Time machine on external drive (and some more)

Nikolauss · Nikolauss #1 (**permalink**)

01-18-2011, 01:24 PM

Since I'm not sure this goes here I'll let the admins move it if necessary.

Now to the the question that is bugging me for quite some time now:

I plan to buy a new external drive (WD 2TB essential) for general use of storage and to hold my Time machine backup.

Now the question is - will the Time machine work properly and without any problems if I partition the drive in equal sizes (1TB each) and determine one partition as Time machine and one for general use (to store movies, music etc.)?

If anyone knows or has any experience with this kind of setting, please let me know.

Thanks in advance!

Slydude · Slydude #2 (**permalink**)

01-18-2011, 02:04 PM

That should work fine. The drive doesn't absolutely have to be partitioned but that's probably the best practice.

Kevriano · Kevriano #3 (**permalink**)

01-18-2011, 02:47 PM

Yes it's fine to do that, but read the guidelines for the amount of space Time Machine requires to back up.
As a rough guide the partition needs to be around 50% larger than the HD(s) you are backing up.

Nikolauss · Nikolauss #4 (**permalink**)

01-19-2011, 05:01 AM

My internal HD is 500GB, bur I probably won't use more than 375GB at one time (thats why I got an external HD), so I guess 1TB will be fine then for Time machine.

Kevriano · Kevriano #5 (**permalink**)

01-19-2011, 06:41 AM

Yes that will be plenty even if you use the whole drive up.

Nikolauss · Nikolauss #6 (**permalink**)

01-19-2011, 10:50 AM

Thanks for the answers!

Now all I have to do is to get me that drive!

Slydude #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Nov 15, 2009 Location: North Louisiana, USA Posts: 3,897 Mac Specs: 2.8 GHz MacBook Pro 10.8,3 8 GB mem, 2.66 GHz Mac Pro - Dead, iPhone 4	01-18-2011, 02:04 PM That should work fine. The drive doesn't absolutely have to be partitioned but that's probably the best practice. Sylvester Roque Former Contributing Editor About This Particular Macintosh No matter what time it is where I am it's early morning somewhere in the world. At that hour of the morning follow my advice at your own risk. Anything sounds good before your first cup of coffee
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Kevriano #5 (permalink)
Member Since: Jul 02, 2006 Location: Crawley, England Posts: 4,560 Mac Specs: 20" Intel iMac 2.4 Ghz/3G Ram/320HD, Snow Leopard. PBook G4, 1.5Ghz/1.5 Ram/250 HD, Leopard 10.5.6.	01-19-2011, 06:41 AM Yes that will be plenty even if you use the whole drive up. Try my custom Mac Forums Search Engine: Mac Forums Google Search Please use the reputation system if you consider any help given useful (it's the little ✓/✘ on the left <---)
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Time machine on external drive (and some more)

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Nikolauss #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Dec 09, 2008 Location: Maribor, Slovenia Posts: 14 Mac Specs: iMac 24", 3,06GHz, 4GB ram, 500GB, Gforce 8800, Macbook 13", 2,0GHz, 2GB ram, 160GB, Gforce 9400	01-18-2011, 01:24 PM Since I'm not sure this goes here I'll let the admins move it if necessary. Now to the the question that is bugging me for quite some time now: I plan to buy a new external drive (WD 2TB essential) for general use of storage and to hold my Time machine backup. Now the question is - will the Time machine work properly and without any problems if I partition the drive in equal sizes (1TB each) and determine one partition as Time machine and one for general use (to store movies, music etc.)? If anyone knows or has any experience with this kind of setting, please let me know. Thanks in advance!
	QUOTE Thanks

Nikolauss #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Dec 09, 2008 Location: Maribor, Slovenia Posts: 14 Mac Specs: iMac 24", 3,06GHz, 4GB ram, 500GB, Gforce 8800, Macbook 13", 2,0GHz, 2GB ram, 160GB, Gforce 9400	01-19-2011, 05:01 AM My internal HD is 500GB, bur I probably won't use more than 375GB at one time (thats why I got an external HD), so I guess 1TB will be fine then for Time machine.
	QUOTE Thanks

Nikolauss #6 (permalink)
Member Since: Dec 09, 2008 Location: Maribor, Slovenia Posts: 14 Mac Specs: iMac 24", 3,06GHz, 4GB ram, 500GB, Gforce 8800, Macbook 13", 2,0GHz, 2GB ram, 160GB, Gforce 9400	01-19-2011, 10:50 AM Thanks for the answers! Now all I have to do is to get me that drive!
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