New Macbook Pro, how to back up?

I have recently purchased a 15" MacBook Pro, and I would like to know how to back it up. This morning i went out and bought this: http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/external/freeagent/portable-hard-drive /
I have transfered all of my photos into iPhoto. This is probably my main concern for backing up data. Previously, with my former PC I organized my photos with a folder system I devised. Anyhow, I have not plugged the external drive in yet. I will only be using this drive with my Mac. I plan to keep this hard drive off site, and use it to back up once a month or so. My questions are as follows:
1. The directions on the Sea Gate drive state that there is software I will need to install. Will I actually need to install that if I plan to use Time Machine?
2. I never having used Time Machine, is it fairly self explanatory?
3. Will Time Machine back up my photos out of iPhoto? Will it retain the organization in iPhoto?
4. When I deem it is time to do a back up, I plug the external drive in, is there anything I will need to do to make the back up begin?
5. Because I am a fairly paranoid person, after a backup, can I see all of my files in the external drive?
6. Is there anything else I should know about backup?
Thank you very much!

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
How big of a hard drive do you have in your new MacBook Pro? It looks like it comes with a 500 GB hard drive, and the Seagate you linked is just 320 GB. For Time Machine, it's generally better to have a drive that is at least twice as big as your boot drive to allow plenty of space for all of the backups.
Your new drive might be better to use for a bootable clone, which you can make using Super Duper or Carbon Copy Cloner. I like Super Duper myself, and would highly recommend it. It will make an exact copy of everything on your hard drive. You can download it and try it for free as long as you like. If you want to unlock some of the more useful features like Smart Update, you can register a copy for $28:
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
A drive used as a bootable clone should be the same size as your boot drive, but since your drive is likely not full yet, you could use the 320 GB drive for this purpose for a while anyway.
It wouldn't hurt to have more than one drive for backup--it gives you an extra measure of safety, as two external drives aren't likely to fail at the same time. It never hurts to have two separate drives and two different means of making the backups. If you are seriously paranoid about your data, I think you will ultimately want both.
Time Machine is really designed to be used as you work, making frequent backups for you so that you will always have an up to date backup. A bootable clone has the advantage that should your hard drive fail, you can boot from the clone and continue to work. The two really complement each other.
I travel quite a lot, and use both methods. But what I leave in the fireproof safe are a set of bootable clones, made just before a trip.
I'd recommend a bootable clone in addition to a Time Machine backup, and you can decide which you want to keep off premise.
Good luck!

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