Time Machine for multiple macs - NAS or DAS attached to my iMac, which I then share?

Greetings
I currently have three macs - MBA, MBP and an iMac (newest generation). I'd like to use Time Machine for all of them.
Is it better to set up a NAS for Time Machine or can I use DAS that I woudl share (external HDD) attached to my iMac if they are all on the same network?
Also, is there any need for something like a Drobo or an external RAID array, if it's mostly for backing up and not for video editing? It would be used as a mnusic server to some degree. I've used a Drobo in the past (2nd gen) and find that I've spent a lot of time troubleshooting and fiddling with it over the years.
Thanks,
John

I am looking to add a Seagate NAS TM compatible to my network. I have 8 TB of storage w multiple Macs that I would like to backup to a NAS device.
Any advice would be welcome.
http://www.seagate.com/external-hard-drives/network-storage/business/business-st orage-8-bay-rackmount-nas/

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Time Machine for both Mac and Windows side of BootCamp

Can I use my external hard drive to backup both the Mac side and the windows side of BootCamp? I am using Time Machine for the Mac side, and I know that WinXP doesn't have Time Machine software. Can I use the hard drive when I'm on the Windows side as I would on any Windows machine, and move files under "My Computer"?

Can I use my external hard drive to backup both the Mac side and the windows side of BootCamp?
ONLY if you partition the external and use Winclone for windows-but leave as much space as possible for TM.
I am using Time Machine for the Mac side, and I know that WinXP doesn't have Time Machine software. Can I use the hard drive when I'm on the Windows side as I would on any Windows machine, and move files under "My Computer"?
Yes.
Without special software, the windows partition can't even see your OS X partition.
Good luck!

Using external NAS drive for Time Machine and multiple Macs

I just installed an external NAS drive from OWC's sister company Newer Tech. It is 500g with ethernet and usb2.0 connections. It works very well with easy setup with Time Machine with no hassle.
However, in very fine print that I missed in the ad, it supports 20 computers but not for Mac only for PC. OWC customer service said I could return it but I'll keep it anyway since it works well but only for one computer at a time in read/write mode.
Anyone know of a way around this? Are there any drivers from other vendors that would allow this to be used with the multiple Macs on my home network?

Very doubtful, but even if there is a workaround, you do not want to take that kind of risk with your backups.
See the pink and yellow boxes in #2 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).

Time machine for 2 Macs

Hi there
I just bought a WD 2T external disk and want to use half of it to backup 2 Macbook pro.
How I do it?
I want to keep about 1T to copy other stuff and leave 1 T for the time machine.
I don't know if i have to format it firstly and how, if i have to partition it? and if yes if it has to be in 2 or in 3 and how to do all this in the simplest way.
the disk is a simple external disk with only USB 2 as interface.
thnks for your help

Don't worry about what it means: just choose the 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' option in Disk Utility if you have to format the disk.
As to the sizes: the contents of your originals disks may well grow: and the TM backups grow much faster of course because of keeping all the changed files. If you do a lot of editing the backup can grow quite fast. Whatever size you choose, when the backup disk is full TM will start removing the olders versions.
If you don't partition, then the TM backups can expand to fill the space available: it depends on how much space you think you will need for your other data and how fast you think that will grow. Partitioning limits the maximum size of your TM backups; not partitioning may allow them to grow further at the expense of your other data capacity - or might allow that to expand to limit the siize of the TM backups. Either method should work fine, so it's up to you to think about it and decide which is most suited to your needs.

How to save in time machine for multiple user on one iMac

I have 3-users on my iMAC.
How can I save to Time machine?
Does it save all of files/changes when I save as Administrator?
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No worries...Time Machine backs up all user profiles with few exceptions (see link below):
http://pondini.org/TM/26.html

Two Time Machines for one Mac?

Folks,
I have a Time Capsule that I do all my back-ups on. Being paranoid, I want to do a second back up and take it off-site, and then rotate the backups monthly. Can Time Machine support two different devices?
Thanks!
Craig

Yes, but with a caution. Once they're both set-up properly, all you need to do is use the +Change Disk+ option in TM Preferences. You'll have two separate, independent sets of backups. After each swap, of course, the next backup will be fairly lengthy, as it catches up all the changes from the previous backup on that drive.
But you should probably swap more often than once a month. After several days, and a large volume of changes, TM may do a new full backup instead of an incremental one. This is not documented, and we don't know exactly what the parameters are, but it appears you're safe up to about 10 days.
Another option is to get a portable USB drive. Attach it to your Time Capsule, then use the "Archive" option in Airport Utility > Disks to copy the TC's disk to the USB drive.

How to set up Time machine for multiple computers

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A Time Capsule does not require you to do anything.. each computer will establish its own backup in a sparsebundle.. and keep it different from the other computers. It all just works. Mostly..!!
http://pondini.org/TM/33.html

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10.7.4
Mail 5.2

Back up what data? Mail data? I don't have any yet. I haven't used Apple Mail on this Mac Pro yet.
Edit: Launching Mail and holding Option right afterwards does nothing. Holding down option and then launching Mail does nothing.
Oooooh.... launching time machine while holding down option......
Edit again.... I don't have a Time Machine menu because that disk is not currently set up as time machine for the Mac Pro yet. I don't want to use it as a backup for this computer yet. I just want to be able to pull some of the backed up contents from it until I'm set.

How to restart base station from airport utility? I used to be able to do it remotely I currently use a Mac Pro 10.8.4 and have a time machine for wireless 6.3 (630.34). Sometimes I cannot connect to the internet and use network preferences to diagnose t

How to restart base station from airport utility? I used to be able to do it remotely
I currently use a Mac Pro 10.8.4 and have a time machine for wireless 6.3 (630.34). Sometimes I cannot connect to the internet and use network preferences to diagnose the issue. This results in being told to restart the wireless. The airport utility includes the drop down option of restarting but is not clickable so I can't choose it.
With my prior macbook and same time capsule, etc if i had problems connecting to the internet I would run network diagnostics to help out. This included clicking on the airport utility ---> base station --> restart. This worked most of the time.
Bottom line, is there something I am missing in not being able to restart the wi-fi remotely? ]
Thanks in advance

You are likely forgetting a step.
Open AirPort Utility
Click on the Time Capsule icon
Click Edit in the small window that appears
Now click the Base Station menu.....top of the screen....not the Base Station "tab" in the center of the screen
Click Restart

HT2497 Using Time Machine for home wifi just fine. Switched to cable modem from DSL. Now having trouble connecting laptops to wifi. ISP says it is not their fault. Mac books won't connect on their own.

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One Mac ok, other not. Help?

Thanks. We have been using an existing Time Machine for wifi. Cable modem replaced DSL router and was hooked up to Time Machine. What's odd is that 3 computers and iPad2 are connecting to home wifi just fine, using exact same network and password as before. My Mac book pro and an older iPad are not. IPhones are also connecting to home wifi just fine. I managed to get my Mac book pro hooked one time by copying ip address from a Mac that was working (entered manually) then turning that one off. That's not what I need.
The error message is "no ip address".

I am trying to upgrade from Tiger to Snow Leopard. When I insert the disk and install starts, it states "This disk is used for Time Machine backups" and Mac OSX can't be installed. Does anyone know how to correct this (since Tiger doesn't have Time Mach

I am trying to upgrade from Tiger to Snow Leopard. When I insert the disk and install starts, it states "This disk is used for Time Machine backups" and Mac OSX can't be installed. Does anyone know how to correct this (since Tiger doesn't have Time Machine)?

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2986

How can i find missing backup on Time Machine (for Mac)?, How can i find missing backup on Time Machine (for Mac)?

I backed up my computer on August 8th 2010 with Time Machine. I'm absolutely certain I did. But some reason there's a gap. I have a backup of my computer from just before that date, and just after that date, but August 8th is missing.
Is there any way to recover my files from this date? What's happening? It can't have started automatically deleting files because I have backups from as far back as June 2010 (when I started using time machine).
Thank you

See:
A whole lot about Time Machine for help with TM problems. Also you can select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "time machine" to locate articles on how to use TM. See also Mac 101- Time Machine.

Time Machine for shared group folders

Hi,
I would like to set up time machine for a shared group folder on the server. I would like users to be able to use time machine from clients to see backup history of files in the group folder. Is this possible? How?
Gregor

+...would like users to be able to use time machine from clients to see backup history of files in the group folder. Is this possible? How?+
Yes. This is possible, but it isn't touted as one of the features that sells Mac OS X Server. The advertised Time Machine server solution is to host an AFP share point on the Mac OS X Server system which clients then use as a Time Machine backup destination, similar to Time Capsule.
But, what I think you're going for is something like this: You have a share point where multiple users can read and write, and you'd like the server to be able to backup that share point via Time Machine, but also allow its clients to connect and see those backups. This is kind of like "Time Machine for a sharepoint." Again, this isn't really touted, but it's possible. Here is an example which shows you how.
For starters, let's say that your server's disks are well-organized. You have one volume for the server's operating system (Boot), one volume for the share points (Data), and one volume for backup (Backup). Other scenarios could work, but this configuration will make this how-to easier to understand. Let's also agree that your server's hostname is junglecat.amazon.private.
Let's say that the share point (group folder) that we want backed-up is at /Volumes/Data/Group-Folder on the server. Let's also agree that your group members already have access to this folder - e.g. it is already a share point with an ACL entry that grants the group members read and write access.
You'll need to configure Time Machine on the server itself first, just as if it were a client. Open System Preferences, and use the Time Machine pane to choose the Backup volume as the server's backup destination. You'll want to make sure that only the contents of the Data disk (the disk housing the Group-Folder) are backed up. Skip anything on your boot disk, as you're using Time Machine to back up just the share points. Let the server at least start its first backup, which will create the following directory:
/Volumes/Backup/Backups.backupdb/junglecat.amazon.private
...where the server's Time Machine backups will be stored.
Now use Server Admin's File Sharing section to make the /Volumes/Backup disk a share point, with these properties: Share the folder via AFP, and enable it as a Time Machine backup destination. (Your clients will not really be backing up to the folder, but they will be needing to see it as a place that Time Machine can keep a backup. This creates the .com.apple.timemachine.supported file on the share point.)
It's also a good idea to disable guest access and add an ACL deny rule to the share point (/Volumes/Backup) which denies delete and delete_child for everyone:
chmod +a "everyone deny delete,delete_child" /Volumes/Backup.
This prevents people from storing other data next to the Backups.backupdb folder. The Backups.backupdb folder already contains an ACL deny rule that limits its access to read-only.
Back on a client, mount the newly-shared Backup share point. The client's Time Machine may ask permission to use this as a backup location (because it was defined as such), but don't let it. The important thing is that the client recognized it as a backup location.
To browse the server's Time Machine history, the client must right-click on the Time Machine icon in the Dock (or use the Time Machine menu extra) and choose "Browse Other Time Machine Disk," where the user can choose the server's backup volume. Now the client can go back in time on the server, star-field and all. If the user needs to restore a file, Time Machine will ask him/her where to save the restored copy; it will not overwrite the copy on the Group-Folder share point.
Hope this helps!
--Gerrit

How to move existent Time Machine backups to a NAS?

Hello everybody
I am not sure if I am posting this discussion in the correct community, so please move it to the right one in case you need.
Currently I am using a 1TB external hard drive to store all my time machine backups. This drive also contains other information (movies, photos etc). I bought a Western Digital MyBook World Edition II which is a NAS. I want it to move my Time Machine backups to my NAS. How can I do it? Just copy over the backups folder from the external hard drive to the NAS?
Thank you!
Gilson

That's just crazy slow.
It won't be fast, as the data can't go directly from the old disk to the new one. It must pass through your Mac, so is on the network twice, slowing the effective speed by roughly half. But that's awful.
There could be any number of causes, from bad ports or cables to problems with either drive or controller. I don't have any experience with modern RAID systems, but some of the older ones were extremely slow when there was a problem with one of the drives.
And it may get worse -- if the backups are damaged, the copy will fail and the result won't be useable.
About all I can recommend is the usual: it's always prudent to keep secondary backups. If you don't have any, I'd strongly recommend getting a (plain) external HD and making a "bootable clone" on it ASAP (that will probably slow the copy down somewhat). See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #27 for details and some suggestions.
It wouldn't have to be a 2 TB drive, just the same size as your internal HD (or at least 10% larger than the data on it). You might consider getting a portable drive, so you can take it to a secure off-site location once you get your TM backups working to the new WD box. Then update it periodically.

Restricting Time Machine size with LaCie NAS Share

I have a question regarding quotas for my LaCie 2big NAS. I am using Time Machine on my MAC OSX. I had no issues in the Time Machine setup and initial backup so far. I wanted to limit the amount of disk used by Time Machine. I created a separate Share for Backup on the NAS. However, I am not able to set a quota based on the Share. I can only set the quota based on the user. I tried to create a user named "backup" which had a quota but the Time Machine sparse bundle has my own username (i.e., "my_username") as the file owner (it seemed like I needed to have the backup and my_username for the NAS with permissions on the Backup share). Time Machine identifies the disk as "Backup - My_NAS_Name" with the 500 GB limit which I established. This seems like it is working but I am not sure about the best approach.
Why doesn't the 2big NAS support Share quotas? It seems to be supported on other LaCie products. Is this the best way to configure or use the NAS to restrict the TIme Machine available size?

Brian Smale wrote:
Thanks, Pondini, you make a good point about using a USB drive with my Airport Extreme. The snag is, the Airport Extreme is in the same room as my computer, so it doesn't get over the co-location/fire problem. I suppose I could plug the Airport Extreme into my ethernet in another room, but this might compromise its coverage.
To protect yourself against fire, flood, theft, and direct lightning strike on your power lines, you need secondary, off-site backups. Get a portable external drive (or a pair, to alternate). Periodically do separate backups to it, and take it to your safe deposit box, workplace, relative's house, etc. CarbonCopyCloner (which I use in addition to TM), SuperDuper!, or the like would be fine for this, although you could use TM by just doing a +Change Disk+ each time.
Frankly, looking back 20 pages through this thread, I am astonished by the number of problems that people seem to be having with Time Machine. It rather looks like a flakey piece of software that's best avoided.
Don't be misled by what you see here. TM works just fine for most people. They only post here when there's a question or problem. Many of the questions wouldn't be necessary if Apple's documentation was better, and most of the problems are either things people did without knowing they shouldn't, or hardware problems. You'll find similar threads on the CCC and SD forums, too.

Time Machine for multiple macs - NAS or DAS attached to my iMac, which I then share?

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