What kinds of drives can Time Machine backup?

Please notice the absence of the word "to" in the subject. My question is not what kinds of drives Time Machine can write its backup to (a subject that is covered extensively everywhere on the web), but what kinds of drives it can backup, i.e. the data from which drives can be included in the backup.
My Mac mini is a little storage-capacity challenged, so I use an external USB drive for most of my work data. This drive is FAT32 formatted, because I need to access it from a Windows PC as well. I find that this drive (which I do not use to write the TM backup to - that's impossible because TM can not backup to FAT32 drives) is in TM's "Do not backup" list and I can't remove it from there. I suspect this has to do with the FAT32 formatting, but I do not understand why that is (again, it makes perfect sense that the drive TM writes its backup to has certain restrictions on the formatting because of the mechanism that TM uses to create its backups using hard links - to create a backup of certain data, I would expect all TM would need is read-access to that data, which clearly is not a problem for the Mac because I am happily using the FAT32 drive as storage).
So, my question, in a nutshell, on what type of drive does data need to be in order for TM to be able to create a backup of it? Is there a way to get TM to backup the data that resides on my FAT32 disk? Also, I plan to move the data on my FAT32 drive to a network drive. Is there a way to backup data that resides on a network drive with TM? What type of protocol (NFS?) would I need to use to access the data on the network drive? *Again, please, this is not the gazillionth question about where a TM backup can be written to, this is about what data can be backed up by TM.* Thanks in advance for any insight.

Why is that? Does it have to do with the fact that TM uses the same notification mechanism for changes on the filesystem that SpotLight does? I guess that if FAT32 won't work, with NFS or something similar I will certainly be out of luck?
That *****, I was looking forward to move the data from my FAT32 external drive to a network drive, reformat it and start using it as a second TM backup volume.
When I reformat the external drive from FAT32 to HFS+ will I then be able to back it up using TM? (I.e., it really is the formatting that is the problem, not the fact that the drive is external)? What about NTFS? (I really want to keep the data in a form accessible by Windows directly, in case I need to run Windows on the Mac).
Message was edited by: Eelke

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Is it possible to use more than one external hard drive for Time Machine backups?

I want to use two hard drives for Time Machine backups.
Bigger one keep at home and be sure it is safe.
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Bluehowler wrote:
Ok, I have 3 external hard drives; unfortunately I've used them on my PC and they are read only on my iMac. So, I need to buy a new external hard drive for Time Machine backup. I'm a little confused; can I buy any EHD and them format it so Mac can use it or are there special EHD's I need to purchase?
Anyone have a particular EHD that is working well for you? Thanks, Blue
Unless you need all three external drives for your PC, you can reformat in one of them in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for use with Time Machine. However, since Time Machine backs up hourly, you'd need the external drive to be running constantly. That means ventilation of the drive becomes an issue since some, such as Seagate, can get very hot in their sealed enclosures. Some drive manufacturers try to get around this by spinning down the drive when not in use, but I've read complaints that that doesn't play well with a Mac. So whether you reuse one of your current externals or get a new one, it's a good idea to keep the drive's ventilation in mind.

Can Time machine backup an aperture datatbase ?

Hi to all of you,
I am new to Mac and new to aperture 3.
Can Time machine backup an aperture datatbase ?
I have set up time machine to back up my mac an though I was out of trouble until I heard someone saying this is not the case.
So can TM backup the database ? When is it open?
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Dag

Ailish Eklof wrote:
Inside the Aperture Library, there are a few large databases that are marked as changed anytime you do many common things inside Aperture. Even a very small change can cause several of these large files to be backed up, and it will consume a fair bit of space.
One of the big changes under the hood in Aperture 3 is that the main database file has been split into several smaller ones, but more importantly the thumbnail file that existed for each Project and was changed each time any adjustments were applied in that Project has been split into a number of smaller files.
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Is it possible to use an external hard drive for time machine backup and also as a regular hard drive?

Is it possible to use an external hard drive for time machine backup and also as a regular hard drive?

I am using an external drive in the exact way that you described. You just keep it plugged in to the computer when you want to access the movies and files. In order to put files on it, just go to finder open up the drive under devices and drag and drop files onto the drive. It is just like using a usb drive with a terabyte of space.

Unable to select two drives for time machine backup?

I had a notification from Time Machine saying "This backup is too large for the disk..." and that I needed to omit items or select another drive. I've read online that it's possible to select multiple drives for Time Machine backups (so it switches between the available drives). When I go into Time Machine preferences and click "Select Disk" the drive I want to use in addition to my current Time Machine is there, but when I choose the additional drive I do not get the option to replace or "Use Both" (like pictured). Instead the additional drive is selected as the sole Time Machine and the current Time Machine drive is replaced.
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The reason is that that feature is Only offered in "Mountain Lion" OS X 10.8; and you are using "Lion" 10.7.
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HT201250 How can I revert to my internal drive for time machine backups after using an external drive?

Hi. I've been using an external drive for time machine back ups and decided to revert to my internal drive, but it isn't available in the time machine options. The only available option is to set up a time capsule, which I don't own.
Is it because not enough space is available on my internal drive (approx 50GB)?
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50 Gb free on your internal drive is relly very low and of course not enought for a any kind of backup.
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Do you have an iMac or a portable ?
The portable automatic uses the internal HD if the external is not connected, but this is intended for a short time.
This could give you some more links to read about https://discussions.apple.com/message/20726927#20726927

Can i include external usb drives in Time Machine backups

Can I include external usb drives and sticks in Time Machine backups?
This was the question I searched a week for. My machine is a MBAir with Yosemite. I have a bunch of USB HD and sticks. This is a sharing of what it took to solve. I lost a couple of important document revisions lately because of not having differential backups on them, so wanted to include them in Time Machine.
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Sources are supposed to be included in the backup if it isn't shown bright in the exclusion window. In this respect I only use TM manually, and not for programmed BU's, so I cannot speak to that.
If everything you have is formatted for the Apple disc system (Mac OS Extended) then there are no contradictions or partial equivalences. The mounted disc or stick will show in TM exclusions window, and if you it, you'll see it in the Time Machine pile of calendared directories, with all the files. And of course it will do the differential backups for it that we use TM for in the first place. Just remember to prepare the BU by not excluding.
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<Personal Information Edited by Host>

Storing normal data files on the Time Capsule is unfortunately not as easy as dropping the folder on the Time Capsule.
Open up Macintosh HD on the Mac
Look for the SHARED heading on the left
Click on the Time Capsule icon and a folder named "Data" will appear (unless you have renamed it)
Double click the "Data" folder to mount the drive on the desktop. You may need to enter the device password for the Time Capsule when you do this the first time
Once the drive icon is on the desktop, you can drag data to the icon and drop it there. Double click the icon to open up the drive and see the files

Can time machine backups and data live on the same external drive?

I have a 1TB drive, more than enough for my data and backups. Question is, I already have it partitioned as Mac OSX extended (Journaled), and when I plugged it in my new mac with my old data, it said, do you want to use this as a backup drive. I selected yes, not thinking anything. But then I wondered, can I continue saving new data on this drive (music, videos, photos, etc) AND use it as a time machine backup drive, or is it either or? Hope this question makes sense. Thanks!

To expand on Lyssa's answer a bit, it really depends on what other data you want to put there.
If it's something like "scratch" space for editing video, etc., then no problem, except perhaps some contention for the drive while TM backups are running. Be sure to exclude the partition from TM, via TM Preferences > Options.
But if it's important data that's not backed-up elsewhere, then you can let TM back-up that other partition along with your internal HD. That's better than no backup of it at all, but not much.
So, consider backing it up separately, either to another external HD or (especially if it's something like photos or videos that don't change a lot) to DVDs (that you can take off-site for extra security).
But whatever you do, don't put other data in the TM partition. That will probably bite you sooner or later!

Can time machine backups be migrated to another drive?

I'm intersted in moving my time machine backups from one external hard drive to another with larger capacity. How can I do this and still have access to the older backups? Neither of the drives are Time Capsule and they both have USB and FireWire compatibility.

What I've done - on numerous occassion when moving my TM backups from a drive of a lower capacity to ones with a higher capacity - is use Carbon Copy Cloner to make block copies of the data from one drive to another. I've moved from a 1TB drive to a 2TB drive to a 4TB drive and never had any problems. Just select the 'new' TM drive in System Preferences and the backups just take up where they left off.
ALWAYS turn Time Machine OFF when making the copy - just so it doesn't get 'confused'.
Then turn Time Machine back on and point it to the 'new' drive or drives.
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See http://pondini.org/TM/27.html.
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Can Time Machine Backup to Two Different Drives?

I have many Apple Computers, and I was wondering if it were possible to have time machine backup to two different drives.
I want it to back up My documents, Mail, and other files/folders that I access often to a partition of my internal drive every minute.
And
I want it to back up Everything on my Mac to my external each night upon connecting it to my mac.
I take my MacBook everywhere with me and I need to make sure that the files I work on the most stay Perfectly Accessible no matter what, and I don't want to sacrifice too much space for that procedure. I would rather just be able to do constant backups of my most used files and folders, and then do a system backup each night to make sure I always have what is needed.

Let me add some more observations. I use two disks, one at home (its a mounted volume on another Mac at home) and the other is a portable disk that I attach to my MBP at work. This works fine.
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HT201250 Can Time Machine backup files stored on external hard drive

Can Time Machine back up files that are stored on external hard drive and save them on a different external hard drive?
I have my pictures stored on an external hard drive connected to my iMac. I want to make an exact copy of the pictures folder on a separate external hard drive. Can Time Machine do that?
If yes, how?
If no, what's a good way to create a mirror of the folder on External Hard Drive #1 (the original) on External Hard Drive #2 (the backup)?
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1. Yes, if both drives are formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
2. Reformat the drives if needed, open the Time Machine pane of System Preferences, and remove the drive with the pictures from the list of items set to be excluded.
(110331)

What kinds of drives can Time Machine backup?

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