Time Capsule - Adding New Macs

I have a 1TB Time Capsule that is currently backing up an iMac and a MacBook Pro. It has been handling the iMac since January, and the MBP since February.

I just purchased MacBook Airs for both myself and my wife.

Once I set the 2 new machines to backup to the Time Capsule, how will the drive space be provisioned?

As of right now, the 2 current machines take up ~85% of the 1TB Time Capsule drive. Nothing else is stored on the Time Capsule.

Will these 2 new machines just use what is remaining? Or will the Time Capsule somehow reallocate to accommodate 4 machines vs. the 2?

Thanks in advance. John

You're going to be pushing the limits adding two more Macs to the mix with only ~15% of the drive left. The initial new backups will more than likely come close to maxing out the drive and then you will be left with only very recent backups as the older stuff will start dropping off. Your backup are only going to get larger in the future, so if I were you I would get another external drive to hang off of the TC usb port and back up the new macs to that.

I am also considering just reformatting the Time Capsule and starting over with the 4 Macs. I don't have anything from past backups I can't delete at the current time.

jdag said:

I am also considering just reformatting the Time Capsule and starting over with the 4 Macs. I don't have anything from past backups I can't delete at the current time.

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That would give you a good base line to work with. I back up 3 Macs on 1TB and it is more than enough for me. I keep all my photos and music on a Drobo array, so what Time Machine is backing up for me is really pretty minimal. If you do start running out of space later you still have the option to hang another drive off of the TC and move a machine or two over to that.

Thanks for the help all!