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Online Backup for 400+ GB of data

S

spaz926

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 2, 2010
9
0
First off, I posted this in the iMac section because I didn't know where else to post it. To the mods: If I posted this in the wrong place, I'm sorry for taking your time to move it.

Alright, now on to the problem. I am looking to have BootCamp installed on my system. The only problem is, somehow my partitions are screwed up where BootCamp will not recognize my one partition as only one partition.
Which leaves me to one only solution, backup all my data and format the drive. The only problem with this is, I have over 400 GB of data on my computer... I really do not wish to loose all of this.
I don't want to use one of those online backup tools because this is a one-time-only thing. I will need my information backed up only long enough for me to format the disk, and put all the data back on my machine.

If anybody has any ideas on what I can do, please let me know.
Thank you in advance.
 
There are two issues with storing that much data up in the cloud:

1. The time it takes to transfer it....many, many hours
2. Your ISP likely has a monthly limit of data transfer, ours is 250 GB. It would take me at least two months to upload it and avoid a nasty letter.

Better to buy an $80 external drive.
 
That's what I was afraid of.
Now I guess that brings me to my next question:
What would you recommend? I was looking into a Time Capsule, but I'm not sure how much they're worth the money.
 
For ongoing storage plus the router a time capsule is great, for just the storage you would find much less expensive options.
 
Unless you need to replace your existing wireless router, a simple $60 1TB external USB drive would work (and work a lot more quickly than doing a wireless backup via Time Capsule).

I have a Time Capsule and I love how all of my Macs automagically back up to it, but if I'm planning on reformatting a drive and reinstalling OS X on a Mac, I still use an external USB drive to do a quick, full backup of it (and to restore from).
 
The thing about the router is, I've been looking into an AirPort (stupid Linksys is on the fritz) and also looked into the Time Capsule a bit. I'll have to think about it, but probably will go with it.
I have a 500 GB on my iMac, and that's going to be the only thing I backup (until maybe a year or so when I get a MacBook Pro), so 1TB should do me?
 
I went for a regular airport extreme with a 1TB USB hard drive plugged into to it for back up for both my wife's and my computer. I like this option because it is cheaper and I can always increase the storage down the line.
 
spaz926 said:
You mean even if my iMac is connected via ethernet, the backup process will still be wireless?
Click to expand...
Nope, it'd go over the ethernet, but in my experience, a Time Capsule+ethernet is still slower than a directly attached USB or Firewire. Not hugely slower, though.

Definitely not trying to talk you out of a Time Capsule if you're really interested in it. Just wanted to point out that if you're only dealing with backing up your iMac, a external USB/Firewire drive is a faster and less expensive solution.

If you've go other Macs in the house that need backing up, then the Time Capsule is probably your best bet, IMO.
 
slu said:
I went for a regular airport extreme with a 1TB USB hard drive plugged into to it for back up for both my wife's and my computer. I like this option because it is cheaper and I can always increase the storage down the line.
Click to expand...

This is a good idea. As of this moment I can deal with my Linksys, but I will be upgrading to at least a AirPort later on. I need an external hard drive at this moment tho, so this could be a good option.
 
I'd go with the external USB for sure.

It's the cheapest solution, and the most flexible. You can run TM on it, and if you get a big enough one you can do two partitions, one for TM and one for a basic clone of your system. That way if your main hard drive goes poof! you can boot via USB into the clone and keep going until you sort the situation.

I prefer the speed and versatility of USB over using a NAS unless you're in a group environment, where they make more sense. Or if you are doing tons of small incremental backups.

Rob
 
robgendreau said:
I'd go with the external USB for sure.

It's the cheapest solution, and the most flexible. You can run TM on it, and if you get a big enough one you can do two partitions, one for TM and one for a basic clone of your system. That way if your main hard drive goes poof! you can boot via USB into the clone and keep going until you sort the situation.

I prefer the speed and versatility of USB over using a NAS unless you're in a group environment, where they make more sense. Or if you are doing tons of small incremental backups.

Rob
Click to expand...

What do you mean "TM"? I'm looking at this 2TB drive from Iomega. It's a USB interface.
 
Oh, okay. Just wasn't thinking there. :p
I think I'll probably use that Carbon Copy Cloner another person had said earlier in the topic, I've heard a lot of good reviews on it.
 
spaz926 said:
Oh, okay. Just wasn't thinking there. :p
I think I'll probably use that Carbon Copy Cloner another person had said earlier in the topic, I've heard a lot of good reviews on it.
Click to expand...
That's my preference. It works great!
 
Just go to BB or target, or staples or walmart even and just buy whatever USB drive they have on sale.

brand really means little these days.

Plug it in via USB and run CCC. Few hours from now = Done.

Reformat then CCC back.

It doenst have to be any more complicated than that.
 
Your playing with fire if you only have ONE copy of your files. Personally, I keep 2 external backups in addition to my installed working drives. HDDs die everyday and if you don't have your stuff backed up your gonna be pretty angry when one goes out on you. Spend the $100 and get a nice sized external for yourself.
 
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