What size HDD do you need for Time Machine is it the size of iMac HDD?

Ok, looking to buy iMac, to use Time machie do you need the same size HDD that is in your iMac? ie Im looking at getting the 250Gb iMac, so do I need a 250Gb external HDD to use time machine?
I plan to also get a NAS drive so can time machine be used with this or do you need n external HDD attached direct to the iMac all the time to use time machine?
cheers

the loc-man wrote:
so you can pick and choose what backup? eg Music, Pics, Docs, emails etc?
Yes you can choose everything or just parts.
does it compress stuff though to utilize the space better?
No, look here for more detail. http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/timemachine.html
its not like a ghost image?
Not that I know of.
so if the iMac had to be re-installed could you then reconnect the Time machine HDD and restore everything?
You could insert the Leopard disk and instead of doing a new install you could restore directly from the Time Machine Back Up. This depends on if you do a full back up or just parts of your system. Either way it is easy to recover your system using Time Machine.
Also if the external HDD is used for time machine is that all it can be used for? or can you also use it on other computers both Mac and PC?
It is best if you use Time Machine on a partition by itself. Then the other partition can be used for normal stuff.

Similar Messages

How large should a disk for time machine be vs the hard disk

Can anyone tell me how large a disk for time machine be vs the size of the hard disk?

I usually say 2x or more but your milage may vary on that based on how much your hard drive is actually used, what sort of data (how large the files are) you typically handle and how far back you want your TM backup to go.

I am setting up a time machine backup to a external Hard drive. I want to backup by Mac book Pro running OSX 10.8.5. I would like to Partition the disk and use one partition for Time machine backups and the other for my Lightroom backups. How to do this?

I want to create a two partition disk. One partition for time machine, the other for Lightroom backup. Currently Time Machine is using the entire drive and it is doing the intial encryption and is about 29% complete after two days. I've decided that I want to turn encryption off and partition the disk. So I do I start over?

With the external drive attached, open Finder>Applications>Utilities>Disk Utility. Select the external drive from the list in the left side panel of the DU window. In the main window panel, click Partition in the buttons top center of that panel.
Select the number of partitions you want and adjust their sizes.
For the first partition, click to highlight the partition, then select the format, Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and then the partition table as GUID [both of those are the defaults]. Click Apply and it will ask to confirm and erase and format that partion...oh, give the partition a name, like Backup.
Then repeat those steps for the second partition..and remember to name it...something like Lightroom.
Close Disk Utilitty and you are ready to send TM to the one partition, and do your backup of Lightroom to the second partition.

What size external hard drive do i need for Time Machine

What size external hard drive should I get to be my Time Machine backup? My iMac is 1TB. (also, I have MBP that is 250gb and will need one for it as well)
Thank you.

It is better to buy an external drive that has 3 times the storage capacity
as of the computer's internal HD.
Best.

What size external hard drive needed for Time Machine?

Can someone offer advice? What size external hard drive do I need to back up my system with Time machine? Hard drive is 232 GB but I'm only using 40 GB of the 232.
Thanks.

beach bum51,
Hard drive space is cheap, so I'm going to recommend that you get something with at least 500 GBs capacity. 500 GBs would be twice the capacity of your internal, which is apparently the "recommended" size, so I have no hesitation recommending it. The larger the drive, the lower the cost per GB.
What's not so cheap is speed. You'll be happiest with a drive capable of using the fastest bus provided by your computer. If your iMac has a Firewire 800 port, you'll get the best experience from using that port, and a drive that will use Firewire 800 transfer speeds.
Scott

Relative size of external hard drive needed for Time Machine

I have Time Machine up an running on an old 250Gb disk. My new iMac has a 500Gb disk, but lots of free space, so Time Machine is reporting adequate remaining space on the backup disk. Has anyone calculated the sort of ratio in disk sizes that will be necessary over time? For instance, with a 500Gb disk in the Mac, will a 500Gb external drive be sufficient for all time, or will it get full. Should be be considering doubling the external disk size to 1 Tb?
I need to replace the 250Gb drive and am wondering what size is optimum.

I've been seeing knowledgeable people writing that a good rule of thumb for "typical" home users is they should have a drive with a capacity of 3 - 4X their system's normal operating size...to maintain a full year's worth of Time Machine data before it starts scrolling off.
So I guess that means I should be looking at a 1TB drive for my iMac which currently has ~250GB of data on it. Time to review that Bare Feats 1TB drive shootout (http://www.barefeats.com/hard94.html).

Size of hard disk for needed for Time Machine backups

How does one determine what size of hard disk one should buy for one´s backups?
My MacBookPro´s built-in hard disk has a capacity of apprx 190GB. Does time machine back up EVERYTHING on one´s hard disk (i.e, documents, applications, operatimg program, settings, boot sectors etc. (at the moment I only have one partition and no WINDOWS loaded)

Does time machine have the capacity to back up (and then restore) EVERYTHING on one´s hard disk (i.e, documents, applications, operatimg program, settings, boot sectors etc. (at the moment I only have one partition and no WINDOWS loaded)?

Space needed for Time Machine backups?

I have a 160 gb macbook pro and am wondering how much space I would need on an external hard drive if I plan on backing up with Time Machine. I bought a 500 gb drive already, but would also like to use it for backing up a pc computer and don't know if I have enough space for both. Any advice would be appreciated!

In addition to Bob's advice, note that you should partition the drive, so Time Machine has it's own, exclusive space.
See #5 in [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 the +Time Machine+ forum) for formatting instructions.
You'll have to figure out what Format to apply to the second partition for the PC backups, probably either MS-DOTS(FAT) or ExFAT.

What to do if you simultaneously run Time Machine and File Vault

Never do what is mentioned in the subject line; even if you decrypt your drive, it does not spread to Time Machine, and so if you ever need to do a system restore, File Vault will forget your password and lock you out of your own system.
Thankfully, I ended up having recourse. The solution is to log in as root and create a disk image from the last Time Machine backup, "latest," and then duplicate that disk image. Having done that, paste the files into the user folder of your choice, recreating the account you have lost.

Realistically, your only option is to upgrade to an Intel-based Mac.
There is no way to use iCloud on a Mac running anything lower than OS X 10.7.2 - not even Snow Leopard.
You can access iCloud.com through a web browser on your current computer, but you'd need a Mac running 10.7.2 to move to iCloud and it wouldn't sync anyway...

What HD format do I use for Time Machine

Hi guys,
I need to clean up my external HD and reformat it before using it with Time Machine. Just wanted to know which format method to use.
In Disk Utility it offers the following:
Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Mac OS Extended
Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)
Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive)
I'm confused. Which one should I use?
Thanks for your help,
Bruce

it should be mac os extended journaled provided your main drive has the same format. if the main drive is case sensitive, use case sensitive for TM too. also, it should have GUID partition scheme for an intel mac. when you are reformatting the drive (use the "partition" tab in Disk Utility) you can set the partition scheme by clicking on the "options" button.
Message was edited by: V.K.

How big an external hard drive do I need for Time Machine backups?

I run a 2 Ghz iMac with 1Gb memory, currently using around 108 GB of the 150 GB available memory.
Hpw larghe an external hard drive do I need to run Time Machione efficiently? 500GB? 320? 520?

Not answered - don't know why!

Just bought a 3TB Time Capsule for a small office. Will have 4 users with MacBooks. What would ne the best setup for time machine individual backups and internet sharing in a secure way?

Just bought a 3TB Time Capsule for a small office. Will have 4 users with MacBooks. What would ne the best setup for time machine individual backups and internet sharing in a secure way?

Set up each Mac for Time Machine backups in the normal way. Time Machine will keep each backup separate on the Time Capsule, so users will only be able to see the backups of their own Mac.
Yes....there are convoluted workarounds that might allow one user to see the backups of another.....IF...they know the administrator password of the "other" Mac.
As far as Internet sharing, all users will have access to the Internet if they have a wired or wireless connection. If a Mac connects using wireless, it is possible to limit the time that they are allowed to connect to the network.
For example, you might limit the ability to connect to the wireless from say each Weekday from 8 AM to 6 PM.
With a wired Ethernet connection, you cannot limit access times to the Internet.

External hard disk for Time Machine

I'm considering baking up my iMac. I have a Lacie external hard disk with a Master Boot Record partition type. On it, there are already some data files from both Windows and Mac machines.
I understand that, for Time Machine to work, the partition type needs to be changed to GUID (for Intel based Mac). Obviously, I will need to copy these data files to somewhere, then use Disk Utility to change the partition type, partition the hard disk (one partition to be used for Time Machine back-up).
My question is, will it be safe to copy the data files (previously from Windows and Mac machines) back to another partition of the hard disk which will then has a GUID partition type? Will the files (including those from Windows machines) be usable?

KenWong wrote:
I'm considering baking up my iMac. I have a Lacie external hard disk with a Master Boot Record partition type. On it, there are already some data files from both Windows and Mac machines.
I understand that, for Time Machine to work, the partition type needs to be changed to GUID (for Intel based Mac). Obviously, I will need to copy these data files to somewhere, then use Disk Utility to change the partition type, partition the hard disk (one partition to be used for Time Machine back-up).
My question is, will it be safe to copy the data files (previously from Windows and Mac machines) back to another partition of the hard disk which will then has a GUID partition type? Will the files (including those from Windows machines) be usable?
You're slightly mixing terminology.
The *+Partition Map Scheme+* applies to the whole disk, whether it has one or multiple partitions. That's what needs to be GUID or +Apple Partition Map+.
The Format applies to each partition, and may be different for each one. Your TM partition needs to be +Mac OS Extended (Journaled),+ the other one can be +MS-DOS (FAT)+ for use with Windoze.
You can copy those files anywhere temporarily, while re-formattng the disk. It doesn't have to be a separate partition. It could even be CDs/DVDs. As long as you can copy and read back, it doesn't matter. If you put them on your boot drive, Windoze won't be able to read them while they're there, but once you get them back on a +MS-DOS (FAT)+ partition, it will.
See the instructions in item #5 of the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* at the top of this forum.
We usually recommend putting the Time Machine partition first (at the top of the diagram that Disk Utility will show you), so you can more easily expand or contract it later on, if you need to.

More Settings for Time Machine

There are more options needed for time machine on the Snow Lepoard OS. Often (like 10 times a day), I am in the middle of some CPU-intensive task and Time Machine takes off and starts backing up forcing me to manually click Stop Backup on the dropdown box of the Time Machine circle icon. What I would really like are options suspend backup operations when competing software is trying to use the CPU or memory or network.

uursamajor wrote:
There are more options needed for time machine on the Snow Lepoard OS. Often (like 10 times a day), I am in the middle of some CPU-intensive task and Time Machine takes off and starts backing up forcing me to manually click Stop Backup on the dropdown box of the Time Machine circle icon. What I would really like are options suspend backup operations when competing software is trying to use the CPU or memory or network.
As Kappy says, that's unlikely on Snow Leopard, and development on Leopard stopped last Fall.
Under normal circumstances, TM backups shouldn't be terribly intrusive, unless you're backing-up over a network, especially wirelessly, and there's a lot of interference and/or congestion/contention for the network.
A few possibilities:
If you're really on 10.5.2, per your signature, consider upgrading to 10.5.8. There were a lot of improvements after 10.5.2. Info and download available at: http://support.apple.com/downloads/MacOS_X_10_5_8_ComboUpdate Be sure to do a +Repair Permissions+ via Disk Utility (in your Applications/Utilities folder) afterwards.
If you're on 10.5.8 or 10.6.x, please click +My Settings+ at the right of this page and update them.
Your Mac may be backing-up more than it should. See #D4 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum), for some of the common culprits, and ways to determine what's happening.
Your backups are too slow. See #D2 in Troubleshooting for some possible fixes.

Preparing for Time Machine

I'm planning to upgrade to Leopard and am in the process of making a backup of my current system and files. Can I copy it onto a single volume external HD which I will then also use for Time Machine? Will TM have any problems with this setup or should I create a separate partition for the system backup?
Thanks in advance

Time Machine will back up to a volume with other files on it but Apple doesn't recommend this. To properly format your drive for Time Machine follow the directions in this article.
However, instead of making one partition make two. Make partition #1 the size you want for Time Machine and the second partition the size you need for your Tiger clone. Leopard allows for repartitioning on the fly. Down the road you will have the option of deleting the Tiger clone partition and using it for Time Machine. You can swipe space from the second partition to add to the first partition but not vice versa.

What size HDD do you need for Time Machine is it the size of iMac HDD?

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