What scenario could cause 7GB hourly Time Machine backups?

[Sal Collaziano]

You might try adding the remote hard drive as a login item. Go to SystemPreferences/Users&Groups/ (your login name) /LoginItems ... then click the "+" button to add and select the disk from the pull-down list.

The drive should appear on your desktop each time you login.

Thank you. That's very helpful and certainly solves one issue. However, what I'm trying to accomplish is having backups done while I'm not using my computer. Between, say, 3am and 6am. Is there a way to schedule the time machine drive to mount every day at 3am?

 

[hfg]

Thank you. That's very helpful and certainly solves one issue. However, what I'm trying to accomplish is having backups done while I'm not using my computer. Between, say, 3am and 6am. Is there a way to schedule the time machine drive to mount every day at 3am?

There is an app ... "Time Machine Backup Scheduler" which might do what you want.

http://time-machine-backup.com/App_info.html


edit: I'm a little confused. You refer to "time machine drive" ... are you wanting to use Time Machine to do the backup, or is that your name for just an external backup physical drive.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

There is an app ... "Time Machine Backup Scheduler" which might do what you want.

http://time-machine-backup.com/App_info.html

I've used that and another app like it - and both stopped working eventually... I'm using Carbon Copy Cloner now - and would love to have an automatic daily backup. But that does not seem possible. Not the end of the world...

 

[hfg]

I've used that and another app like it - and both stopped working eventually... I'm using Carbon Copy Cloner and would now - and would love to have an automatic daily backup. But that does not seem possible. Not the end of the world...

You can set CCC to run at some specified time, and there is an option to "wake the system if it is sleeping" at that time. If your external drive dismounts, and doesn't remount when your system wakes up, that may be a issue with the drive enclosure itself.

 

[wardie]

You can set CCC to run at some specified time, and there is an option to "wake the system if it is sleeping" at that time. If your external drive dismounts, and doesn't remount when your system wakes up, that may be a issue with the drive enclosure itself.

+1 for CCC I have automatic daily backups scheduled like that and they run when the drives are available, if you turn a drive off you can set it to run a catch up job once the drive reappears. Great app.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

+1 for CCC I have automatic daily backups scheduled like that and they run when the drives are available, if you turn a drive off you can set it to run a catch up job once the drive reappears. Great app.

It sounds like running CCC automatically with airport extreme won't work. I do have another drive and I suppose I should just keep that drive connected via USB and run the CCC backups on it - as it's always connected.

Since I'm not going to use the Airport Extreme for backups anymore - should I get a flash drive for backups? I imagine that would make them quicker...

 

[wardie]

It sounds like running CCC automatically with airport extreme won't work. I do have another drive and I suppose I should just keep that drive connected via USB and run the CCC backups on it - as it's always connected.

Since I'm not going to use the Airport Extreme for backups anymore - should I get a flash drive for backups? I imagine that would make them quicker...

CCC can attempt to mount whatever drive you want and dismount it at the end, its in the options on the drive selection.
Incidentally I’ve just binned my AirPort Extreme & Expresses as it finally packed up and the AE line is discontinued by Apple. Got a couple of ASUS WiFi routers instead set up as a mesh, very impressed with them. Super fast like >200Mb/s everywhere. You can in theory use those to mount network drives via USB but they were slow. I use local USB3 for wired TM backup and also a spare Mac Mini as a TM server for wireless backups, that works well and reasonably fast not nowhere near direct USB3.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

That 7gb is a copy of what is in your ram every hour I would guess.

 

[chrfr]

That 7gb is a copy of what is in your ram every hour I would guess.

That's not something that Time Machine backs up.