number of partitions to... well don't touch that.
5. instead, click the plus sign that is on the bottom of the box, this will keep the current info and add a partition to the drive, which you can rename to your liking. keep the default format (case sensitive something), unless you know what you're doing.

note that you can't rename the part of the drive that TC already uses.

6. click apply, a message will come up, telling you that the drive will be resized, a new part created and that no data will be erased.

now to access your new wireless HD, you have to enter time machine, and then exit, or force a back up and then cancel it, so as to bring it up in finder. you'll now have 2 drives.

I've just done this 2 hours ago, have moved data in and out of the new partition, restarted my mac a couple of times and everything seems to be working without a problem.

hope this helps!
 
... forgot to mention in step 5, you can drag the line that divides the drive (the box) to determine the size of your new partition.
 
just to be clear, so if you run a backup the new (partitioned) remains mounted until you restart your computer again, or does it automatically eject/dismount after the backup is completed?

(sorry for this noob question - am new to mac and FINALLY getting around to partitioning my capsule)
 
sometimes it dismounts by its self sometime after the backup has finished.

if you want to avoid the drive from dissappearing, open it in finder and leave that finder window open.
 
Hi Patogarza,

You actually got this partitioning working?

99% of the messages I read state that it is NOT possible...

No issues with it so far?

I have the 1TB on my desk but would like to set it up the right way from the start.

Regards

Nimbus
 
just tried this technique .. with zero success.

disk utility fails to find the tc despite the fact that it is indeed mounted in finder.

any thoughts?
 
are you perhaps using the root account? anyone know if this would make a difference??
 
I didn't gor for the partitioning but went for the creation of a Disk Image. I mount that one automatically through Login and that works... take a while before the 300GB is created but at least I have a dedicated space on my TC
 
ill crack the case and partition the drive the old fashioned way if need be....
 
Use images as partitions

I am considering buying a Time Capsule to use Time Machine for four notebooks (I have now an USB LaCie for that job, of course requiring hooking up) I would like to ensure that there is a fixed amount of storage space available for each computer, so as to prevent any one computer "elbowing out" others. I read the full thread, and since partitioning TC does not seem "legally" nor reliably possible, my questions are: 1) if I make four images, would any, say, B computer be able to use a B nominated image for Time Machine to backup? 2) When B computer mounts that disk in its desktop, would Time Machine automatically recognize it as its sole back disk and proceed? 3)If C image is mistakenly mounted on B computer, would TM recognize that and refuse to auto start backing up onto that image?
If the reply to all three questions is a firm Yes, the the impossibility to partition TC is perfectly circumvented for my intended use
Thanks
 
As far as I can tell that will be the case..... I can select the Partition I made... but I only made one so.. I guess you need to try!

On the other hand.. I use the TC for my MB and the iMac and that leads to to Sparse files... at a certain point it will lead to destriuction of the oldest files..

I'm thinkg of adding a second HD through USB and make carbon copies every day.. that way I've got a copy of the sparefile.. never know...

Good Luck
 
I have partitioned a TC drive and backed up to a HD on my AEBS using time machine. To partition the drive on the TC open finder and connect to your time capsule in the finder by doing a backup or something. Then open in disk utility and partition away. To do TM backups to an AEBS drive connect to the AEBS drive in finder then in TM prefs find your drive. There probably an update before I posted this and after this thread was made. I can get pics if nobody believes me. Can take screenshots if needed.
 
hi! please do include more information. i have tried this method (it was described earlier by another member) but have had absolutely no success. i have been considering cracking the case on the tc and partitioning the drive manually, but have been crunched for time and have put it off for many months now. if your methods works, i am all ears....
 
ducatidoc said:
hi! please do include more information. i have tried this method (it was described earlier by another member) but have had absolutely no success. i have been considering cracking the case on the tc and partitioning the drive manually, but have been crunched for time and have put it off for many months now. if your methods works, i am all ears....
Click to expand...

Hi: I am just considering TC, so I do not have any real experience. What I wrote were only my conclusions reading the whole thread. But I see that someone just replied stating that the intended "partitioning through images" does not work at all.
 
I had a 500 gig TC for a while.
I was never able to figure out how to partition it.
What I really didn't like about it is that it took so damned long to do the first Time Machine backup.
I have something like 160 gigs or so to back up, and it was still doing that first backup almost 2 days after I started ( well, maybe 40 hours or so).
Thing is, I am used to using an external Firewire 800 drive for backups, so I guess I'm kind of spoiled when it comes to transfer times.
But I wouldn't knock the product overall. I suppose I should have researched things a little better before buying.
Good for someone who normally doesn't back their system up and doesn't want to have to think about doing so.
 
patogarza said:
so, how did it go?
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting your partitioning method. I did succeed in getting Disk Utility to see my backup image on the TC and I started a partitioning action, but it never finished.

But I have another issue about your method: it seems that you are partitioning the backup 'sparse image', not the hard drive itself. That doesn't seem a particularly useful thing to do.

For the moment I'm going to proceed by the 'create a virtual disk image of the required size on the TC' method mentioned by a previous poster.

But I have just ordered a new 1 TB drive that I'm going to use as a replacement for the internal drive of the TC (as described here) and I may try partitioning that before I install it on the TC. Trouble is, I'm not sure that the TC firmware can cope with two partitions on the internal drive and use one for backups while making the other available as a normal NAS disk. Has anyone managed that?

Georgio
 
JohnNotBeatle said:
No, you never need to backup your drive. Until you suffer a catastrophic failure and realize that years of personally valuable work is lost forever and you should have all along. It doesn't even have to be total; all it takes is one critical file and life gets real miserable real quick.

It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. Considering everything you'll be advised here and any other computing resource, considering the fact that Apple has provided possibly the most transparent automated backup solution ever--fully integrated with Leopard, and considering the fact that you bought a Time Capsule, specifically marketed as a backup device, should you choose to not back up, that's entirely up to you. Just don't expect much help when something goes seriously south on you.
Click to expand...


Well, it is only a matter of time before the sparsebundle on the TimeCapsule gets corrupted and you have lost ALL of your backup data.

This is a problem Apple has known about for months and does not even acknowledge it. The only thing they (Apple) do is delete posts in their forums which talk about it. For some reason, a few of the posts have managed to remain though.

Go to http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1550759 to view just one of the threads.

The only thing worse than no backup strategy is one that is flawed and does not work.

When people contact Apple via phone they are told things like don't use it wirelessly (uh, excuse me, but it has built in wireless and is marketed as a wireless backup solution).
 
georgio8 said:
it seems that you are partitioning the backup 'sparse image', not the hard drive itself. That doesn't seem a particularly useful thing to do.

Georgio
Click to expand...

hey Georgio, I have a question, I don´t understand the sparse image thing.

With what I did, I thought I limited the space Time Capsule was going to use up, so I had the other part of the drive available for whatever. Is this not the case??

thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back