Backups: Carbon Copy Cloner (settings) vs Free File Sync

[richiejantscher]

Hello there!
I was looking for a solution to backup my files (photo, audio, sound library from logic)
Now I tried out Carbon Copy Cloner and run into an issue:

When I backup, it doesn't copy "exactly" - meanig e.g. if the destination hard drive has folders that doesn't exist on the source drive, those won't be deleted. So folder structure is messed up.

With Free File Sync it seems i can do settings where it's mirrored exactly. So folders not existing on the one drive will be deletet. Still, after trying both ways one drive has different free space (300Gig on source) from the other (100Gig destination) and still don't know why. Trashbins have been cleared.

So now my question:

1) is there a setting that i missed in CCC?

2) since I'm on the trial with CCC and concerning backing up just files and no bootable stuff would it be even worth to purchase CCC?

thx for advice and help

 

[MircoT]

1) is there a setting that i missed in CCC?

I think you have to disable SafetyNet on CCC: https://bombich.com/kb/ccc5/protect...stination-volume-carbon-copy-cloner-safetynet

If you always want the destination to match the source, and you have no need for retaining older versions of modified files or files deleted from the destination since a previous backup task, you can disable CCC's SafetyNet with the large switch icon underneath the destination selector. When CCC's SafetyNet is disabled, older versions of modified files will be deleted once the updated replacement file has been successfully copied to the destination, and files that only exist on the destination will be deleted permanently. Files and folders that are unique to the destination will not be given special protection from deletion.

right-click destination folder/drive, SafetyNet, Disable.

 

[richiejantscher]

I think you have to disable SafetyNet on CCC: https://bombich.com/kb/ccc5/protect...stination-volume-carbon-copy-cloner-safetynet

If you always want the destination to match the source, and you have no need for retaining older versions of modified files or files deleted from the destination since a previous backup task, you can disable CCC's SafetyNet with the large switch icon underneath the destination selector. When CCC's SafetyNet is disabled, older versions of modified files will be deleted once the updated replacement file has been successfully copied to the destination, and files that only exist on the destination will be deleted permanently. Files and folders that are unique to the destination will not be given special protection from deletion.

right-click destination folder/drive, SafetyNet, Disable.

Thank you, that helped! Still having no idea why occupied free space are different by 200Gig. Checked the folder sizes, they seem to be identical with all hidden files enabled and trashbins emptied.

 

[MircoT]

Maybe you have automatic CCC snapshots (istantanee) of the destination drive:

 

[gilby101]

Seems like you want to one-way synchronise folders. For that ChronoSync is the best Mac app. I don't think Free File Sync synchronises all macOS file attributes, but it is a long time since I tested it.

CCC is primarily a backup tool for which I expect it to keep deleted files in case I need to go back in time and recover them. Similar tools are Time Machine and, for backup to the cloud, Arq Backup.

Backup is intended for disaster recovery whilst synchronisation keeps things identical.

There is some blurring between sync and backup, but the two are essentially different processes with different purposes.

 

[gilby101]

Still having no idea why occupied free space are different by 200Gig.

The destination can consume more if the source is APFS format because APFS saves space by not duplicating identical content when files are copied or modified on the same APFS volume. But copying those files to another disk will not save that space. This may account for at least part of the difference.

 

[HDFan]

For that ChronoSync is the best Mac app.

Used it some time ago trying to sync to a NAS via thunderbolt and 10 GbE. Gave up as had too many problems with it. Now just run CCC scheduled tasks.

 

[richiejantscher]

Maybe you have automatic CCC snapshots (istantanee) of the destination drive:

View attachment 2285262

SOLVED! that was it again! it even said how much space it was taking. now... i unchecked the snapshots and deleted all of them, now free spaces are identical. thx again

 

[MircoT]

SOLVED! that was it again! it even said how much space it was taking. now... i unchecked the snapshots and deleted all of them, now free spaces are identical. thx again

you are welcome
for me CCC snapshots are useful. you can customize snapshots retention policy.

 

[370zulu]

It took me a while to get used to how CCC does SafetyNet. But, I have and it has saved me a few times with files that I need to go back to reference and had since deleted. I have a QNAP NAS and have dedicated a large amount of capacity as a backup target for all devices in my house. I back that NAS up to B2 as a part of my total backup solution.

If I had to choose something else aside from CCC, it would be Arq.