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Apple Computing Products:
macOS - Apps and Programs
Disk Utility Creating Sparseimage & Sparsebundle Files Smaller Than Requested
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<blockquote data-quote="PGB1" data-source="post: 1826807" data-attributes="member: 76746"><p>In case anyone with questions looks at this post in the future, here are some Test Results-</p><p>I built Encrypted 2 sparse bundle images. Into each I copied the files from the existing sparse image files. (But didn't delete the image files yet- Just in case)</p><p>They each have about 2 GB of data in them.</p><p></p><p>I let Time Machine and my offsite service back them up while they were not mounted.</p><p>Time Machine took just over 5 minutes to back them up to my external drive connected to Firewire 800. (Mac Magic!)</p><p>The offsite service took 3-1/2 hours. I expected a long upload due to my 5 MB/s upload maximum speed.</p><p></p><p>Out of curiosity whether either service could "see" inside the encrypted files and only backup changed blocks, I added a file to each & let the services back them up again. </p><p>Time Machine took about a minute to back up the changed bundles (plus whatever else it had to backup)</p><p>The offsite service took about 3 minutes.</p><p>This shows that each can see inside the images & find blocks that were changed.</p><p></p><p>Next, I wanted to see what Restoring would preset:</p><p>Time Machine only shows the entire sparse bundle in the Enter Time Machine window & in by navigating through Finder to the disk.</p><p>At first I thought this might be a problem if I worked on, for example, 4 files and wrecked one. </p><p>Since Time Machine defaults to restoring to the original file location, when Time Machine restored the bundle, it would over-write the other 3 files as well.</p><p></p><p>Work-Arounds:</p><p>PLAN A-</p><p>a) Find the time of the file you wish to restore in Time Machine's card stack</p><p>b) Highlight the file name of the bundle</p><p>c) Click the Gear icon in the top of the window & click Restore <em>file name</em> To</p><p>d) Choose a different location for the restore's landing place.</p><p>e) Move any file from the restore to the original. </p><p>This leaves the original alone.</p><p></p><p>PLAN B-</p><p>Find the file in the back up drive's Finder window.</p><p>Drag it to where you want it.</p><p>Clunkier to use than in Time Machine's interface, but it worked.</p><p></p><p>The offsite storage plan (iDrive) shows, in its Restore window, the blocks.</p><p>But that is not useful because Finder only shows dates of the backup. I would not know what block to restore nor where to put it.</p><p></p><p>To restore from this offsite, one would have to restore the whole bundle to any location & find the file to move back to the original. Still easy enough.</p><p>A test of restoring a whole 1.98 GB bundle from offsite took about 4 minutes, so that's more than good enough for me.</p><p></p><p>SUMMARY-</p><p>The Sparse bundle files are much, much faster to backup than Sparse Image files. This was true with both Time Machine (local) and iDrive (offsite).</p><p>Restoring was about the same amount of time for the bundles and the images.</p><p></p><p>I never used sparse bundles before because my former offsite service (CrashPlan) could not handle them properly & caused many problems. Since iDrive is peaceful with them, I'll make the switch. </p><p></p><p>THANK YOU ALL!</p><p>Thank You all for helping me with the problem I had creating the sparse bundles and sparse images. I really appreciate the time you took and the education you provided.</p><p></p><p>Enjoy Today!</p><p>Paul</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="PGB1, post: 1826807, member: 76746"] In case anyone with questions looks at this post in the future, here are some Test Results- I built Encrypted 2 sparse bundle images. Into each I copied the files from the existing sparse image files. (But didn't delete the image files yet- Just in case) They each have about 2 GB of data in them. I let Time Machine and my offsite service back them up while they were not mounted. Time Machine took just over 5 minutes to back them up to my external drive connected to Firewire 800. (Mac Magic!) The offsite service took 3-1/2 hours. I expected a long upload due to my 5 MB/s upload maximum speed. Out of curiosity whether either service could "see" inside the encrypted files and only backup changed blocks, I added a file to each & let the services back them up again. Time Machine took about a minute to back up the changed bundles (plus whatever else it had to backup) The offsite service took about 3 minutes. This shows that each can see inside the images & find blocks that were changed. Next, I wanted to see what Restoring would preset: Time Machine only shows the entire sparse bundle in the Enter Time Machine window & in by navigating through Finder to the disk. At first I thought this might be a problem if I worked on, for example, 4 files and wrecked one. Since Time Machine defaults to restoring to the original file location, when Time Machine restored the bundle, it would over-write the other 3 files as well. Work-Arounds: PLAN A- a) Find the time of the file you wish to restore in Time Machine's card stack b) Highlight the file name of the bundle c) Click the Gear icon in the top of the window & click Restore [I]file name[/I] To d) Choose a different location for the restore's landing place. e) Move any file from the restore to the original. This leaves the original alone. PLAN B- Find the file in the back up drive's Finder window. Drag it to where you want it. Clunkier to use than in Time Machine's interface, but it worked. The offsite storage plan (iDrive) shows, in its Restore window, the blocks. But that is not useful because Finder only shows dates of the backup. I would not know what block to restore nor where to put it. To restore from this offsite, one would have to restore the whole bundle to any location & find the file to move back to the original. Still easy enough. A test of restoring a whole 1.98 GB bundle from offsite took about 4 minutes, so that's more than good enough for me. SUMMARY- The Sparse bundle files are much, much faster to backup than Sparse Image files. This was true with both Time Machine (local) and iDrive (offsite). Restoring was about the same amount of time for the bundles and the images. I never used sparse bundles before because my former offsite service (CrashPlan) could not handle them properly & caused many problems. Since iDrive is peaceful with them, I'll make the switch. THANK YOU ALL! Thank You all for helping me with the problem I had creating the sparse bundles and sparse images. I really appreciate the time you took and the education you provided. Enjoy Today! Paul [/QUOTE]
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Disk Utility Creating Sparseimage & Sparsebundle Files Smaller Than Requested
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