Time Machine through the internet?

[sultanoflondon]

Hi all,

I was wondering whether it is possible to configure Time Machine on a MacBook (running macOS Sierra) to back up to an external HDD connected to my iMac at home, using its internet connection. Obviously, the external HDD would not be on the same Wi-Fi network, nor would the iMac.

I was initially thinking about a computer-to-computer network, but that would disable the connection that Safari uses to browse the web and I would need to have this configured to be working in the background.

I cannot think of a way to do this: if anyone could shed some light on a possible path to take, that would be great!

Thank you!

 

[BrianBaughn]

It's wouldn't be a Time Machine configuration. You'd need to set up a VPN server on the iMac. Then, you can presumably do what is described in this blog.

 

[CTHarrryH]

Talking about huge amounts of data to go over internet - backups could take hours if not days

 

[dianeoforegon]

Hi all,

I was wondering whether it is possible to configure Time Machine on a MacBook (running macOS Sierra) to back up to an external HDD connected to my iMac at home, using its internet connection.

When you are not connected to your Time Machine drive, Time Machine makes "Local Snapshots" hourly as long as there is space. When you attach the drive, it will dump the contents to the Time Machine drive.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204015
http://pondini.org/TM/30.html

You can also use DropBox, OneDrive, etc to save files. Be sure to use IMAP for email and not POP.

 

[chabig]

Also check out Arq (https://www.arqbackup.com/). It's like Time Machine over the Internet.