Time Machine Backup So Slow

[KeyBlue]

Hi all,

I posted here a month or so back as we wanted to setup a small local network in our business. Following your advice I'm using:

- iMac: 2.8 i7, 20GB RAM
- OS X Server
- WD My Book Duos

Connected like this:

- All Macs connected via LAN to a switch in our cabinet (including the Server iMac)
- WD My Book Duos connected to the Server iMac via USB

The setup was very smooth, but I've now encountered a problem with Time Machine.

I've set our Macs in the office to backup to Time Machine - a WD My Book Duo connected via USB to the iMac, but they are backing up SOOO slowly. Each is saying about 7 hours to backup around 50GB each.

A couple of questions:

- Is this due to my setup?
- Is this due to multiple Macs backing up to the same drive at once?
- Is it just because the first backup will take longer and so it is a bit of a squeeze at the moment?

I understand the backup won't be as quick as having it directly attached to that Mac, but from my understanding of my setup above there wouldn't be a problem. Is this just because the first backup does take longer and all eight Macs are backing up at once?

Thanks!


EDIT:

One other question - I've limited each Mac to only backup 400GB, but some of our Macs have more data than that on their hard drives. Will this still work ok or will it fail due to not having enough overall space?

 

[satcomer]

Well Time Machine is really shaky when going to NAS devices shares. If the hard drive isn't directly connected DAS! You would be better of using sync or shareware like Carbon Copy Cloner or others for network cloning.

 

[kerochan]

Well Time Machine is really shaky when going to NAS devices shares. If the hard drive isn't directly connected DAS! You would be better of using sync or shareware like Carbon Copy Cloner or others for network cloning.

Works fine and fast for me, backin up to a G Technology Drive, 7200rpm. Usb 3 but connected through the Thunderbolt display usb 2.

 

[mw360]

That speed sounds about right if you have eight Macs all doing their first backup at the same time. It should ease, but whether this is viable for you in the long term depends on how much new data you generate on those Macs day to day. Keep an eye on it, and if it's struggling you might need to expand the solution with more speed or capacity.