What type of rewritable dvd should I use to make a backup for my MacBook Air m1 8gb and apple superdrive?
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MacBook Air and apple superdrive
- Thread starter evan47
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How about using a Hard Drive?
If you want to use a DVD (I don't see the point) then you need a DVD-R (or several of them depending on the amount of data you have).
If you want to use a DVD (I don't see the point) then you need a DVD-R (or several of them depending on the amount of data you have).
It would be faster and more efficient to backup to an external hard drive. Backing up to a DVD-R is not really practical.
Assuming you want to backup all 70 GB, you would need 15 DVD-RW discs at 4.7 GB each.
You probably won't need to backup all 70 as that includes the system and libraries and unlike a bootable drive backup, there is no need for these on discs you won't be able to boot anyway.
Also, there are 8 GB DVD-R discs, but I'm not sure there are rewritable that big. (I haven't bought DVDs in a long time.)
I'd advise you to buy a Blu-ray writer if you want to do disc backups, there are rewritable BDXL discs at 25, 50 and 100 GB. I use them occasionally to keep offline backups. I do also backup to a hard drive and a server in another building.
You probably won't need to backup all 70 as that includes the system and libraries and unlike a bootable drive backup, there is no need for these on discs you won't be able to boot anyway.
Also, there are 8 GB DVD-R discs, but I'm not sure there are rewritable that big. (I haven't bought DVDs in a long time.)
I'd advise you to buy a Blu-ray writer if you want to do disc backups, there are rewritable BDXL discs at 25, 50 and 100 GB. I use them occasionally to keep offline backups. I do also backup to a hard drive and a server in another building.
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As others have said, you should probably look into using a hard drive to back up your Air.
Time Machine will back up each hour (as long as it's plugged in) and you get a history--you can recover a file from 1 hour ago or 30 days ago. Backup to a DVD is one-time snapshot.
If DVD is the only option then as @David Hassholehoff said, it'll be 15 (I think more) DVDs PLUS additional for each backup--at least 15 for each full backup, or <15 for only files that have changed. Are you going to take the time to figure this out?
Time Machine will back up each hour (as long as it's plugged in) and you get a history--you can recover a file from 1 hour ago or 30 days ago. Backup to a DVD is one-time snapshot.
If DVD is the only option then as @David Hassholehoff said, it'll be 15 (I think more) DVDs PLUS additional for each backup--at least 15 for each full backup, or <15 for only files that have changed. Are you going to take the time to figure this out?
To be fair, he did ask about rewritable discs. So he could probably do with 20 discs right now. And most likely it is only the home folder he needs to backup, perhaps even skipping
~/Library. However, managing backups spanning over >20 discs and just remembering which discs to overwrite with what (assuming you don't just do a new full backup) sounds like a monsterous job.A BDXL writer is about €100. A five pack of 100GB rewritable BD-RE XL discs are another €100. BD-R discs are a lot cheaper, especially the 25GB kind (a 50-pack spindle is about €35). It is a good way to store permanent backups if you don't trust a HDD/SSD and/or want to keep an (additional) offline/offsite backup.
Fair point on offline backup.
I think generally speaking, Apple has made it fairly easy--MacOS can be reinstalled quite easily, and if you use iCloud and have big enough storage, you've pretty much backed up everything in Documents folder. Which, come to think of it, would be the same if one used Windows and Onedrive.
Stuff in Documents folder change a lot and frequently. One would have to decide what/which snapshot he would keep to back up to DVD or BR--anything more than 1 snapshot per day is bordering on impractical.
I'm curious to know why backup to DVD/BR. Is it for the purpose of physical offsite/offline backup? Or something more complex and nuanced? @evan47?
My whole family is using iCloud for Documents, Photos, etc. This is transparent. Reinstalls are quick.
I also use TimeMachine to a server and Carbon Copy Cloner to another drive. The latter is the fastest way to restoration in case of disasters. External drives are cheaper and faster than BluRay-R or DVD-R.
I also use TimeMachine to a server and Carbon Copy Cloner to another drive. The latter is the fastest way to restoration in case of disasters. External drives are cheaper and faster than BluRay-R or DVD-R.
True, but they're also far less reliable. If they're connected they can all be taken out by a lucky strike during a thunderstorm. If you drop a disk it will sustain damage. They're also likely to be sitting on your desk between backups and if your house burns down your disks are toast. Making a disc backup and then putting it somewhere else is far more fail-safe. Put them at your parents' house, a friend's, someone you trust, or (if you have one) a garage or a barn or a bank deposit box. Sure, cloud backup covers this, but it's not for everyone.
No doubt, backups to optical disc or magnetic tape is going to be overkill for a personal computer for most people, but they are done for good reasons in enterprise situations.
But you can do this with portable backup drives, too. I've got a backup of the truly important things (photos, important documents, etc.) that I keep at my office on a portable USB-C 2TB HDD. When I bring my laptop to work, I periodically will copy things over but I leave the HDD at the office. Something happens at home, the backup at the office is still intact.
The rest is backed up via Time Machine on a network drive at home and to iCloud & Dropbox.
Two is one, one is none (and three makes me feel better).
Just tried my Apple CD and it works on my MacBook Pro M1. Since it is USB 2, make sure your plug orientation is correct using an adapter.