Time Capsule

[Rhobes]

I'm buying a iMac i7 with 2tb HD and am thinking to go with a Time Capsule for backup.

Can I just run the backup periodically, keeping it turned off most of the time?

I see that the product lasts about 18 months, so I should get much more use if that 18 months were due to continuous running, and I only turn it on when needed.

I'm sure it will be a few years before I ever get close to using 2 TB if ever, in that sense, would it be better to buy a 1 TB Time Capsule over a 2TB simply because of the longevity issues & my backup requirements, not to mention the expense?

 

[Decrepit]

Personally, I would skip the Capsule.

I'd say get yourself an inexpensive external hard drive for the Time Machine.

And if you're going wireless, get an AEBS so that you've got that in its own device. That way if the HDD goes boom in the Capsule, your wireless isn't out, and vice versa.

I just built a server, and have my time machine backups pointing to it instead. That way, no more external hard drives to juggle, and if a hard drive dies in the server it stays up, and I don't lose my data or backups.

 

[^^ CoolMacLover]

Bump a thread much.

If you turn it on and off as you need it, it wont back after the set amount of time (ie: it wont back up every hour) like its set to. You'll have to turn it on and tell it to do it.

 

[Rhobes]

Bump a thread much.

If you turn it on and off as you need it, it wont back after the set amount of time (ie: it wont back up every hour) like its set to. You'll have to turn it on and tell it to do it.

I think that would work for me. Hopefully it's not some complicated time consuming project to turn it off and back on to back up when you want it done. Considering it lasts 18 months & goes belly-up if left to run as Apple wants, I just want to prolong it's life, especially since the last thing I need is hourly backups. Really, how many people need an hourly backup??