Wireless backup of MBP to a Mac Pro drive?

[absurdio]

My question is exactly the title of the thread...
Is it possible to use a second (internal) drive in a Mac Pro as the Time Machine backup drive for a MacBook Pro?

This would be, I hope, something like backing up the MBP wirelessly to an external drive connected to an AirPort Extreme. The difference, of course, would be that both the backup drive and the requisite wireless bits would all be in the Mac Pro.

Sounds like it ought to work, but that's not saying much. Anyone have experience with this?

Thanks!

 

[merl1n]

My question is exactly the title of the thread...
Is it possible to use a second (internal) drive in a Mac Pro as the Time Machine backup drive for a MacBook Pro?

This would be, I hope, something like backing up the MBP wirelessly to an external drive connected to an AirPort Extreme. The difference, of course, would be that both the backup drive and the requisite wireless bits would all be in the Mac Pro.

Sounds like it ought to work, but that's not saying much. Anyone have experience with this?

Thanks!

I have never tried it myself, but why do you give it a shot.

You would need to turn file sharing on first on your MP, then mount the drive on your MBP before starting TM. I would also set TM in an off state and do the backups manually.

Unless your MP, MPB and router support 802.11n (and have no other wireless devices using anything less than 802.11n) I wouldn't suggest it as the backups will be extremely slow.

To do the test I would recommend attaching both your MP and MBP via ethernet just to see if TM would recognize the remote drive and perform a backup. If that works, you can try doing it wirelessly.

 

[absurdio]

I'm afraid this is still a hypothetical question for me. I haven't got the Mac Pro part of the equation... but I'm trying to justify getting one. Convincing myself that a Mac Pro could, conceivably, also do the job of a Time Capsule (if i stuck an extra drive or two in it) was/is part of trying to rationalize the purchase.

Your input's very helpful. Thanks, Merl1n. I only wish I were better equipped to implement your suggestions.

Do you think wireless backups over an all 802.11n network would be bearable?

Thanks.

 

[merl1n]

I'm afraid this is still a hypothetical question for me. I haven't got the Mac Pro part of the equation... but I'm trying to justify getting one. Convincing myself that a Mac Pro could, conceivably, also do the job of a Time Capsule (if i stuck an extra drive or two in it) was/is part of trying to rationalize the purchase.

Your input's very helpful. Thanks, Merl1n. I only wish I were better equipped to implement your suggestions.

Do you think wireless backups over an all 802.11n network would be bearable?

Thanks.

Not for the initial backup. For the initial backup I would use ethernet (mac have built in Gigabit - 10/100/1000). If you router supports Gigabit (many of the newer ones do) just connect both macs to it. If it doesn't, just do a direct connection from mac to mac.

Even better than that, connect the drive directly to your MBP thru firewire 800 and do the initial backup. After that, connect it to the MP and do it wirelessly through your router.