Can Time Machine backup FROM ext. HD TO ext. HD?
Hi all,
I'm considering a redundancy and backup plan for my small business, and want to see if it will work (or even make sense). I've read about Time Machine, but don't yet have Leopard so I'm not entirely clear if it will work under the scenario I'm scheming. Here's the nitty gritty:
- New iMac with 320GB HDD for apps
- RAID 1 box with two 250GB HDDs attached to the iMac via FW800 (e.g., a G-Safe or similar from OWC)
- A third external 250 GB HDD attached to the iMac via FW400
(FWIW my files are not large, but they are critical. Office docs and my email don't take up much space, so I don't need big drives. Hence the itty-bitty 250GB.
)
In this setup, I would use the primary RAID drive instead of the iMac's internal HDD to store all of my work files. Can Time Machine be configured to backup from that primary RAID drive to the separate external HDD? Or will Time Machine only backup from the Mac's internal HDD?
My goal is to have both redundant copies of all of my work files via the RAID box, plus historical backups for the inevitable accidental delete or other screw-up.
What do you think? TIA for your input. If you see another set-up that will achieve the same goals, I'm all ears. Thanks!
I'm considering a redundancy and backup plan for my small business, and want to see if it will work (or even make sense). I've read about Time Machine, but don't yet have Leopard so I'm not entirely clear if it will work under the scenario I'm scheming. Here's the nitty gritty:
- New iMac with 320GB HDD for apps
- RAID 1 box with two 250GB HDDs attached to the iMac via FW800 (e.g., a G-Safe or similar from OWC)
- A third external 250 GB HDD attached to the iMac via FW400
(FWIW my files are not large, but they are critical. Office docs and my email don't take up much space, so I don't need big drives. Hence the itty-bitty 250GB.
)In this setup, I would use the primary RAID drive instead of the iMac's internal HDD to store all of my work files. Can Time Machine be configured to backup from that primary RAID drive to the separate external HDD? Or will Time Machine only backup from the Mac's internal HDD?
My goal is to have both redundant copies of all of my work files via the RAID box, plus historical backups for the inevitable accidental delete or other screw-up.
What do you think? TIA for your input. If you see another set-up that will achieve the same goals, I'm all ears. Thanks!
Comments
I have an iMac with a 32oGB drive loaded with the applications and client documents
I have three external 500GB LaCie Firewire drives.
The first drive is used to store all my photos and Aperture Vault
The second drive is used as a backup drive by SuperDuper. This backs up the imac drive and my Photos drive each morning creating a bootable disk that, in an emergency, I could plug in to any machine, boot from and continue working. This overwrites each day with newer files but doesn't delete files that are no longer on either the iMac or Photos drive. This does not save previous versions of the changed files.
The third drive is used for Time Machine. This backs up the iMacs internal drive and the Photos drive so if I accidentally delete something I can get it back easily, I can also retrieve old versions of a file if needed.
This provides me with a quick and easy way of getting up and running if I have a complete machine failure (just plug the backup drive into another iMac) but also gives me easy access to deleted or previous versions of files (Time machine)
I have restored files from TimeMachine and it is quite straight forward. I can also test my disaster recovery plan by plugging the backup drive into another machine and make sure it boots etc.
I have and use a similar setup.
Thanks for your detailed reply. Good to hear that TM is flexible enough to work with different external drive combinations and purposes.