Time Machine over WiFi - Backup Failed

[Manzana]

I have a Mac Pro 5,1 running Mojave 10.14.6 connected over ethernet that I'm using to share a disk for my two laptops to use as Time Capsule.

My 11" MBA (2015) running Mojave 10.14.6 - no problem. I pointed time machine to the shared disk and in less than 12 hours it completed a sparsebundle backup.

My 13" MBA (2010) running High Sierra 10.13.6 has been trying to complete a backup for the past 3 days. It copies about half the data and then stops. It had copied over 75GB out of 187GB before it stopped. I restart the backup at this point, then it labors. the fans come on, it copies just a few MBs, then it stops again.
Anything I may be doing wrong?
I have set both computers not to sleep during this first backup just to make sure nothing went wrong. Any helps greatly appreciated.

 

[Fishrrman]

If you want backups that WON'T fail, stop using TM and get either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper.
Then... plug in an external drive and run them yourself...

 

[Manzana]

Ok I’m willing to use a third party solution like CCC.
But why would I plug a disk in via usb? I have a network and I can make backups over said network with one of my macs.
You’re not really addressing my question as to why my backup is failing. Of course easiest solution is plug a disk in.

 

[jeyf]

3rd party backup:

Carbon Copy Cloner
Super Duper
these two are the gold standard for most macOS situations. I am not thinking these apps have lots of network ability. Along the lines of being able to mount a standard SMB NAS box such as Synology or QNap. I question if these apps can auto mount dismount a file server or if they can wake on LAN. Nothing bad but maybe lots of Apple fan boys dont need this.

Backup Pro
More network aware. The app has issues with settings in SystemPreferences-Privacy-Full Disk Access. App also has an easy to use UI.

RetroSpect
network aware, great tech support. Lots of functionality but more commercial. UI is difficult and it is expensive. The restore methods seemed complex as well. Again it seems to work

I found the sparse bundle" disk images that a incremental backup creates is larger than the size of the backup source. Incremental backup with compression dosnt work for lots of files typical to a home network (PDF. MP#3...).

I just started using CronoSync. Works ok, medium cost, nice UI. It can auto mount dismount and handle wake on LAN. For a backup it can do a one way sync with an additional archive of modified files. The backup target will be the same size (at least not larger) as the source minus the archive. Its a file sync so to restore you just pick off the files you need. You can use also chronoSync to sync both ways say all your local document files in all your computers. Nice applicaiton.

-All of these apps have a trial period for your personal evaluation
-I would really try to get timeMachine working if you dont want to puddle with a network
-I here but not experienced, that timeMachine is not reliable over a network. Primary only for direct connect over local USB or standard apple wifi hardware.
-if you want to backup onto the cloud you will need an app with a powerful compression machine as lots of residential file types do not compress well.


best of luck, i dont rep any of these situations.