Which External Hard Drive for Backup and Which Backup Program is Best?

[crowe-t]

Are G-Technology External Hard Drives any good? Are they better and more reliable than a Western Digital Elements or My Book external Hard Drive?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1081263-REG/g_technology_0g03594_g_drive_usb_g1_4tb.html

 

[honestone33]

Understood and you are correct. I was only trying to explain the backup drive size is more driven by how much actual data one has than the source drive size.

Yes, that is so, so accurate. The internal SSD on my Mac Mini is 256 gig, and on my MacBook Air, it is 252 gig. But I am only using about 75 to 80 gig of space on each one. So, on my 512 gig external SSDs that I use for backups, I have appropriate partitions that are 100 gig in size. (The remaining 300 gig of space is use for storing various kinds of files).

 

[Glockworkorange]

If you don’t know which applications to use to backup a Mac, I’m going to assume you’re somewhat new to the platform. Just use time machine. It is dead simple and comes with every Mac. Sure, you could use ccc or something, but do you need just a general backup? If so, Time Machine is fine.

Buy a drive double your hard drive size. Toshiba makes a good drive. Lacie and Seagate as well. I’ve had all three brands and no failures.

Guys, I don’t think OP needs all the bells and whistles, just a normal backup drive.

 

[honestone33]

If you don’t know which applications to use to backup a Mac, I’m going to assume you’re somewhat new to the platform. Just use time machine. It is dead simple and comes with every Mac. Sure, you could use ccc or something, but do you need just a general backup? If so, Time Machine is fine.

He joined in February 2014, so not new at all. But maybe we need to hear from him.

Buy a drive double your hard drive size. Toshiba makes a good drive. Lacie and Seagate as well. I’ve had all three brands and no failures.

That's a good idea, although the doubling of the internal drive's size might still be too much. Like in my case, even though the size of one of my internal SSDs is 256 gig, I am only using 88 gig, and thus I can have a partition for backing it up that is 100 gig in size.

But it's always wise to have more space than needed.

Guys, I don’t think OP needs all the bells and whistles, just a normal backup drive.

True. And a Samsung 860 EVO SSD, of appropriate size, along with a slim Orico enclosure, would be fine.

 

[rosyapple]

I'm a data hoarder and I currently own all the hard drives mentioned except for G-Drive and Samsung T5. I use Carbon Copy Cloner for everything. I have an 256GB MBA with SSD which I used to backup on a 256GB SATA SSD with enclosure. I also had 4 x 2TB 2.5 portable USB hard drives (2 x 2TB backed up to the other 2 x 2TB) and 2 x 1TB (1TB backed up to the other 1TB) which were Western Digital, Seagate (Expansion and Backup Plus) and Maxtor. I've had them for about 5 years or more. All of them are still working fine — but they are being "retired" (to be used for non-important files that we won't mind losing if the drives decide go to hard disk heaven 😛)

In addition, my partner had 2 x 6TB 3.5 WD Red NAS HDs for a total of 12TB which were backed up to another 2 x 6TB WD Red NAS using CCC. He set it up as a raid 0. We bought them all at around the same time as the 2.5 drives. Recently all these 3.5 drives were failing so my partner decided to get a 2 x 6TB WD My Book to replace the failing drives, but he did not like all the power cables that powered the WD My Book.

So, last Black Friday, we decided to go on a shopping spree and bought 4 x 5TB WD Elements to consolidate the files in all of our 1 and 2TB drives, as well as 1TB Sandisk Extreme SSDs to backup our computers. So far, the experience has been great. We are using Carbon Copy Cloner to move and backup the files, and set it up on a daily schedule.

We never used the built-in encryption software that comes with all these drives. Every time we buy a new drive, we reformat everything (erase and partition/add volume) using Disk Utility, encrypt the drives using FileVault, then we use CCC to transfer and set up the backup schedule.

Next Black Friday, I'm most likely getting a Samsung T5 SSD to try it out because I heard good reviews about it (and it's supposed to be cooler temperature-wise than Sandisk Extreme). I'm currently using Sandisk Extreme for my daily backup, but I hope to use the Samsung T5 as a backup or a startup drive for one of my old iMacs.

For all these drives, we use a 10-port and a 7-port powered USB hubs from ORICO. We love them except for the fact that each hub comes with 2 USB charging ports, and the charging ports eventually become unreliable. Every time this happens, we buy a new hub. I'm open to recommendations from anyone who actually have hubs with reliable charging ports.

TLDR — I've tried almost all the drives mentioned in the thread. Never had any problems with CCC. I never used the encryption software that comes with the drives. I used Disk Utility to reformat and encrypt everything. All drives are still alive and well, except for the 3.5 WD Reds.

 

[Glockworkorange]

He joined in February 2014, so not new at all. But maybe we need to hear from him.


That's a good idea, although the doubling of the internal drive's size might still be too much. Like in my case, even though the size of one of my internal SSDs is 256 gig, I am only using 88 gig, and thus I can have a partition for backing it up that is 100 gig in size.

But it's always wise to have more space than needed.


True. And a Samsung 860 EVO SSD, of appropriate size, along with a slim Orico enclosure, would be fine.

" And a Samsung 860 EVO SSD, of appropriate size, along with a slim Orico enclosure, would be fine."

Come on---isn't that like bringing a bazooka to a knife fight?

I could never justify spending that kind of money on a time machine back up drive. Not sure an SSD is needed.

Maybe I am behind the times---are people really using SSD's for time machine back ups?

I generally try to get the largest and most cost effective drive possible.

 

[honestone33]

" And a Samsung 860 EVO SSD, of appropriate size, along with a slim Orico enclosure, would be fine."

Come on---isn't that like bringing a bazooka to a knife fight?

I could never justify spending that kind of money on a time machine back up drive. Not sure an SSD is needed.

Maybe I am behind the times---are people really using SSD's for time machine back ups?

I generally try to get the largest and most cost effective drive possible.

First of all, SSD prices have been coming down. Around Black Friday (and for a few weeks after), one could get a Samsung 860 EVO 500 gig SSD for as low as $57.

Secondly, I"I feel the need, the need for speed. Hence, having an external SSD for bootable backups (I use SuperDuper!) is the way to go.

 

[Glockworkorange]

First of all, SSD prices have been coming down. Around Black Friday (and for a few weeks after), one could get a Samsung 860 EVO 500 gig SSD for as low as $57.

Secondly, I"I feel the need, the need for speed. Hence, having an external SSD for bootable backups (I use SuperDuper!) is the way to go.

I would need backup drives of at least 2 TB and platters are an order of magnitude cheaper.

I suppose if you need a bootable backup, sure, but I was referring to a standard issue Time Machine backup.

 

[honestone33]

I would need backup drives of at least 2 TB and platters are an order of magnitude cheaper.

I suppose if you need a bootable backup, sure, but I was referring to a standard issue Time Machine backup.

Understand, although the op has not been definitive enough in stating his needs/requirements.

 

[crowe-t]

I had a G5 several years ago that I used a Western Digital My Book and the WD Anywhere Backup program that came with it to run my backup. It actually worked real well and the program set up all the folders exactly as they are on the Mac. It did cause the computer to be a bit slow at times but the WD software backed everything up nicely. When my G5 stopped working I moved the media and some programs over to a Mac Mini a couple of years ago. I didn't use a back up program and manually backed up the Mac Mini onto the WD My Book continuing to use the existing folders that were set up using the WD Backup program.

The WD My Book external drive stopped working a few days ago. I ordered a WD Elements external drive and it will be here today. I have an older copy of CCC that'll work with my OS 10.6.8 so I think I'll use it instead of Time Machine. I want to use a backup program that sets up the folders to look like the Macs folders. It seems TM does things differently.

 

[crowe-t]

In addition to my Mac Mini's HD I have an external HD. I want to backup both using Carbon Copy Cloner.

Is this possible?

 

[honestone33]

Where are you going to backup the information on the external hard drive to, ie, another external HD?

 

[crowe-t]

Where are you going to backup the information on the external hard drive to, ie, another external HD?

I have another external HD. I need to backup my Mac Mini's HD and another external HD I have to the new external HD.

 

[Weaselboy]

I have another external HD. I need to backup my Mac Mini's HD and another external HD I have to the new external HD.

Sure... CCC can do that for you. When you set up a CCC backup set it lets you pick the source and destination, so in this case just pick the two hard drives.

 

[crowe-t]

Sure... CCC can do that for you. When you set up a CCC backup set it lets you pick the source and destination, so in this case just pick the two hard drives.

It seems like I can only pick one source.

 

[Weaselboy]

It seems like I can only pick one source.

Correct... you will need two CCC "Tasks" for this. One task will backup you internal drive to an external drive. Then a second task will backup (clone) one hard drive to the other.

 

[honestone33]

Correct... you will need two CCC "Tasks" for this. One task will backup you internal drive to an external drive. Then a second task will backup (clone) one hard drive to the other.

Is that a short coming of CCC? I use SuperDuper!, and I attached one of my external SSDs to a port on my Mac Mini. That external SSD has 3 partitions, two of them being SuperDuper! backups for each of my Macs, and the other just a partition where I store various files. When I started SuperDuper! up, and looked at the list of devices I can copy from, the program saw/listed all 4 "devices": the internal SSD on my Mac Mini, and the 3 partitions on the external SSD, including the one which is that non-SuperDuper! partition. Thus, I could use SuperDuper! to copy that partition, but the resulting backup will of course not be bootable. I of course could copy either of the two SuperDuper! partitions, and each resulting backup will be bootable.

 

[Weaselboy]

Is that a short coming of CCC? I use SuperDuper!, and I attached one of my external SSDs to a port on my Mac Mini. That external SSD has 3 partitions, two of them being SuperDuper! backups for each of my Macs, and the other just a partition where I store various files. When I started SuperDuper! up, and looked at the list of devices I can copy from, the program saw/listed all 4 "devices": the internal SSD on my Mac Mini, and the 3 partitions on the external SSD, including the one which is that non-SuperDuper! partition. Thus, I could use SuperDuper! to copy that partition, but the resulting backup will of course not be bootable. I of course could copy either of the two SuperDuper! partitions, and each resulting backup will be bootable.

I'm not sure I follow you. In CCC you can pick a drive and it will clone all volumes on that drive if that is what you mean. But I see no way to clone two physical drives to one in CCC.

Here are your options when picking a source in CCC.

 

[honestone33]

I'm not sure I follow you. In CCC you can pick a drive and it will clone all volumes on that drive if that is what you mean. But I see no way to clone two physical drives to one in CCC.

Here are your options when picking a source in CCC.

View attachment 886527

First, when you say "In CCC you can pick a drive and it will clone all volumes on that drive", does that mean all volumes of that drive/device would be backed up at the same time? SuperDuper! cannot do that, as far as I can tell (unless it is possible to develop a script to do that, which I have never done). In other words, if I have a device (typically an external SSD) that has 3 Volumes on it (A, B, and C), SuperDuper! can back up each of those Volumes one at a time, not simultaneously. Does CCC behave the same way?

I guess my understanding is that the op wants to do the 2 backups separately, ie, backup each volume separately, and thus that is what I based my post on. It looks like (as expected) CCC can do that also.

But as for backing up/cloning both physical devices at the same time, no matter how many volumes are on each device, SuperDuper! cannot do that.

 

[pmgrnvl]

For backup software, I would strongly consider Retrospect. I, too, use Carbon Copy Cloner, and it is a great program. But for daily, incremental backups, Retrospect is my program of choice. I use it on individual Macs and PCs, as well in server-room environments (various versions, and a personal copy is $40 or so). Visit www.retrospect.com for details. I agree with others who eschew Time Machine; I am not a fan. Retrospect can back up to external drives, as well as to the cloud (I often use a BackBlaze bucket, which is super cheap).

For drives, I like the LaCie Rugged series, often setting up two and rotating them each week. Small, tough and reasonably fast. If price is a factor, OWC offers some good options as well. I personally don't care for many of the drives that are preset to do certain things — often these drives become more of a pain than they are worth.

 

[crowe-t]

Will Super Duper allow me to back up my Mac Mini's internal hard drive and my external hard drive to a single external backup hard drive?

I'm trying Carbon Copy Cloner. I keep getting these large boxes popping up on my screen while it backs up.

Is there a way not to see these?

 

[Weaselboy]

First, when you say "In CCC you can pick a drive and it will clone all volumes on that drive", does that mean all volumes of that drive/device would be backed up at the same time? SuperDuper! cannot do that, as far as I can tell (unless it is possible to develop a script to do that, which I have never done). In other words, if I have a device (typically an external SSD) that has 3 Volumes on it (A, B, and C), SuperDuper! can back up each of those Volumes one at a time, not simultaneously. Does CCC behave the same way?

I guess my understanding is that the op wants to do the 2 backups separately, ie, backup each volume separately, and thus that is what I based my post on. It looks like (as expected) CCC can do that also.

But as for backing up/cloning both physical devices at the same time, no matter how many volumes are on each device, SuperDuper! cannot do that.

I just did some testing and I was mistaken. CCC only does one volume at a a time.

Will Super Duper allow me to back up my Mac Mini's internal hard drive and my external hard drive to a single external backup hard drive?

I'm trying Carbon Copy Cloner. I keep getting these large boxes popping up on my screen while it backs up.

Is there a way not to see these?

Both SD and CCC will allow that. Make two partition on the backup hard drive. Then one CCC/SD task to backup the internal drive to partition one then a second task to backup the external drive to the backup drive partition two.

CCC has a background mini app you can enable. Set you backup to run automatically when the external drive is attached and you don't need the main CCC app running at all. It will show the progress bar you see in my screenshot. From the helper app menu bar you can uncheck to not display that progress bar at all.

 

[crowe-t]

I don't have the icon in the helper app menu bar so I can't seem to turn off the progress window.

This might be a problem I caused. I ran CCC version 3.4.7 and I see it says this version is for OS 10.4 & 10.5 on the Carbon Copy Cloner website. The website says to run CCC version 3.5.7 on OS 10.6 & 10.7.

I noticed last night CCC isn't backing up all my files and pictures.

The system on my Mac Mini is 10.6.8 so I'll have to run CCC 3.5.7.

 

[Weaselboy]

I don't have the icon in the helper app menu bar so I can't seem to turn off the progress window.

You need to enable it here.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"In addition to my Mac Mini's HD I have an external HD. I want to backup both using Carbon Copy Cloner.
Is this possible?"

YES.
I do exactly that. With several backup drives.
CCC makes this easy.

You want 2 partitions (on the single drive).
Make their sizes relevant to the sizes of the [2] drives you'll be backing up.

I recommend that the first partition be for your internal drive, and use the second for the external.

Of course, partitioning the backup drive will wipe out anything already on it.
But that's ok -- just "start fresh".