Time Machine Setup Help

[rKunda]

For years we've been backing up our iMac to an old Time Capsule. It's still on that, though we use a TP Link router for the internet, connecting the TC with an ethernet cable. The TC is old and slow, and small, but it works. I am, however, adding a Macbook, so my current setup won't work.

Just brainstorming, I have a few options.

1) buy an external drive and use that to use Time Machine on the new Macbook, and the iMac can just continue on until the old drive fails. Cheapest, but also the largest pain.
2) Somehow connect a network drive to our TP Link router, and back up via WiFi. I am not sure how to accomplish this, but quickly searching it seems that it can work. I am unsure how seamless that is.
3) Move to some sort of other online backup solution.
4) I don't expect (presently) to have a lot of files on the Macbook. I could likely get away with backing up important docs to icloud or dropbox, and seek a better solution when space becomes an issue, which is likely the rout I'll go.

I will likely go Option 4 for now, but how difficult and seamless is Option 2? I likely made this more complicated than it needs to be.

 

[RedTomato]

I have an iCloud 2TB family subscription. Works well. Backs up all our macs and all our iphones and idevices.

I used to run Airport / Time Capsule too, but Time Machine doesn't back up iOS devices or iCloud photos or laptops that get used outside the house a lot, and that became too much of a pain in the neck.

That said, your new M1 MacBook should be able to back up to your existing Time Capsule over wifi?

 

[rKunda]

I have an iCloud 2TB family subscription. Works well. Backs up all our macs and all our iphones and idevices.

I used to run Airport / Time Capsule too, but Time Machine doesn't back up iOS devices or iCloud photos or laptops that get used outside the house a lot, and that became too much of a pain in the neck.

That said, your new M1 MacBook should be able to back up to your existing Time Capsule over wifi?

Existing TC is plugged in to the mac via ethernet, so it's backing up to it like a drive, as the TC isn't being used by a router.

Maybe end up going the route of just using icloud.

 

[sbuntin]

Existing TC is plugged in to the mac via ethernet, so it's backing up to it like a drive, as the TC isn't being used by a router.

Maybe end up going the route of just using icloud.

Even if it's plugged directly into the iMac, the iMac is still using it as a network drive, not a directly-connected drive. I suspect you'd do better connecting the TC to your router via ethernet, making it accessible to both the iMac and the MacBook.

 

[ght56]

With the MacBook, do you want to have the ability to do a complete recovery of the OS and apps?

If so, you will want a Time Machine backup for each of the two computers (which could be accomplished through a variety of direct attached or networked attached storage solutions.)

If no (that is, you only care about user files and are okay installing the OS and apps from scratch if something goes wrong), you could save all files from the MacBook to a cloud service, have that cloud service sync with the iMac, and then ensure Time Machine is backing up the cloud folder on the iMac.

If I was in your situation, I would do this:

• Purchase a hard disk drive that is directly continuously connected to the iMac (DAS) to replace the aging Time Capsule, as the drive in the Time Capsule is likely nearing its end (alternatively, you might be able to replace the drive in the Capsule if you really like it.) It will make new backups automatically and enable you to restore individual files through an entire operating system.
• Configure the MacBook so that all user files are saved to iCloud Drive
• Configure the iMac so that it uses the same iCloud account as the MacBook (now iCloud Drive and iCloud files are being backed up to the iMac's Time Machine, so if you create a file on the MacBook, it gets uploaded to iCloud, downloaded on the iMac, and subsequently backed up on the iMac's Time Machine backup)
• If you want to be able to do a full restore on the MacBook, purchase an inexpensive 2.5 inch hard drive and use that for Time Machine on the MacBook making periodic updates. (I strongly recommend this because it is a more comprehensive solution. If inconvenient, there are wireless options as well as you are aware, but I would personally want an independent Time Machine backup of this system.)
• If one wants to be extremely vigilant, a separate disk with a carbon clone that is unplugged when not in use is also never a bad idea, but again that depends on how vigilant someone wants to be

What I would not personally do is rely solely on an online backup service. These are great, but they should be used in combination with physical media IMHO. Do note that iCloud's backup service is not equivalent to something like Time Machine or a Carbon Copy Cloner clone, which copy EVERYTHING—that includes files, settings, and applications.

 

[rKunda]

I was going to say “after thinking about it for some time...” though it’s actually only been half a day, haha, what I am leaning towards is a 2 or 3 fold solution:

1) make sure iCloud Drive is backing up my documents and desktop folders.

Okie or both of the following:

2) an online service like Idrive or backblaze.
3 buying a separate drive and setting a reminder to backup every week or so via fine machine.

Re: number 2. Idrive isn’t that costly if I wanted to use it for all my (2) computers. Or just keep with the local option currently on the iMac and use the slightly cheaper backblaze.

There’s very little that needs backed up on our desktop beyond my own files. My wife is not a computer person. She doesn’t store anything that’s not already in her iCloud. If I reformatted our computer tomorrow and gave her a new profile it seems to me her only concern would be if the printer still worked.