Use Time Capsule exclusively for Time Machine? Questions, questions.

[MjWoNeR]

TC=Time Capsule, TM=Time Machine

No new Airport products are on the timeline. Maybe Apple is moving to the cloud? I don't know, but my ~4 year old TC is showing it's age and I'm now planning to upgrade my network to the Asus RT-AC68U.

The question is what do I do with TM? I like backups.

Do I get a portable HDD and leave it connected permanently on the iMac?
Do I connect a portable HDD permanently on the Asus router to simulate the TC?
I'd love to simply plug a portable drive to the iMac for TM and forget it, but both these options will have the portable HDD run 24/7 and I'm worried the drive will die sooner than later.

Thought of a NAS like the WD My Cloud, but from what I'm reading it's a bumpy ride to have run smoothly and reliably, so I'm giving up on that.

Then I thought maybe I could keep the TC exclusively for backups until all this TM mess is sorted? I could plug the TC to the Asus router, turn off all wireless and have it only for TM. But would that even work?

What do you guys use?

 

[BrianBaughn]

Connecting it to the router with the proper settings will make it "dormant" as a router and available to your iMac for TM.

 

[Fishrrman]

If you don't already have the Time Capsule, I wouldn't waste any money on it.
It's now "old tech" insofar as Apple is concerned.

If you want a reliable backup that will be there in that "moment of extreme need", I suggest you get an external USB3 drive (I prefer the 2.5" form factor), and then use either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to create a bootable cloned backup.

Then, update the backup at routine intervals (even once every few days is enough).

Better yet, get TWO drives, and create TWO cloned backups.
Keep one nearby, and the other "offsite" (different building or even your car), to protect against home disasters. Rotate them once a month.

If you get into an "I can't boot!!!!!" moment, NOTHING will be better to have-close-at-hand than a bootable cloned backup, which can probably get you back-up-and-running in a couple of minutes.

 

[Weaselboy]

I'd love to simply plug a portable drive to the iMac for TM and forget it, but both these options will have the portable HDD run 24/7 and I'm worried the drive will die sooner than later.

If this is your only worry, don't sweat it. When not being used the drive will go to sleep. I have run TM drives like this for years and never had a drive die. Just hook it up and forget it.

 

[MjWoNeR]

Connecting it to the router with the proper settings will make it "dormant" as a router and available to your iMac for TM.

Will take a dive in the airport utility when I get home tomorrow. See how to turn off wireless.

If you don't already have the Time Capsule, I wouldn't waste any money on it.
It's now "old tech" insofar as Apple is concerned.

If you want a reliable backup that will be there in that "moment of extreme need", I suggest you get an external USB3 drive (I prefer the 2.5" form factor), and then use either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to create a bootable cloned backup.

Then, update the backup at routine intervals (even once every few days is enough).

Better yet, get TWO drives, and create TWO cloned backups.
Keep one nearby, and the other "offsite" (different building or even your car), to protect against home disasters. Rotate them once a month.

If you get into an "I can't boot!!!!!" moment, NOTHING will be better to have-close-at-hand than a bootable cloned backup, which can probably get you back-up-and-running in a couple of minutes.

I already have a time capsule with a 4TB WD Red driver in it.

Man I feel safe only by reading your post lol, but I really don't need that much safety. I only want something that will work smoothly with TM, and I only need to set it up and forget it.

If this is your only worry, don't sweat it. When not being used the drive will go to sleep. I have run TM drives like this for years and never had a drive die. Just hook it up and forget it.

You have kept your external drives always plugged in? They go to sleep? Is this some MacOS feature or the HDD?

A friend has a USB3 external drive connected to her Blu-ray player and it spins even when the BD player is off. It never stops spinning, if we keep quiet you can literally hear the vibrations it sends to the TV stand.

 

[Weaselboy]

You have kept your external drives always plugged in? They go to sleep? Is this some MacOS feature or the HDD?

Yep... like forever. Just check this box in the energy saver pref pane.

 

[MjWoNeR]

Yep... like forever. Just check this box in the energy saver pref pane.

View attachment 715040

That is great, thanks for the screenshot!
I'll give it a test tomorrow. I'd rather have a little 4TB drive connected by USB, rather than keep the humongous TC on the desk connected through the network.