.mac: Will it fill our needs?
We have two macs at work and I have thought about getting .mac for various needs.
1) They are connected on a small network that has a DSL connection. One folder on one of the computers have all standard letters that are used and it shared to the other computer. One place to update them. Smart and easy. But when the host computer is turned off then it doesn´t help. The iDisk would help in this situation esp. with Panter and the bagground update and for me to keep it all up-to-date from home.
2) We need a back up solution that doesn´t require us to do anything (right now we are supposed to take a back up each week but noone ever do it). Would it be possible to make Backup take two separate back ups, one for each computer? Would it be able to store this? It really doesn´t matter if the folders are in the same back up folder on iDisk as long as its possible to restore it all. If the unfortunate should happen I would have no problems sorting it out even if all data from both computers ended up on one. Only possible problem would be the mail. The computers only have one user each and they are not called the same. Would Backup keep two separate records of the data.
1) They are connected on a small network that has a DSL connection. One folder on one of the computers have all standard letters that are used and it shared to the other computer. One place to update them. Smart and easy. But when the host computer is turned off then it doesn´t help. The iDisk would help in this situation esp. with Panter and the bagground update and for me to keep it all up-to-date from home.
2) We need a back up solution that doesn´t require us to do anything (right now we are supposed to take a back up each week but noone ever do it). Would it be possible to make Backup take two separate back ups, one for each computer? Would it be able to store this? It really doesn´t matter if the folders are in the same back up folder on iDisk as long as its possible to restore it all. If the unfortunate should happen I would have no problems sorting it out even if all data from both computers ended up on one. Only possible problem would be the mail. The computers only have one user each and they are not called the same. Would Backup keep two separate records of the data.
Comments
you might be able to ballpark prices for storage per MB to help decide
Apple's Tech Info Support Library says this... basically NO.
worst case? use Two .mac accounts (one iDisk for each machine)
or consolidate all the files to be backed up on one machine, then use.
Originally posted by Anders
We have two macs at work and I have thought about getting .mac for various needs.
1) They are connected on a small network that has a DSL connection. One folder on one of the computers have all standard letters that are used and it shared to the other computer. One place to update them. Smart and easy. But when the host computer is turned off then it doesn´t help. The iDisk would help in this situation esp. with Panter and the bagground update and for me to keep it all up-to-date from home.
2) We need a back up solution that doesn´t require us to do anything (right now we are supposed to take a back up each week but noone ever do it). Would it be possible to make Backup take two separate back ups, one for each computer? Would it be able to store this? It really doesn´t matter if the folders are in the same back up folder on iDisk as long as its possible to restore it all. If the unfortunate should happen I would have no problems sorting it out even if all data from both computers ended up on one. Only possible problem would be the mail. The computers only have one user each and they are not called the same. Would Backup keep two separate records of the data.
It MAY work. If you use backup v.2 and choose "backup to drive" instead of backup to idisk and choose your iDisk, it'll create 2 separate backups. I think that could work.... I'll try it out and see.
edit: yup, it works. As long as the backup files are named different things, you should have no problems (you get the option to name the backups). Tell backup to do it on an automated basis and you're set.
Originally posted by curiousuburb
how much data are you looking to back up (weekly, per machine, monthly, total)?
you might be able to ballpark prices for storage per MB to help decide
Apple's Tech Info Support Library says this... basically NO.
worst case? use Two .mac accounts (one iDisk for each machine)
or consolidate all the files to be backed up on one machine, then use.
I think that my method would get around this problem. The TIL entry is from before backup could backup to external drives, so I think that the info is outdated. Backup v.2 allows you to have different backup files on any given disk. I think it'll work.
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