Help needed regarding Backing up between drives!

Hey there, I'm completely new here. Haven't been on a forum in ages, but after finding this I definitely think I'll get back into it, nothing better than forum communities!

I've got a bit of a problem, or, well not a problem, I'm just not entirely sure exactly the best way to go about doing something, and thought I'd ask and see if anyone of infinite wisdom on the subject could lend a helping hand!

Basically, I've got my iMac with 1TB built in Hard Drive, I like to leave it completely clean, so about 6 months ago took everything that wasn't factory installed off the Mac and now run it all from my external 2TB HD. My issue is this HD is therefore on most days for quite a considerable amount of time, and as we all know they're good and reliable, but definitely have a shelf life.

I've got myself another clean external 1TB Drive, and wish to back certain things up from my 2TB to the 1TB. Not all of it though, as obviously it's not all gonna fit. For the sake of argument, on my 2TB drive I've got four folders ; 'Movies' , 'Music' , 'Design', and 'Applications'. Since I can always get my Movies and Music back, I'm not bothered about backing them up. However stuff like my work can't be replaced and would completely ruin my business if the Drive was to just die. I'd only like to back up my Design and Application folders, maybe once a week, to keep them updated as my folders change.

I was just wondering the best way of doing this, if it's a case of just dragging stuff and copying it from one to another, or whether to use Time Capsule ( although I'm not entirely sure if that can be used to just backup specific folders ) or if there's any other Applications that could be of use?

Sorry for the stupidly longwinded post! Seriously appreciate anyone's input.

Hi Lex,

I use Carbon Copy Cloner & grsync to backup specific drives / folders between my two internal drives, four external ones and a 2TB TC - both are capable of selective backup, but CCC is much more user friendly, so that would be my suggestion.

In addition to just cloning important folders, consider creating an image on your backup drive too - CCC will handle the technical bits, and you get double protection, just in case.

As far as a frequency of backups is concerned, I'd go for at least a daily clone plus an image, for the work folder.

Cool man, duly noted! I'll get my hands on a copy of CCC today at some point, thank you very much!

Everything you've said makes total sense, but could I pick your brains as to what you mean by creating an image? I'm not exactly sure what you mean by this, or what it does in fact aha. Apologies for the ignorance!

And now you've said it daily as apposed to weekly does sound like a more appropriate schedule like yeah. With you having your fair share of external drives, can I ask how long have yours lasted and have you ever experienced any problems? And are there any tell tale signs for when you should start looking into getting another to replace one 'on the way out'? Just trying to educate myself and future proof etc!

Thankyou again for the quick reply, really really appreciate it man.

AHandfulOfLex said:

Everything you've said makes total sense, but could I pick your brains as to what you mean by creating an image?

Click to expand...

When you get the CCC, you'll have a few options for backups: from cloning the entire drive, to creating an image of a particular folder - in setup window, once you've selected the source drive/folder, go to destination pane on the right, and in drop-down menu you'll see this:



Just pick the new image, CCC will do the rest. The resulting backup will be an 'image' file, that can be mounted as a hard drive, written to a DVD or USB drive, etc, etc - very handy. The actual backup also takes less time than normal clone.

I'd suggest you have a good read through the CCC manual, it's a bit complex, but well worth the effort.

AHandfulOfLex said:

And now you've said it daily as apposed to weekly does sound like a more appropriate schedule like yeah.

Click to expand...

When I'm working on something very crucial and with frequent file changes, I setup a temporary backup with 30-min intervals ... lol - better be safe than sorry

AHandfulOfLex said:

With you having your fair share of external drives, can I ask how long have yours lasted and have you ever experienced any problems? And are there any tell tale signs for when you should start looking into getting another to replace one 'on the way out'?

Click to expand...

I tend not to keep my drives longer than, about 2-3 years, so luckily, always had a replacement before any trouble started. There are many much more knowledgeable members here, with in-dept understanding of HDD / SSD maintenance and health issues, I'm sure some will be along shortly to give an advice.

AHandfulOfLex said:

Thankyou again for the quick reply, really really appreciate it man.

Click to expand...

No worries, glad I could help

You're a star man, thankyou for your help. Really appreciate it.

Gratitude.

MBP17-David - may I reiterate the sentiments expressed by Lex,you are a star and have helped me immensely too..
Thank you so much and I wish you every joy.
John

Thanks chaps, you're too kind