Can Time Machine back up data found on external USB HD?

Can Time Machine (under SL) back up data stored on an external USB drive? And if so, how does one get along to set this up? I mean, the options (preferences) dialogues for TM are so meagre!

hani7up wrote:
Can Time Machine (under SL) back up data stored on an external USB drive?
yes, it can.
And if so, how does one get along to set this up? I mean, the options (preferences) dialogues for TM are so meagre!
that's to make things easier. TM will back up any directly attached drive (internal or external) provided it's formatted MAC os extended. just connect the drive and remove it from TM exclusion list in TM system preferences->options.

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Can Time Machine back up data stored on a mounted external drive?

Can Time Machine back up the data that I have stored on an external drive? It's mounted on the desktop but I can't seem to add it to Time Machine.
Is it that Time Machine doesn't back up mounted External Hard Drives? If so, does anyone have a hack?

then the problem is not those external drives. As I said, I've never seen this particular error message.
Try using a different connection or a different port for your TM drive. If that doesn't help I'm afraid your options are very limited.
Unfortunately, TM is configured in such a way that when anything goes wrong, there is usually nothing a user can do short of reformatting the TM drive and starting backups anew. I'm very much afraid that's what you are looking at.
At least, I have no other advice to offer.

Can Time Machine back up to 2 separate external drives?

I have one 1TB drive in addition to a 2TB drive. The 2TB drive is used by Time Machine. I'd like to add the 1TB to Time Machine's space. So I need Time Machine to back up to both drives. Is that possible? So my total backup space for Time Machine will be 3TB.

Only one backup drive at a time can be used. You can switch backup drives by changing the backup drive in TM preferences.
You can try creating a striped RAID array using Disk Utility and using the array as the backup destination. A striped array will give you the 3 TBs you want but it will appear to TM as a single backup device.
RAID Basics
For basic definitions and discussion of what a RAID is and the different types of RAIDs see RAIDs. Additional discussions plus advantages and disadvantages of RAIDs and different RAID arrays see:
RAID Tutorial;
RAID Array and Server: Hardware and Service Comparison.
Hardware or Software RAID?
RAID Hardware Vs RAID Software - What is your best option?
RAID is a method of combining multiple disk drives into a single entity in order to improve the overall performance and reliability of your system. The different options for combining the disks are referred to as RAID levels. There are several different levels of RAID available depending on the needs of your system. One of the options available to you is whether you should use a Hardware RAID solution or a Software RAID solution.
RAID Hardware is always a disk controller to which you can cable up the disk drives. RAID Software is a set of kernel modules coupled together with management utilities that implement RAID in Software and require no additional hardware.
Pros and cons Software RAID is more flexible than Hardware RAID. Software RAID is also considerably less expensive. On the other hand, a Software RAID system requires more CPU cycles and power to run well than a comparable Hardware RAID System. Also, because Software RAID operates on a partition by partition basis where a number of individual disk partitions are grouped together as opposed to Hardware RAID systems which generally group together entire disk drives, Software RAID tends be slightly more complicated to run. This is because it has more available configurations and options. An added benefit to the slightly more expensive Hardware RAID solution is that many Hardware RAID systems incorporate features that are specialized for optimizing the performance of your system.
For more detailed information on the differences between Software RAID and Hardware RAID you may want to read: Hardware RAID vs. Software RAID: Which Implementation is Best for my Application?

Can Time Machine back up a second external hard drive that is attached via usb to a Time Capsule?

Can Time Machine back up a second external hard drive that is attached via usb to a Time Capsule?
I have a iMac with 10.7.4

I want to back up the data on the external Hard Drive that is attached to the Time Capsule to the Tim Capsule using Time Machine.
Thanks for the clarification. Unfortunately, that will not work. You will need to connect the drive directly to your Mac if you want Time Machine to backup the drive to the Time Capsule.

Can Time Machine back up both an iTune and iPhoto Libraries saved on a NAS disk?

Can Time Machine back up both an iTune and iPhoto Libraries saved on a NAS disk, as well as the host drive on a Mac Mini?
I would like to know if Time Machine could back up these Libraries from a NAS and the host/main drive of a Mac Mini onto an 3rd external drive attached by Firewire?
Thanks

Archtech wrote:
Can Time Machine back up both an iTune and iPhoto Libraries saved on a NAS disk, as well as the host drive on a Mac Mini?
no.
time machine cannot backup networked drives.
however, ChronoSync may be able to do what you want.

Can time machine back up on a wireless network

I would like to find a way to back up my Mac other than on an external drive. Besdides Time Capsule, can Time Machine back up onto other wireless networks? Also, is there a preferred, Mac-friendly online backup available (that may or may not use Time Machine)? I was considering using Carbonite.

Time Machine can backup to any device that has Time Machine Extensions.. eg some NAS have this.. or another Mac. Maybe some routers with USB drives.. I have heard of Netgear Mac compatible models.. but never forget.. apple change things around with every OS release and these companies will always be playing catchup.
You may also find it not easy at all to setup Time Machine.. I use a Zyxel NAS single disk model that does support Time Machine.. it has been fine.. but the setup is far more complicated than any TC.
Very few other devices will have TM available .. but if you use a third party software, then they will generally backup to any shared partition or drive in the network.
Buy a second hand TC and modify the power supply.. put in a big hard disk.. you can simply plug it into the existing network.. you will find it hard to get anything cheaper that works as well.. and none that will be as easy to setup.
Fine if you give up on TM.. then whatever external drive the software uses.. no issues.. but TM is designed to only work on HFS+ partition.

Can Time Machine back-up to an external ethernet Harddisk?

Can Time Machine back-up to an external ethernet Harddisk?
I think it is only possible when the external drive is directly attached via USB or FireWire.
I do see the ethernet disk in Finder and have access to it via ethernet, but it does not show up in Time Machine.
What if I connect it to an Airport Extreme ethernet port?
Time Capsule will work, but only with the internal harddisk?
My Ethernet disk is a LaCie Ethernet Mini Disk which supports Mac OS X.
Thanks,
Benny

backups to NAS devices are not officially supported. the only exception is Time Capsule. It also works with an Airport Extreme base Station. There are hacks to enable backups to NAS but you use them at your own risk. see this link
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080420211034137&query=time%2Bmach ine%2BNAS

Can 'Time Machine' back-up other external hard drives

Can 'Time Machine' back-up other external hard drives connected to your mac as well as the mac memory itself?

As Neil says, yes, it can. But external HDs are excluded by default; you have to tell Time Machine when you do want to back one up.
See the exclusions box in Time Machine Prefs > Options.
If the drive is shown in black, just select it and click the minus sign at the bottom.
If it's shown in gray, though, it's not formatted for a Mac, and Time Machine can't back it up (and you can't remove it).

Can Time machine back up to two hard drives?

I want to make a Time machine back up to two different external hard drives. I can't use RAID-0 because the size of my external drives is different.

http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html

Can Time Machine back up to 2 different discs? - i.e., make 2 back-ups?

Can Time Machine back up to 2 different discs? - i.e., make 2 back-ups?
The first back-up disc is a Time Capsule circa 2008 (refurbished in late 2010), the second is an external LaCie Rikiki 1TB circa 2013.
My Macbook Pro is an early 2008 17" (hard drive replaced in 2011).
I travel and am often away for long periods (~10 weeks). At home, I use the Time Capsule, but away I wish to use the LaCie Rikiki.
In the past I took chances and didn't back-up while away. I was lucky. When I returned

Have a look here > http://pondini.org/TM/34.html
From Pondini’s excellent Information Here...
Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use my time capsule for time machine back ups and as an external storage device?

I have a time capsule and have set it up so that my time machine back ups are saved on it, but I would also like to use it as an external hard drive. Is this possible?
I know nothing about computers so please tell me in very basic terms. thankyou!

By external hard disk we usually mean one plugged into the computer by USB or Firewire or Thunderbolt.
None of those works on the TC.. it is plugged in by ethernet or use wireless connection.. that means it is a network drive.. not an external drive. The difference might not mean much to you.. but it is totally different to the computer. In the former case the computer has full control of the disk. In the case of the network drive, the disk is controlled by the TC firmware and the files are stored and accessed by network. This has large implications.
So here is my standard response.
Store files on the TC.
This is asked several times a day.. obviously people are struggling with their latest SSD being too small.
The TC is not suitable for network file server.. but many people having no choice press it into service as such.
Major issues.
1. No backup.. no way Time Machine can backup a network drive. No place to backup to.. So all your files will be at risk. And you will need to buy a third party like CCC to do backup.
2. The TC cannot be partitioned and mixing TM backups and data is not great. It was and is and ever shall be a backup device for Time Machine.
3. The drive is slow to spin up and quick to spin down.. there is no control. In fact the TC is so lacking in controls for even the router side.. that you cannot do more than the most basic of setups.
The following are controls on the hard disk side.
Reformat it. You can name the share. You can do a full archive of the whole disk. This will go at a speed of aprox. 30-50GB/Hr so calculate how long an archive of a full 2TB will take.
4. iPhoto in particular can easily corrupt its entire library with wireless networking causing a disconnection to one photo. Even if you do this;;; do not move your photo library... you have been warned!!
Even apple btw say don’t do it.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS5168 Although mostly about FAT32 it adds network drives.
5. iTunes can constantly lose connection to the library. The disk is slow to respond.. itunes on the computer will constantly spit out errors. Even in the midst of streaming the TC can spin down the disk due to caching.
6. Do not use any live files on the TC no matter what else you do.. if you edit files in whatever program the file must be on the local hard disk.
7. The only suitable location for most libraries is a computer. You can plug in an external hard disk.
Read pondini for some work arounds.
Q3 here. http://pondini.org/TM/Time_Capsule.html

How do I copy old Time Machine back-up data onto my new (second) back up drive?

I recently bought a second back-up drive for use with my MacBook Pro (running 10.9.4).
I'm successfully backing up my computer to both drives on a regular basis using Time Machine. (a Seagate drive and a Western Digital drive respectively)
I was wondering if there's an easy way to add the old back-up files from the old drive to the new drive as well. That is to say, I wish I had all the data that precedes my new back-up drive on BOTH drives. There's plenty of space on the new drive.
Again, I'm already running Time Machine successfully to both drives, is it perhaps as easy as connecting both drives to my computer and copying the older dated back-up files over to the newer drive within the Backups.backupdb folder for my profile?
Thanks for any help!

Although the documentation says you can copy Time Machine backups in the Finder, it's very slow and sometimes doesn't work at all.
This technique will only work if the volume you're copying to is the same size, or larger than, the one you're copying from.
First, open the Time Machine preference pane and click the Options button. You may have to unlock the settings first by clicking the padlock icon in the lower left corner of the window. Authenticate as an administrator.
Delete the volume you're going to copy from the list of backup destinations. Then turn Time Machine OFF.
Launch Disk Utility, open the built-in help, and search for the term "Duplicate." Follow the instructions. All existing data on the destination volume will be erased.
If the volume you're copying was encrypted by Time Machine, you may have to unlock it first. Click the Unlock button in the toolbar of the Disk Utility window.
Turn Time Machine back ON and select the new volume as a backup destination. You can also continue to use the old volume, if you wish. The two will be alternated when both are available.
CAUTION: If the volume you're copying is corrupt, as shown by Repair Disk or Verify Disk in Disk Utility, then that corruption will be copied to the new drive. Don't copy data from a corrupt volume on a malfunctioning drive. Put the drive aside and don't use it until you're sure you'll no longer need the data. Then securely erase it and take it to a recycling center. Do the same if the Restore operation fails with "disk errors."

Have 2 externals; one for time machine. can time machine back up the other?

I have 2 externals, one for media and large files, and the other exclusively for time machine. I went into time machine options and removed the other external from the omit list. Time machine wouldn't back up the drive then; so i guessed maybe it was too big, so i went through and omitted all but one small file, less than a GB. Is it possible to use the time machine system to back up files on another external?

From just looking in the Time Machine preferences, I think the problem is a little different than what your thinking. It looks as if you can indeed back up one external to another using TM.
The issue seems to be that you cannot have TM backing up more than one hard drive to one other hard drive using only one computer. A.K.A. If you have TM backing up your internal hard disk, then, as far as I can see, you can't select your other external for back up with TM. And, if you select your other external, then your internal won't be backing up.
One possible solution is using a free back up utility like Carbon Copy Cloner (http://versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/13260). You could set your non-TM hard drive to be backed up every hour (the same interval as TM does) to the TM hard drive, and keep your internal backing up the same way it is now. You would end up with TM constantly keeping your main files on the computer up-to-date, and your other external would have the same "safety net." It does appear that CCC it may replace every file in each back up with the new one regardless of changes to the file (same as in every version to date), though I haven't used this updated version of CCC very much yet. But, if you don't need things updated every hour, you can set it to run a backup script on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis as well.
NOTE: One thing to keep in mind is that you should Uncheck the box that says, "Erase the target volume" in the main window of CCC so that you don't loose everything that's already on there when CCC does the back up.
-Joel

TS1550 can time machine back up discs other than the start up disc

My question is, can Time Machine backup your entire system. By entire system I mean my startup disk and all my internal hard drives and the 3 or 4 external hard drives I have hooked up to my computer. I'm working a lot with videos, pictures and music which is very space intensive, so I need to back up all my information not just start up disk. Can Time Machine take care of that?

To answer you question directly, I don't think so.
To offer my $.02, don't rely on TM. It puts all your data into one big file. When it works, it's great, when it fails, even just a little, it's useless.
You may want to look at SuperDuper or CarbnCopyCloner. They cost a little bit, but you can make bootable backups, schedule backups, easily backup more than one HD, and the backups will be readable on any Mac. Your backups will be individual files, not just one large file that can only be read by TM.

Can time machine back up an imac and an external hard drive?

I currently back up my imac via time machine but to reduce space on my hard drive I want to move my itunes library onto an external hard drive. If i do this can time machine still back up my imac and the external hard drive with the itunes library on automatically?
Regards
Toekoms

toekoms wrote:
I currently back up my imac via time machine but to reduce space on my hard drive I want to move my itunes library onto an external hard drive. If i do this can time machine still back up my imac and the external hard drive with the itunes library on automatically?
yes, given enough space on the destination drive (your library may grow over time). also, the drive needs to be connected directly to your Mac.
you might want to make sure the drive is not excluded from TM backups by checking in system preferences > time machine > options.
also, as for moving your iTunes library, see this read for tips/instructions.
JGG
edited by the Jolly Green Giant (where Green stands for environmentally friendly)

Can Time Machine back up data found on external USB HD?

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