backup for laptop

[jclin10]

I’m trying to set up a backup strategy for the laptops in my home. Is it possible to back up to time machine and/or a cloning option like super Duper over a wireless network?

 

[fisherking]

i use carbon copy cloner, and backup my macbook air over my home network, to an external drive connected to my imac. works great (i also backup online with idrive).

but the question is: backup to what? you need a drive connected to... something....

 

[rm5]

Time Machine is fine, and I use it, but the issue you want to consider is that TM backups aren't bootable unless you wipe and restore through Recovery. So if you need bootable backups, you'll have to look at other options.

It is possible to back up via TM over the network, if you have a shared folder on a server. Also, I believe some NAS systems have Time Machine services built in, although I've never used one of those. Keep in mind that a backup could take a day or more (if you have a lot of stuff) if the laptops aren't hooked up to ethernet—so you should get an ethernet switch to hook your server and your laptops up to.

 

[jclin10]

Thanks!

I would either add a NAS for everyone to share for TM backups or attach a drive to one computer on the network and then share that drive. Does anyone have experiences with one way or the other, including horror stories?

Of course, another idea is to just get an SSD for each computer, but then I'd need to constantly remind people to plug it in to their computer!

 

[rm5]

Thanks!

Does anyone have experience between using a NAS or sharing a drive attached to one computer - is any option better than the other? The other option is to just get an SSD that I can attach to each computer, though I'm not sure how reliable my family members will be in remembering to do that!

I've used both, and both work well. But I think in your case, you'd be better off building your own NAS out of an old server for cheap (unpopular opinion, but just PLEASE don't go out and spend north of $1000 on a prebuilt system!), and setting up a Time Machine shared folder for each system, so that the backups can be completely separate. Use either RAID 1 or RAID 5 for optimal redundancy.

If you decide to do this, please let me know, because I'd be happy to explain further!

 

[dwig]

My backup method for the Mac Studio I use at work is:

1. Time Machine - this is for file level backups so I can recover a single file or folder that has be "damaged" (deleted, overwritten, ...) or when I need/want an older version.
2. SuperDuper - periodic bootable clone of my boot drive for possible recovery of a damaged file system and as a backup boot drive in case of drive failure.
3. Off Site Backs - I have two sets of backup drives that are used alternately, once a month, to backup the external drives where all of my work and production files are stored. These drives are kept at another location and only brought in to the gallery when they are needed for the next backup. One drive set is used on even numbered months and the other on odd. That way I always have a backup that is no older than one month should a failure occur while doing a backup that damages both my primary drive data and the backup drive data.

 

[HDFan]

I’m trying to set up a backup strategy for the laptops in my home. Is it possible to back up to time machine and/or a cloning option like super Duper over a wireless network?

1. You want to implement a 3-2-1 backup strategy.

2. The 1 refers to an off-site backup, such as a bank vault

3. Due to (2) you need to have at least 1 backup on removable media

4. SSDs shouldn't be used for long-term backups due to cell degradation. There are cases when using them for local backups make sense, such as bad environmental conditions or mobility. In general for backups hard disks are better and may last longer. You don't need SSD speeds, you get more storage (meaning longer TM history) for less money.

5. Backups via the network depend on your network. Reliability, speed, channel conflicts etc. determine whether it is viable. I would run a test case to see if you can run a small TM backup between 2 laptops.

6. TM backups are subject to corruption, particularly on NAS units. Only 1 of your 3 backups should be TM.

7. On-line backups services such as Backblaze allow you to backup multiple computers, but require separate accounts and charges. One way around this is if all of your backups are on one drive which then can be backed up to Backblaze.

 

[TechnoMonk]

I have three levels cloud, external storage, and a portable SSD.

 

[arinamichel911]

I use Acronis but yes, it is possible to back up to Time Machine and/or a cloning option like SuperDuper over a wireless network.