Avoid sparse disk images?

Everyone in my office backs up to the same hard drive and they do it on encrypted sparse disks I created.
Are sparse disk no good? I've read that if you have to do a hard reset of your computer while the disk is mounted that it can corrupt the entire drive.
Is this true, and could using regular (non-sparse), read/write, encrypted disk images be a more reliable alternative?

Closing as unresolved

Similar Messages

Encrypted, sparse disk image stored on WebDAV server: problems mounting

My goal is to have secure, encrypted storage to back up my computer to a remote site. The remote site is an internet hosting provider who provides a lot of disk space and bandwidth, and also serves up WebDAV, for a very small price.
I have created a 100GB sparse disk image, with encryption, and stored it on the remote server. I then mount the directory containing the sparseimage (which is itself password protected using .htaccess) using WebDAV. My plan is now to mount the disk image, and use rsync to copy changes on my computer to the disk image.
This worked perfectly when I tested with a small sparseimage. It was interesting how the OS seems to buffer the changes in chunks: rsync appears to be copying a lot of files super fast, then it stalls as network bandwith suddenly throttles up for a while, and they take turns this way.
Unfortunately, after copying a few hundred MBs into the image, I am now having trouble.
First, when I try to mount the disk image, I see an enormous amount of data start transferring over the network. It literally saturates my broadband connection for at least an hour (I haven't been able to go longer yet). It seems to first download at top speed for a while, then switches to uploading at top speed for awhile. During this time, I notice that a mount_webdav process is consuming large perentages of CPU. However I can't see anything else going on at this point -- the disk image isn't mounted yet, all this thrashing seems to be from the process of the image trying to mount.
So first question: is this normal? Does anyonw know what actually happens when you issue "hdiutil attach" on encrypted sparse images? Does it have to touch and read through everything in the image once or twice? Maybe this is just a Bad Idea™
Second: the webdav server always ends up getting disconnected during this process before the image actually gets mounted. Do you think I'm trying to do something that tests, and exceeds, the limits of WebDAV?
Thanks a million for any help!
PowerBook, 1.33 GHz G4, Aluminum, 17" Mac OS X (10.4.8) The remote server is Debian

A follow up to my MS word document. I found that I created the file in MS word 2000, and I used the Apple File Security for OS 9 to encrypt it. I can't remember the password, and I do not find anything in the key chain listing.
I have Pages 08, but I don't think I can use it if I can't remember the password to unlock this old document. Is there a program to decrypt this without a password?
Thanks,
DaisyMay

Setting up sparse disk image on external drive

I am trying to set up an sparse disk image on an external drive and I am not getting the standard screen that I have seen referenced. My only options to select are image format and encryption, not image size, etc. I have the external drive formatted as Mas OS extended. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Open Disk Utility > File > New >Blank Disk Image...
or use the "Option-⌘-N" Key combo (with Disk Utlity open).
Kj

Moving Sparse Disk Image onto Hard Drive

I created an 8 gig sparse disk image of a 15 minute video. I want to move the sparse disk image off my computer into an external hard drive. I cannot seem to be able to do this. The sparse disk image shows up as a hard drive and I cannot drag and drop it onto a folder I created for sparse disk images on my external hard drive. My goal is to store it there and be able to double click it to bring it back into Final Cut Pro X as a Drive containing my video.

Unmount the sparse image. Once it's mounted it's a disk. Unmount it and you can move the file that is the sparse image. Once you've moved it you can reopen it and mount the disk again.

Deleting Sparse Disk Image Bundle from Time Capsule

Howdy. Thanks in advance for help on this issue to anyone kind enough to spend time answering it.
I've got a 1TB Time Capsule which I use primarily for external file storage - it's currently got just about 120GB of files on it which I have manually copied there. I only sporadically use Time Machine to do automated backups, but since I've had the Time Capsule for a good long while, there have been many backups, and relatively little space left on it. As I am not interested in files that are 8 months old, I have gone into Time Machine and deleted all the old backups I don't want, then done a fresh backup so there's a current copy of everything on my laptop. It's my understanding that deleting backups from within Time Machine clears space off the Time Capsule, and when I did those deletions, saw that the available space on my Time Capsule did in fact increase, but not nearly as much as I would have expected.
Now, there's a file sitting on my Time Capsule called a "Sparse Disk Image Bundle.dmg", which has a filesize of 564GB - so there's where all the "free" space on my Time Capsule is accounted for.
My question is, if I know that I don't want the contents of all the old backups, but I DO want a copy of the files I have manually copied onto my Time Capsule, is it safe to delete the 564GB .dmg file? I use my Time Capsule more than anything else as the repository for my iTunes library, and it'd be a huge bummer if I wiped out my entire music collection by deleting that file.
So far as I can tell, the contents of my Time Capsule and that .dmg file are separate, but I don't know enough to know whether that's really the case.
Any advice is well appreciated!

Hi, and welcome to the forums.
Yes, network backups are in an odd container called a +sparse bundle.+ It should be named with your Computer name plus a string of 12 numbers and letters (the hardware address of your Mac).
Do you see your "other" files separate from it? They shouldn't be inside it, unless you specifically copied them into it.
As long as they're shown separately, yes, you can safely delete the sparse bundle. That will delete all your backups, though, and take quite a while. If it seems to be taking forever, see the blue box in #12 of [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
There is an alternative, however. You can limit the +maximum size+ of the sparse bundle, per #A8 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum). As noted there, however, if you update to Snow Leopard, 10.6.3 or later, it will be automatically re-sized to the size of the TC's internal HD.
If it's already too large, you may need to delete some more backups and/or "compact" it first. See the pink box in #12 of the FAQ.

Trying to archive to a sparse disk image, but everything is different...

I've only created one sparse disk image (a bundle image) a few months ago. I just went to create another one in Disk Utility, and the pop-up window for creating one looks entirely different.
I don't see the options for size, format, partitions, or the name any more. Am I doing something wrong? Or have they changed the way you create these?
I'm attaching a few screen captures. The first is from a tutorial that shows the pop-up the way it used to be when I'd click the "New Image" icon in Disk Utility. The next is the way it looks now. The last is the Disk Utility error message I get when I try to create an image now.
I'm lost on this. Where are all those options? How do you choose between a sparse disk image and a sparse disk bundle? Why is Disk Utility unable to create the image (see the error message below)?

Hi Tom--
Once again, you have the answer. I was clicking the "New Image" button that you see at the top in the first two images I posted. That's what they did in the tutorial, and it worked fine. But it seems the only way I can get the window with all the options is to go to File, New, Blank Disk Image as you show in your picture. I have no idea why mine works differently than the one in the tutorial. Very frustrating.

HT201250 back up sparse disk image

I have configured Time Machine to back up an external disk, which includes a sparse disk image. When I launch that sparse disk image, It becomes a secondary disk. I notice, though, that TM only backs up the outer disk and the image, and not, I think, the specific contents of the secondary disk that loads from the image. When it backs up the image, is it also backing up the data stored on the secondary disk that loads from the sparse image? If I want to retrieve a backup from TM, would I launch the TM version of the sparse disk image and then launch that image? If so, would it include backed-up files from the secondary disk? I can't seem to find a way to include the secondary disk on TM's back-up agenda. Thank you.

Look at section B.
Time Machine Troubleshooting
Time Machine Troubleshooting Problems

Password Protect folders (non sparse disk image)

So there are a collection of files I have protected on my computer using the disk utility method that everyone asking this question uses. I am curious to know if there is any other way of doing it. I want to password protect a folder within this protected disk image just becuase i feel like being extra sneaky and careful at the moment. I mean I could just use another sparse disk image inside the original and use two different passwords but I'm trying to be creative and that could get confusing. Does anyone know of a way to password protect a folder or file without using the disk utility method in Lion? Even if it requires third party stuff

nails:
From your earlier posts I gather that you would like to have a high level of security for your data. If an encrypted folder does not do the job for you, you may want to consider FileVault. However, if you use FileVault there are to very important measures you must take: 1) You must remember your password. If you lose or forget your password you will lose aceess to your data permanently. There is no way around it. 2) You must leave adequate space to be able to disable FileVault, should you every need to do so. The encrypted sparseimage requires almost double the size of the image to be able to be expanded.
Here are a few articles that might be of interest to you:
A Word about FileVault
About Encrypted Disk Images
How to create a password-protected (encrypted) disk image
Please do post back with further questions or comments.
Happy Holidays.
cornelius

Password-protected Sparse Disk Image Bundle remembered after eject

I use password-protected Sparse Disk Image Bundles to protect some files. Every now and then, when I open the image, it doesn't ask me for the password and opens immediately.
At first, I thought I may have inadvertantly agreed to save the password in Keychains. But that is not the case. After running some tests, I noticed it may take up to 3 ejects before it asks me for the password again. It seems to happen more when I modify files in the disk image, but not when I simply read files. I suspect it is not completely unmounting the image.
This is potentially a security issue. Any suggestion on what I can do short of re-ejecting images until it asks for a password again?

You may have successfully increased the sparsebundle's potential capacity while failing to resize the contained partition. That seems to be what happened when I tried this myself. A resized sparsebundle containing the same files would not occupy much more space on disk than it did before.
*Provided you have a backup*, you could try the following:
Remount the image, then run Disk Utility and select the .sparsebundle (non-indented icon) in the left pane. Click on the Partition tab, and then see if you can pull down the lower right corner of the disk image partition to increase its size. If you can, then drag it to the bottom and click Apply.
Again don't try this without a backup. It may not be worth doing in any event - it's easy enough just to make a new, bigger sparsebundle and copy your stuff over.

Sparse disk image

I am trying to make free space on my HD but I got this Sparse Disk Image that has 203 GB and I don't know how to deal with this, whatever it has on it I don't need it, everything is bucked up on my external HD?

I sent it to trash and and when trying to empty it securely it gets stark...
I had may be 16 GB free on my HD and when I started do erase the free space on it , it gradualy lost all that space while being emptied and sudenly in my trash apeared this Sparse Disk Image of 203GB, which I don't remember creating it, before I did not even knew what is this until I got this problem. But while erasing my HD I was simultaneously sending to my trash files and after that securely empting it...

Sparse Disk Image will not open along with encrypted document

I have two problems. I created a sparse disk image of my documents folder and encrypted it but recently when I select it and double click it to open it up nothing happens. I put in my password and in the finder window it shows the image but no documents folder will open up.
I ran disk utility and disk warrior and all is okay on my hard drive. I did burn a CD of the files in this folder so I do have a backup but wondered why it will not open up now, any suggestions?
The second problem is in this same folder, I created a word document years ago when I had my old G3 iMac and used at times MS Word 2000. At the time, I locked this Word document, and now it is encrypted and it won't open up. I can't remember the password used back in 2000 and so this document is encrypted and I don't know how to decrypt it, any suggestions.
I do know there are software programs to delete passwords in MS Word and that they will decrypt my document, but the ones I try to download won't work. Any suggestions.
Thanks,
DaisyMay

A follow up to my MS word document. I found that I created the file in MS word 2000, and I used the Apple File Security for OS 9 to encrypt it. I can't remember the password, and I do not find anything in the key chain listing.
I have Pages 08, but I don't think I can use it if I can't remember the password to unlock this old document. Is there a program to decrypt this without a password?
Thanks,
DaisyMay

How Do I Create a Sparse Disk Image?

I'm having trouble creating a sparse disk image. The instructions I'm following are:
+1. Open Applications->Utilities->Disk Utility.+
+2. Select File->New...->Blank Disk Image.+
+3. Name it, set the size to what you'll need, set the encryption to AES-128, and set the format to sparse disk image.+
- http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=257063
The problem for me is I do not see an option for "sparse disk image." The only options I see for Image Format are:
+read only+
compressed
read/write
+DVD/CD master+
Is there something I'm missing?

Nevermind, found it.
Figured out there's a difference between pushing the New Image button in the toolbar vs. going to File > New > Blank Disk Image...

How can I use my previous Sparse Disk Image Bundle?

I just got a new MacBook Pro, with Mountain Lion.
I used to backup to a Time Capsule, using Time Machine. When I configure Time Machine to start backing up to that Time Capsule again, it creates a new backup (a new Sparse Disk Image Bundle) alongside the old one, instead of using the old one to continue backing up.
How can I get Time Machine to use the old backup file and not create a new one?
TM

That would have happened automatically if you had transferred your data from the backup of the old machine in Setup Assistant.
To make it happen now is difficult. You can try the instructions on this page:
"Reconnecting" to your backups

Time Capsule and Time Machine (Sparse Disk Image Bundle)

I just changed the HD that I use to backup TM for Time Capsule. I do not know why it is taking so long (more than 45 min) to calculate size... I took a look at TC and I found "Backups.backupdb" with no item (in TC) and a disk image called "Mac Pro’s Mac Pro.sparsebundle" right beside another dm called Mario.sparsebundle (my MacMini). Did it change from before, it used to be a folder called Backups.backupdb and inside her, folders with your computer's name? Is there something wrong? Should I stop TM?
Mario Lordeiro

You may have successfully increased the sparsebundle's potential capacity while failing to resize the contained partition. That seems to be what happened when I tried this myself. A resized sparsebundle containing the same files would not occupy much more space on disk than it did before.
*Provided you have a backup*, you could try the following:
Remount the image, then run Disk Utility and select the .sparsebundle (non-indented icon) in the left pane. Click on the Partition tab, and then see if you can pull down the lower right corner of the disk image partition to increase its size. If you can, then drag it to the bottom and click Apply.
Again don't try this without a backup. It may not be worth doing in any event - it's easy enough just to make a new, bigger sparsebundle and copy your stuff over.

Partition format for sparse disk images?

Hi,
I'm creating some large sparse images for backup.
Which partition format should I use? What is the most common?
In Disk Utility I have severals options:
Hard Disk
DC/DVD
etc..
The images I'm creating will be stored in an external HD for backup.
Many thanks

See Pondini's TM FAQs, for starters.

Avoid sparse disk images?

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