Forums | MacLife

macTT · 2009-07-27 9:52 am

Looking for some advice, pros/cons.

I'm trying to decide whether to invest in an external HD for backup or leveraging an online service -- e.g. Mozy. I have a 250G HD that I'm using but don't like that I can't network it and it is very manual. I also don't currently backup a "ghost" version to enable a complete restore.

Addt'l info -- I also need an 802.11N router to fully leverage my PB so Time Capsule is an option.

What are the primary risks/gaps if I go with an online service? Do you have a preference or recommendation?

Thanks, much, in advance.

Dunkin' · 2009-07-27 10:07 am

I have a second drive inside my PowerMac for Time Machine. And a Me.com account for online backup and sync of keychains, web links, Address Book, etc with my iBook. If you go the iPhone, iPod route they all sync together, also.

I mean me.com makes sharing, syncing, and backing up easy. I can access large files, share photos, websites. But I still have a backup (Time Machine) at home just in case I don't have internet access. Like if your computer crashes and you need to re-install. If everything is online and you can't get online, no bueno.

It all works well with no intervention by me. Completely transparent and automatic.

Time Capsule seems to be a good match for your situation. Wireless Router and Time Machine wrapped into one device.

At the very least set up any external drive for use with Time Machine.

As always, a combination of backups is better than one.

Last edited by Dunkin' (2009-07-27 10:12 am)

sturner · 2009-07-27 10:30 am

I use an external drive for Time Machine (wired 500GB) and a Carbon Copy Cloner bootable backup to a third external drive as well. Two backups, running at different times. This gives me total and complete backup, and a way to boot if the orginal drive borks.

justine · 2009-07-27 6:12 pm

sturner wrote:
I use an external drive for Time Machine (wired 500GB)

I have this, and i'm also looking at getting something a little more portable for a second backup.

macandal · 2009-07-28 1:09 am

macTT wrote:
I'm trying to decide whether to invest in an external HD for backup or leveraging an online service -- e.g. Mozy.

I currently do not back up at all. I want to start and my biggest concern is backing up my music collection. What is the proper way of backing up? Two separate places to back up? Like, for example, an online service and a separate HD? Anything you guys can contribute will be appreciated. Thanks.

Nefarious · 2009-07-28 6:30 am

Mainly, the biggest external hard disk you can afford is the place to start. Hard disks are cheap. Consider getting two of them, one for CCC and one for Time Machine.

I would then use CCC to clone my hard disk, or at least copy key folders to the external. Then I would use Time Machine.

pottymouth · 2009-07-28 1:30 pm

You can get 1 terabyte externals for under $100. Hard to find any reason to look farther than that.

macTT · 2009-07-28 2:07 pm

Nefarious wrote:
Mainly, the biggest external hard disk you can afford is the place to start. Hard disks are cheap. Consider getting two of them, one for CCC and one for Time Machine.

I would then use CCC to clone my hard disk, or at least copy key folders to the external. Then I would use Time Machine.

Thanks, much. Other than the good practice of redundancy, is there any reason I can't/shouldn't just do this on a single 500 time capsule? I've been procrastinating on a CCC backup and seems as though I should just do it.

sturner · 2009-07-28 2:21 pm

The MAIN reason is that the CCC backup can be bootable. So if your main drive gets borked you can still boot normally and have ALL of your data and software available immediately. The Time Capsule is so very convienent for data backup and restore of individual files.

sturner · 2009-07-28 2:21 pm

and if you need more, Just go and do it because we said so. wink

macTT · 2009-07-29 7:39 am

sturner wrote:
and if you need more, Just go and do it because we said so.

Ha! Consider that done...

macandal · 2009-07-29 12:20 pm

pottymouth wrote:
You can get 1 terabyte externals for under $100. Hard to find any reason to look farther than that.

Thanks. Are Seagate HDs still the ones to get or is this simply a matter of personal preference? In the past I have used (almost exclusively) this kind of HDs and I'm happy with them, so I'm inclined to continue using them. A few questions:

1) I want a fast HD. What determines its speed? Is it the RPMs or the speed of the computer processor to which it is connected or both? I know I'm probably not saying this right, but I hope you understand me, I have all my mp3s stored in an external HD and there seems to be some "drag" when it access the music I want to hear. In other words, there is (sometimes) a wait, a few seconds, between the time I tell it to play a song and the time it actually starts playing it.

2) Also, is having two backups on two different media overkill or is it just right?

3) If I were to go the online route, what is the best service out there to do this?

Thanks.

sturner · 2009-07-29 2:04 pm

The RPM of the disk is a determining factor, as is the connection. eSATA is the fastest, then Firewire 800, then Firewire 400 and USB 2.0, then USB 1.0. You will pay a premium price for 7200 RPM disk in an enclosure with Firewire 800.

Depends on what you want that backup to do. If you use something like Carbon Copy Cloner, Super Duper, or one of the other 3rd party programs you can make a bootable copy of your main drive. You can also selectively backup the files on one to multiple drives, and access those files as you would from your main drive. Time Machine doesn't let you access the backed up files through the finder.

If you backup to two different media (hard drive and DVD or Blu-ray) realize that the removable disk option is for archive, not day to day access.

mrreet2001 · 2009-07-29 2:44 pm

sturner wrote:
You will pay a premium price for 7200 RPM disk in an enclosure with Firewire 800.

It sooooo worth it.

macandal · 2009-07-29 2:50 pm

mrreet2001 wrote:
sturner wrote:
You will pay a premium price for 7200 RPM disk in an enclosure with Firewire 800.
It sooooo worth it.

That's good to hear mrreet2001. I was thinking about this 2TB HD from Seagate. Is the price right or is it too expensive? What are the alternatives? Thanks.

sturner · 2009-07-29 4:46 pm

Look around at other locations. That's the recommend price, you might find it cheaper. Also if you want to use the eSATA interface you will need a card that provides it. I'm not aware of an eSATA interface on the current crop of Macs.

Jasoco · 2009-07-29 8:12 pm

Two exact clones and a Time Machine backup.

mrreet2001 · 2009-07-29 8:54 pm

macandal wrote:
mrreet2001 wrote:
sturner wrote:
You will pay a premium price for 7200 RPM disk in an enclosure with Firewire 800.
It sooooo worth it.
That's good to hear mrreet2001. I was thinking about this 2TB HD from Seagate. Is the price right or is it too expensive? What are the alternatives? Thanks.

Thats only FW 400 ...

I whole heartily recommend these:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire … _FW400_USB

macandal · 2009-07-29 9:42 pm

mrreet2001 wrote:
Thats only FW 400 ...

I whole heartily recommend these:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire … _FW400_USB

Sorry. This is what I meant. I'll compare it with the one you recommended. Thanks.

sturner · 2009-07-29 10:25 pm

Person where I work bought one of these for around $225. So shop around for price.

Also if you are connecting it to your PowerMac, I don't think that comes with a Firewire 800.

frankly · 2009-07-29 11:49 pm

CCC is good if you need a bootable copy. However, for my weekly offsite backups I use http://www.econtechnologies.com/pages/c … rview.html

It is fast and only backs up changes. Basic backup is easy plus it gives you a lot of options and the company is great. They respond quickly to questions and never charge for upgrades.

Personally, I backup crucial files online to my iDisk via MobileMe. Then I have an offsite hard drive that I backup once a week and a hard drive at home that I do the same with. Finally, every so often I backup new photos, music, etc. to DVDs and put them in my safe deposit box at the bank. I'm a little extreme but I would not want to lose that type of data because the photos especially can not be replaced.

Frank

mrreet2001 · 2009-07-30 8:02 am

sturner wrote:
Person where I work bought one of these for around $225. So shop around for price.

Also if you are connecting it to your PowerMac, I don't think that comes with a Firewire 800.

I missed that ... only the G5 power macs had FW800

Forums | MacLife

#1 2009-07-27 9:52 am

Backup advice

#2 2009-07-27 10:07 am

Re: Backup advice

#3 2009-07-27 10:30 am

Re: Backup advice

#4 2009-07-27 6:12 pm

Re: Backup advice

sturner wrote:

#5 2009-07-28 1:09 am

Re: Backup advice

macTT wrote:

#6 2009-07-28 6:30 am

Re: Backup advice

#7 2009-07-28 1:30 pm

Re: Backup advice

#8 2009-07-28 2:07 pm

Re: Backup advice

Nefarious wrote:

#9 2009-07-28 2:21 pm

Re: Backup advice

#10 2009-07-28 2:21 pm

Re: Backup advice

#11 2009-07-29 7:39 am

Re: Backup advice

sturner wrote:

#12 2009-07-29 12:20 pm

Re: Backup advice

pottymouth wrote:

#13 2009-07-29 2:04 pm

Re: Backup advice

#14 2009-07-29 2:44 pm

Re: Backup advice

sturner wrote:

#15 2009-07-29 2:50 pm

Re: Backup advice

mrreet2001 wrote:

sturner wrote:

#16 2009-07-29 4:46 pm

Re: Backup advice

#17 2009-07-29 8:12 pm

Re: Backup advice

#18 2009-07-29 8:54 pm

Re: Backup advice

macandal wrote:

mrreet2001 wrote:

sturner wrote:

#19 2009-07-29 9:42 pm

Re: Backup advice

mrreet2001 wrote:

#20 2009-07-29 10:25 pm

Re: Backup advice

#21 2009-07-29 11:49 pm

Re: Backup advice

#22 2009-07-30 8:02 am

Re: Backup advice

sturner wrote:

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