Recommended archiving and back up strategy

I have just upgraded to a MacBook Pro retina 15" with the standard 250gb internal drive.

I already have just under that amount of data on my old MacBook (which had a 500gb drive). So what I would like to do is use an external drive to store all my data on, rather than storing it on my internal drive and then back up the external drive on to another external drive.

Is this the right way to go and if so what software should I use for the back up between the two external drives?

Thank you.

You can use multiple back up drives with Time Machine which is the embedded back up app in Applications in your OSX.

pendlewitch said:

You can use multiple back up drives with Time Machine which is the embedded back up app in Applications in your OSX.

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OK, so will time machine back up from one external drive to another? Are there any other software options?

I like Time Machine and use it. For backing up external drives I'd use something like either Super Duper or Carbon Copy Cloner. Both programs are capable of doing incremental backups which reduces the time needed for a backup once the initial one is done. Both programs are also capable of scheduling backups so that they occur at convenient times.

Slydude said:

I like Time Machine and use it. For backing up external drives I'd use something like either Super Duper or Carbon Copy Cloner. Both programs are capable of doing incremental backups which reduces the time needed for a backup once the initial one is done. Both programs are also capable of scheduling backups so that they occur at convenient times.

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^^^

Slydude said:

I like Time Machine and use it. For backing up external drives I'd use something like either Super Duper or Carbon Copy Cloner. Both programs are capable of doing incremental backups which reduces the time needed for a backup once the initial one is done. Both programs are also capable of scheduling backups so that they occur at convenient times.

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Great. Many thanks, slydude and pendlewitch for your help and suggestions for the back up s/w.

I'm just wondering why I would use Time Machine, as I am saving data to the external hard drive and then back that up with Super Duper or Carbon Copy Cloner. Would it be to back up applications?

Another question I have is how to handle iTunes. Can I have the application on the internal disk, but the music and stuff on the external drive? Or would it be best to have both the application and music on the external drive?

Well Time Machine has some really cool features and ticks away in the background with hourly incremental back ups. When you open it you can go back in time to see how your desktop looked at a point where you need to retrieve a file, restore data, put you back to a point before you did something that didn't play well with your machine, also helpful restoring your system after more serious issues. I've used Super Duper some years ago and the app is great but Slydude may have other thoughts with regards to the externals as to why the app is better than Time Machine, perhaps it can't piggy-back the externals?. Super Duper etc were I think already widely in use before Time Machine was introduced in 2007.

You might want to look at what all that 250Gb of stuff is that you have. If a chunk of it is pictures then you can set the system library up in an external, with iTunes I don't know whether it's that simple because there is a library and a media folder to consider and I've never messed with them. If you can offload the big files externally then I don't see why you wouldn't want to use your new machine as it should be used along with Time Machine rather than just a glorified keyboard

All great answers. However, you might want to consider using a strategy that encompasses both Time Machine and cloning software (CCC or SuperDuper). It's what I and many other forum members do to ensure that our data is safe.

chscag said:

All great answers. However, you might want to consider using a strategy that encompasses both Time Machine and cloning software (CCC or SuperDuper). It's what I and many other forum members do to ensure that our data is safe.

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Thanks for the suggestion. Could you pleas explain how that might work?

mercurius...I use both Time Machine and Carbon Copy Cloner. Should your internal hdd become problematic, CCC will allow you to boot up your computer from the external drive on which CCC has been installed...same with SuperDuper. Realistically, TM and CCC/SuperDuper should be on separate external drives.

Also, I am glad you asked about setting up, storing, and streaming iTunes media from and external drive. The answers will help me as well.

Brent

Another question I have is how to handle iTunes. Can I have the application on the internal disk, but the music and stuff on the external drive? Or would it be best to have both the application and music on the external drive?

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Yes. It is possible to keep the iTunes app on your Internal HD (where it should be!) and have the library on an External HD. The links below are "old" but still relevant as to the procedure. Basically, you copy your iTunes media folder to the EHD and redirect the iTunes app to it. Details below:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201625

http://www.macworld.com/article/157240/2011/01/howto_move_itunes.html?lsrc=rss_howto

Ian

I second the idea of having at least two external disks dedicated SOLELY to backups: one for Time Machine, the other for a bootable clone. In my setup, I also have a 3TB "media drive," and a second 3TB drive as a backup. I use ChronoSync to keep those two drives in sync, though I could also use Carbon Copy Cloner.

It's very interesting and informative how things developed here and I can see that a clone app is complementary to Time Machine for sure.

My thoughts are (though perhaps for another thread) that Apple is just holding things back here. You can clone your internal HD to an external using Disk Utility but there is no incremental back up provided, you can have incremental back up and restoration via Time Machine but not bootable cloning. Both methods do need separate external drives to make sense...and both methods concurrently do seem essential to the business or critical file user.

Even the eye-wateringly expensive Time Capsule doesn't provide bootable back-up and nor can it be partitioned in order to make one to my knowledge so our seamless, designer, minimalist environment ends up looking like the opposite.

Sorry, incremental backup on the one hand (recovering one or more files from a certain precise date) and producing a bootable clone are two different animals. CCC attempts, in addition to its excellent cloning ability, to accommodate as you seem to suggest both wishes (a bootable clone which remembers what has been removed from it and when) but this addition is not, practically, convincing. As others suggest, my advice to you is to do incremental backup of your fast moving stuff and bootable clone for the fast moving stuff + all the others (slow moving and enormous stuff).

If you want to do that, you will locate (keep) your fast moving stuff (say 125 GB) in your internal HD and back-it up hourly (as standard) on your time Capsule. The rest (Slow moving stuff and enormous single files like movies and such) would be on the external HD (say 125 GB).

Additionally, you will purchase one big external HD (1 TB or 2), partition it into two partitions: one for the clone of the bootable HD and one for the clone of the external HD. You would program these two cloning sessions to occur one after the other during the night, say at 2am. For that to occur, the external HD containing the two clones would be attached to your mac or to another mac on your network (but not to the time Capsule) and Firevault must not be "on" on your mac for the wake-up to be effective without your being awake and inserting your pswd at 2am.

Yes Michelangelo I understand that incremental Back up via for example Time Machine and cloning are 2 different animals but perhaps the irony of my post has been lost?

All the regular advice suggests an external HD twice the size of the internal for TM and an external HD at least the same size as the internal source drive for the clone. That keeps it 'simple' but no one at my local Apple store discusses back up regime and cloning at the point of sale.

The customer walks out of the shop with an iMac or whatever none the wiser, unless he or she is already an informed and responsible user. I use figures from the Uk store here and no doubt you can buy the externals cheaper.

iMac 27" £1599

Time Capsule 2Tb £249 or GTech 2Tb external £159.95
GTech 1Tb external £129.95
Super Duper £19.88

That's a £1908.78 GBP or $2950 USD indicative Total spend (with the non-Time Capsule option) to do the right thing.

pendlewitch said:

[...]perhaps the irony of my post has been lost?[...]

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Yes, I lost it. Did not read carefully. Sorry about that.

michelangelo said:

Yes, I lost it. Did not read carefully. Sorry about that.

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hahaha..more irony !

@pendlewitch (and michelangelo)

Irony apart, the vital point here is that having a robust BU strategy is a must — and can be achieved at a small fraction of the cost of the original computer. I've lost count of the number of people posting about the loss of their entire HD, coveted photos, even their whole business. I've just finished typing on another thread to a distraught student who has accidentally deleted or otherwise lost his/her entire first year assignments/project at college. A tragedy for that person. Zero BU. Going to cost mega bucks to recover if recovery even possible.

And yes, Apple could be a lot more proactive in this at the point of sale.

Ian

Just a bit of fun Ian..and empathies to your student. I've been on the wrong end of a failed hard drive on my iMac just a few weeks ago so I know how important back ups are which is why I'm posting here, also my suggested costs for BU peripherals is quite conservative if the user buys the hard bits in the Apple store and that represents approx 16% of the price of the original.

This is a screenshot of Apple's current advice and the link to Alternative Options describes Time Machine, CD's and DVD's, Other Disks (by plugging an external in and copying compressed files over to it) and Disk Utility by creating a compressed disk image.



I'm not saying that the proven belt and braces TM+Clone method is not a preferred option, far from it..Apple just may not see it as their place to educate their customers up front in such matters.

I've recently had to have a strong chat with daughter No2 who is in the 4th year of an MChem degree, absolutely as bright as button, an already accomplished scientist, a MacBook Pro owner yet with Zero BU as you say

So, given her work regimen and lifestyle we've agreed that the Time Machine + a bootable stick drive with the OS on is good place to start for a new Mac user or an old one who has no regimen in place, yes there is Internet Recovery but this may not be an option if the connection is down or poor and unstable.

For the record, the base 27-inch iMac is £1499, not £1599 (however, I'm not sure if VAT is included in that, I assume it is). If you add say eight percent sales tax to the US price of $1,799 for that same model, the price is $1,943US -- you're still paying a penalty, as we are in Canada, but that's the way the currency is flowing at the moment).

You can pick up a 2TB external HD for far less than you're suggesting (for example), and Time Machine is included.

Apple does, in fact, talk about the importance of backups during the setup of the machine. But the overall point is that this isn't the burden or trickery you're trying to suggest it is. At worst, Apple stores might be guilty of assuming their customers have more common sense than they actually have in some cases, but at least to me it would seem very obvious that a hard drive will eventually fail -- this is indeed WHY Apple includes and encourages the use of Time Machine!