Time Machine: question about possibilities

[fstfrwrd]

i'll be getting a new macbook pro (when the new ones are released) with OS X leopard and i'll be backing it up on my Iomega Ultramax 1TB external drive.

I also store music, movies, tv shows and other general media on this disk.

Can anyone explain to me in detail how to set it up so I can ALSO make time machine back-ups on this drive? (i'll bookmark this thread then and use it as a manual when i get the machine)

I read somewhere you have to partition it? (don't know how)
and what is the suggested size of the back-up partition then?
what if the partition is full? can i enlarge it afterwards?
or would i have to make a new partition and move everthing from the first one in there?

thanks in advance!

 

[fstfrwrd]

anyone?

 

[soberbrain]

Since you are waiting for the new MBP I suggest searching the forums on how to partition or go to google and search but add site:forums.macrumors.com on the search field.

A good size for the time machine partition is twice the size of the drive you are backing up.

If you have to change your partition size, it will erase the data on the drive, so plan for your future use with regards to the size and number of partitions.

Also, if you are keeping media on an external, I suggest having 1 external for original media and then having another drive with 2 partitions: 1 for data backup and 1 media back up.

If you keep data backup and original media on 1 drive and that drive fails you still have your original data on your MBP, but you will lose your media.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

When you get your macbook, plug in the external drive with all of your media on it. It will ask you if you want to use it for Time Machine. Say yes. Now, it's done.

I had an external drive and when I upgraded to Leopard, all I did was plug in my external drive and it asked me if I wanted to use it for Time Machine, I said yes.. now it's got a folder in it that says Time Machine Back-up.

 

[fivepoint]

Let me get this straight... you're backing up the laptop with a 1TB drive. But the laptop won't hold all of the 'original data' so you want to partition the 1TB external and put more 'orginal' files on there which will get backed up with the other partition on the external?

If this is correct, let me caution you against this course of data. If your external HD fails (I just had a 3 mo. old 750GB iomega drive fail) you will have lost not only your backups (which would be no big deal) but you would have lost all of the 'original data' stored on the external too. Really, what you have is no backup at all. If one drive fails, you lose everything on that drive. That is EXACTLY what you're trying to avoid with the backup drive.

My suggestion: Buy one more external if it all won't fit on your laptop. Put your original files on that drive, and make sure your 1TB external is backing up your laptiop AND the second external drive. Do not partition your 1TB Time Machine drive into multiple partitions. There is no benefit.

 

[fstfrwrd]

1) How do HD's fail? Does it just 'happen' ?


2) What about this situation then:
I buy a Time Capsule and back-up my 1TB media storage drive and my macbook pro to the Time Capsule.

Would that be a good thing to do?
Also, would I be able to give the priority to the contents of my Macbook in case the drive is full?


3) If I go for the Time Capsule, would the following be possible:
I read somewhere that you can access the files on your Time Capsule wherever you are. This can come in handy 'cause I spend the entire day at school with my MBP.
Can I access the files on my 1TB Media drive when I'm at school, if I connect the drive to the Time Capsule back at home?



Hope this makes sense ...

 

[fivepoint]

1) How do HD's fail? Does it just 'happen' ?

A hard disk contains many moving parts. Just like a car engine, those parts can break. A hard drive failure means the HD is toast. It means the data on the drive is gone forever (unless you pay a TON to have it restored by a pro.)

2) What about this situation then:
I buy a Time Capsule and back-up my 1TB media storage drive and my macbook pro to the Time Capsule.

Would that be a good thing to do?
Also, would I be able to give the priority to the contents of my Macbook in case the drive is full?

That would certainly be an option, albeit a bit more expensive. It all depends on how much data you have, how much you will have in the future, etc.

The answer to your question though, is YES. That would work perfectly. You can't set 'priority' to one item or another with Time Machine though... there is no need to. It backs up EVERYTHING 100%, and then backs up the changes to that data. You don't want to give priority to stuff, because that means something isn't getting backed up. You need at least 2 copies of EVERYTHING.

Based on what little I knw about you, I would suggest you use your 1TB drive as your Time Machine, put most of your data on the laptop, an then buy another 250GB or 500GB drive to put additional data on, which is also backed up by the 1TB drive.

1)
3) If I go for the Time Capsule, would the following be possible:
I read somewhere that you can access the files on your Time Capsule wherever you are. This can come in handy 'cause I spend the entire day at school with my MBP.
Can I access the files on my 1TB Media drive when I'm at school, if I connect the drive to the Time Capsule back at home?

Yes. Get MobileMe. Use iDisk. There are also various alternatives of this on the web... for free.

 

[emptyCup]

Can anyone explain to me in detail how to set it up so I can ALSO make time machine back-ups on this drive? (i'll bookmark this thread then and use it as a manual when i get the machine)

I read somewhere you have to partition it? (don't know how)
and what is the suggested size of the back-up partition then?
what if the partition is full? can i enlarge it afterwards?
or would i have to make a new partition and move everthing from the first one in there?

thanks in advance!

You don't have to partition your external drive but, if you don't, Time Machine will eventually fill all the free space on the drive. Partitioning keeps this from happening. The partition has to be at least the size of the disk space in use on your computer. I would make it larger than the hard drive on your computer. How much larger depends on how how far into the past you wish Time Machine to go.

Be aware that TM will not back up the media partition on your external drive since it can not back up the drive it resides on. Best wishes.