Recommendation for Large (4Tb) External Drive for Time Machine

I have a large library that I'd like to backup from my Mac Pro - 2T drives are not large enough - any recommendations on 4T drives for Time Machine?
Thanks
GJM

People have said to wait for version 8.2 of Retrospect which appears to be here.
http://www.retrospect.com/
Maybe time to move to RAID6 controller. I've seen folks on MacGurus talk about large, massive storage arrays and backups.
http://www.macgurus.com/productpages/sata/BurlyRAID.php
People have said that they backup RAID A to B. Or mirror two arrays.
Did you not like SynchronizePro? From March '09:
After months of trying and testing we have settled on Areca cards.
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9218286#9218286
I have not heard of problems (very many) with SuperDuper and their support is always helpful.
A linux NAS server running linux backup or even Windows Home Server. People even use Windows to run Retrospect (runs better). Anything you find will likely take some time to setup and configure in the beginning, this isn't your proconsumer type of need.

Similar Messages

Can anyone recommend a good 2TB external drive for my iMac 10.9 ?

can anyone recommend a good 2TB external drive for my iMac 10.9 ?

The Griffin Survivor is a military-grade case that I use. It's $40 and I purchased it at Best Buy. It has a rubber piece that covers the charging port, but can be easily removed for charging while still in the case. The only downside of the case is because of the added girth, it makes the iPod unusable with iHomes or other docks unless you take it out of the case.

Question about 2 TB external drives and Time Machine.

Here's a very basic question about 2 TB external drives and Time Machine.
I have a Mac Pro with a .75 TB and 1 TB drive. It also has a 1 TB 2nd internal drive. My current external drive is too small so I'll be getting a 1.5 TB or 2 TB drive.
Obviously the new larger 2 TB drive will backup everything on the Mac Pro internal drive with Time Machine. But there will be 1 TB of space left over going to waste.
Should I partition the external drive so that the TM portion will be 1 TB and the use the remaining extra partition for additional file backups with Carbon Copy?
Thanks for any insights.
I tried searching around on the new Apple discussion forum, but I find it much harder to use than the old forum I used to use.

John,
I'm not sure why you posted in the iMac forum so I'm going to attempt to get you to the correct spot. I would recommend reposting in the Time Machine Forum, this is part of the OS X forums (Leopard or Snow Leopard) because you are using Snow Leopard (your profile indicates you are) please click Apple Support Communities and type Snow Leopard. Then you can narrow the search down by clicking Refine this List.
Roger

After partitioning external drive network Time Machine instance can't back up

This is a re-post with additional background information requested by several responders:
I recently added a G-Speed Q RAID array to my MAC PRO to use exclusively for back-up with Time Machine. I purchased this RAID array from the Apple store, so assume that means it's acceptable to use for this purpose. Maybe that's a bad assumption on my part. In any event, it worked great with Time Machine on my MAC PRO. The G-speed array is connected to my Mac Pro via Firewire 800 port for now. I am awaiting delivery of an eSATA expansion card for the Mac Pro which I intend to switch to when it arrives. In any event, it is not configured or capable of acting as an NAS device. It is a shared external drive on the MAC PRO.
My next step was to share the external device over my hardwire gigabit LAN with my wife's iMAC so she could back-up with Time Machine as well. It also worked great. Both Macs are connected via hardwire gigabit, supported by an Actiontec Q1000Z router. The LAN performs flawlessly for all other purposes, including over 30 network devices connected via either hardwire or 802.11n. Both machines are running Lion 10.7.4. (not server)
I then started reading posts that suggested the two Time Machine instances would compete for space on the back-up array and eventually it would fill up and I'd have problems. The solution, everyone says, is to partition the external drive and assign one to each Time Machine back-up. It makes perfect sense to me. I did this following the step-by-step instructions (#22) from Pondini's site. Both partitions are formatted with MAC OS Extended (journaled). Everything seemed to be working great until the remote client tried to run back-up. The remote Time Machine instance fails with the "Disk does not support AFP featues" error message.
Current status is as follows, local time machine back-up works fine on its partition. Remote machine finds and connects to its assigned partition once I provide correct user name and password, but fails while Time Machine is "searching for backup device" with the AFP error message. The remote (sending) machine is connecting as a dedicated user and not as "Guest".
I can write test files directly to the remote back up partition from either mac and I can read, modify and save files directly to this partition from either mac.
Please let me know if any additional information related to configuration is needed. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

In my "dispute" with Pondini in the other thread, I came across some information that will certainly explain things, but not in a good way.
Apparently you cannot use an external drive as a Time Machine repository. People who use Snow Leopard and Lion Server to provide Time Machine services have already discovered this.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3327294
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2472139
It may work better when your eSATA card comes in. My theory is that a Thunderbolt RAID would show up as an internal drive and would be useable as a Time Machine repository. There is a chance that an eSATA card would do that too. You'll find out. Apparently, one of the things you get with Lion Server is a warning pop-up if you try to use an external drive with Time Machine.
While I'm a big fan of Time Machine, I still consider it Apple Black Magic. You can use it, but don't get too clever. I don't like to take chances with backups. Simple is usually better. Time Machine isn't simple, but it is so convenient that I like to ignore the incredible complexity of it.
If the other machine were a notebook with local snapshots I might say you could manually plug it in to do backups. With two iMacs, I would recommend just getting another external drive.
Perilous to us all are the devices of an art deeper than we possess ourselves.
- Gandalf

Here's a very basic question about 2 TB external drives and Time Machine.

Here's a very basic question about 2 TB external drives and Time Machine.
Ihave a Mac Pro with a .75 TB and 1 TB drive. It also has a 1 TB 2ndinternal drive. My current external drive is too small so I'll begetting a 1.5 TB or 2 TB drive.
Obviouslythe new larger 2 TB drive will backup everything on the Mac Prointernal drive with Time Machine. But there will be 1 TB of space leftover going to waste.
ShouldI partition the external drive so that the TM portion will be 1 TB andthe use the remaining extra partition for additional file backups withCarbon Copy?
Thanks for any insights.
I tried searching around on the new Apple discussion forum, but I find it much harder to use than the old forum I used to use.

The problem with terabyte drives is that that a 3 TB is about as big as you can get without going into RAID territory. Ideally, a Time Machine drive should be 3 times as large as all the drives you are backing up. So, if you have 2.75 TB of internal storage, you should have 8 TB of Time Machine space.
Of course, that is "should". If your TB drives are mostly empty, then you can get away with something 3 times the size of your used disk space. Just remember that you are pushing it. Linc is right about Time Machine needing space to work.
It is unlikely that you have regular churn on 2.75 TB of disk. I suggest identifying which drives and folders have the most activity and excluding those drives and directories that don't change much. It would be better to archive the data that doesn't change often and keep it out of Time Machine. Then you may be able to get away with a 2 TB Time Machine drive.

Can I use a 2tb external drive with Time Machine to backup my Mac Mini (256gbSSD + 2tbHDD)?

Can I use a 2tb external drive with Time Machine to backup what I have on my Mac Mini?
My Mac Mini has one 256 SSD and one 2tb HDD. I want to use Time Machine to do a backup of everything.
Would an external 2tb My Passport Drive by Western Digital work for the backup?
It seems like it would not work because the total storage on the Mac Mini is 2304 gigabytes (SSD + HDD).
And the external Western Digital drive is only 2048 in gigabytes versus 2304 gigabytes the Mac Mini has.

No. A Time Machine backup drive should have at least twice the capacity of the drive it backs up. You would need at least a 4 TB backup drive for Time Machine.
Might I suggest as an alternative that you not use Time Machine but a third-party backup utility that simply overwrites older files with new ones such that the backup drive can be the same capacity as the drive backed up.
Suggested Backup Software
1. Carbon Copy Cloner
2. Get Backup
3. Deja Vu
4. SuperDuper!
5. Synk Pro
6. Tri-Backup
Others may be found at MacUpdate.
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.

If i move itune to external drive does time machine still have backup?

if i move itune to external drive does time machine still have backup?
I just moved my itunes off my macbook pro because it was taking up too much space and put it on an external hard drive. i have a second external hard drive that i use for time machine. when i update time machine next will my itunes files be removed from the backup since they are no longer on my internal hard drive (what time machine backs up?) basically, i want to make sure i have a second copy of my itunes besides the one on my first external hard drive and i was wondering if time machine will still have all of that data (on the second external hard drive).
i cant find this answer anywhere!!! thanks so much!!!

Check to see whether or not it's excluded in the Time Machine pane of System Preferences.
Items deleted from the hard drive won't be deleted from the backup until the backup location runs out of space.
(63157)

When using Time Machine to back up to external drive, does Time Machine back up content in your Trash folder?

When using Time Machine to back up to external drive, does Time Machine back up content in your Trash folder?

Go to System Preferences (under the Apple menu) > Time Machine and click the Options button. Click the "+" button in the lower left. In the resulting dialog, check the Show invisible items checkbox. Go to your home folder and look for Trash. Click the Exclude button in the lower right.

Using the same external drive with Time Machine on new mac?

I recently got a new mac because my old one broke. Thankfully, I had a fresh backup on Time Machine ready to restore onto my new computer. But when I try to use Time Machine with my new computer, it keeps wanting to do a whole new backup. It won't recognize the latest backup to only add new or changed files.
Here's a breakdown of my events:
new computer
restore Time Machine on new computer at install
want to continue using the external drive with Time Machine from where I left off (only adding new files since the last backup) on my new computer
Time Machine wants to do a whole new backup
Question: How can I continue to use my existing external hard drive with Time Machine on my new computer, picking up where I left off (not a new, complete backup)?
My old computer was Snow Lepoard, my new one is Lion.

Bergers wrote:
new computer
restore Time Machine on new computer at install
That should have left a "trail" in your SystemMigration log, so Time Machine can figure out what happened and automatically "inherit" the old backups. But sometimes, obviously, that doesn't work.
Since it didn't, there's a chance you can do it manually. See #B6 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

Had to wipe my drive so I could do a clean install of snow leopard Now I look every where on how to move bookmarks, address book and I cal settings. I have them back up on a external drive with Time machine but can not move, copy or restore my old sett d

Had to wipe my drive so I could do a clean install of snow leopard. Now I have look every where on how to move bookmarks, address book and I cal settings. I have them back up on a external drive with Time machine but can not move, copy or restore my old settings. The instructions I have found or no help or needs more clarafication on what to do.

Use migration assistant to move your files. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4889

External Drive with Time Machine, booting from external drive with utilitie

I'm using Time Machine now with
a LaCie 1TB external hard drive.
Everything works fine.
But, I've been wondering:
Can I place a program like TechTool
on the external drive (that Time Machine uses)
and boot from that external drive.
I would like to be able to do that,
because diagnostics and repair programs
only works properly and fully when they run from
external drives. Anything on the internal drive can be repaired
and examine. Impossible to do if Techtool is on the same
drive that's been examined.
Any thoughts as to what I should do?
Thanks
iMac, Leopard, Time Machine, Lacie Quadra 1TB drive.
P.S. Stupid question: If my computer crashes, and I reboot from Time Machine
(from the external drive) how does the computer know which backup to take ?!?
Isn't there many versions of the OS on the Time Machine backup taken at different times?

pitou wrote:
P.S. Stupid question: If my computer crashes, and I reboot from Time Machine
(from the external drive) how does the computer know which backup to take ?!?
Isn't there many versions of the OS on the Time Machine backup taken at different times?
As V.K. says, you can't boot from TM backups.
But you can restore your entire system from any one of them, per the procedure in #14 of the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.
You can also selectively restore from them, while running normally. See #15 in the FAQ Tip.
You might want to review these:
Time Machine Tutorial
Time Machine 101
How to back up and restore your files
Time Machine Features
Apple - Support - Mac OSX v10.5 Leopard Time Machine
and perhaps browse the rest of the FAQ Tip.

I ereased my external drive now time machine doesn't back up. What should I do?

I ereased my external drive now time machine doesn't back up. What should I do? the reason I ereased was because backups wouldn't finsh because of disk error. I did disk repair. Still wouldn't back up so ereased the back up drive. Now nothing appears on it. On the internal drive of my imac in Appllications Timemachine is still there. When I click on it it goes to a screen that looks like a night sky and nothing more happens. Do I need to download some software?

Time Machine doesn't work on 10.4.7. It didn't become available until 10.5. Use a different backup software if you are going to use 10.4.7*:
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html

External drive to time Machine

Can I backup an external drive in Time Machine if it's directly connected to Time Capsule? I thought that I could but in checking my Time Machine backups, I don't see the external drive.

Time Machine cannot backup any network drive.. that means the TC internal drive or a USB plugged into the TC or anywhere else on the network.. it can backup an external drive plugged directly into the computer.. so you need to relocate the drive from the TC to the computer.

Backing up an external drive using Time Machine

I am trying to back up an external hard drive with Time Machine, but in Options, the drive is greyed out and cannot be removed from exclusions.
I read that it cannot back up Fat32, if that is true, how do I work around that? My Aperture library is on this drive.

If the drive is formatted FAT32 then there is no way around it. Time Machine will not be able to backup the drive. You would have to repartition and reformat the drive for OS X, but that will make it unusable on a PC. You should try using a third-party backup utility if you cannot reformat the drive:
Backup Software Recommendations
Carbon Copy Cloner
Data Backup
Deja Vu
SuperDuper!
Synk Pro
Tri-Backup
Others may be found at VersionTracker or MacUpdate.
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.
If you backup to the same drive used for your Time Machine backup, then you should create a separate partition on the drive for these backups.

Can you restore an external drive using Time Machine

I have my media libraries (iphoto, imovie, itunes) on a separate external drive connected to my mac. They are being backed up to another HD through my time machine backups. However, should my media external drive fail, is it even possible to restore the files to a replacement external HD using time machine? Would it be better to partition my time machine external drive and use half for time machine and the other half to manually copy/backup my external medial HD?

Cumby
Would it be better to partition my time machine external drive and use half for time machine and the other half to manually copy/backup my external medial HD?
Bad idea, thats putting everything in once place. Worst premise for data protection
Methodology to protect your data. Backups vs. Archives. Long-term data protection
Everything is about 1. redundancy, 2. redundancy and 3. multiple storage platforms (DVD, multiple HD, online server archives ala a personal website etc.)
The first realization is that your data on your computer is highly vulnerable
The second realization is that you need a HD backup of your OS and data
The third realization is that you need at the very least a secondary HD backup
The fourth and final realization is understanding the fragility of any and all HD & ferromagnetic storage, and that vital data needs to be “frozen” on unassailable redundancies across multiple storage platforms including multiple HD, online backup, archival DVD burns comprising at the very minimum triple platform redundancy of data you have been working on for years or decades that cannot be replaced.
The B.A.R. “rule” (backup-archive-redundancy)
Backup: Active data emergency restore. Backups are moved from backups to archives; or from backups to the computer for restore or data retrieval.
Archive: Active and static data protection with the highest level of redundancy. Archives are only moved from itself to itself (archived copies). Generally a “long-term retention” nexus.
Redundancy: A fail-safe off-site or protected and “frozen” copy of your vital data and foolproof protection against magnetic degradation and HD mechanical failure. A likewise failsafe from theft, house fire, etc.
Redundancy has two points of premise:
A: redundancy (copies) of data archives.
B: redundancy of data on different platforms (optical, online, magneto-optical, HD).
Send your backups to your archives (as often as possible), and your archives to self-same redundancies.
*When referring to backups and archives here, this is in reference to your data saved/ created/ working on,... not your OS, your applications, and your system information / settings,...which is the idealized premise for use of Time Machine as a system-backup after internal data corruption or HD-failure.
Here we are referring to data backups and archives, not system-backups for restoring your OS-system.
If your data on your hard drive is the cash in your wallet, a backup is your bank account/debit card, and an archive is a locked safety deposit box.
Its easy to get your wallet emptied (corrupted) or stolen, your backup checking account is somewhat easy to get corrupted/drained or damaged, but your bunker security is in the lockbox inside the vault, where your vital data and archives reside. In the premise of preventing data loss, you want as often and as much as possible one-way transfers from your “wallet” to your safety deposit box archives; and further still a minimum of two copies of those archives.
Highest priority (archives) requires highest redundancy. In the premise of often copying data from backups to archives, backup redundancy plays a minor role.
Long-term active file backups (a book, a major time-involved video creation etc.) requires double-active redundancies, preferably a minimum of Time Machine and an autonomous external formatted HD, so there are at least three copies of this data: internal drive, Time Machine, and secondary non-TM HD backup.

Recommendation for Large (4Tb) External Drive for Time Machine

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for