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Which external HD for Time Machine?
- Thread starter DougY
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What's with the sarcasm?
Just make sure that you get an external HD that is at least double the size of your HD.
Just make sure that you get an external HD that is at least double the size of your HD.
I have always liked Lacie. Have a 500 GB Lacie Quadra for my TM for my MBP.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/TV402ZM/A?fnode=MTY1NDA0Nw&mco=MTA4NDkxMDY
Curious, why do you want to use USB for it? FireWire 800 will be a better connection for Time Machine back ups unless you have something already planned to be taking up the FireWire 800 port all the time.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/TV402ZM/A?fnode=MTY1NDA0Nw&mco=MTA4NDkxMDY
Curious, why do you want to use USB for it? FireWire 800 will be a better connection for Time Machine back ups unless you have something already planned to be taking up the FireWire 800 port all the time.
If FiireWiire 800 is better, then thats what I'll get. Thanks for the info. This is why I posted the thread, to get info from people smarter than me.
Most external HD's I have seen come with all three connection types( USB 2.0, FireWire 400, and FireWire 800) including that Lacie drive I linked to.
But, yeah FireWire 800 would be better. USB speeds are not constant and rarely hit its maximum transfer rate and if it does, it won't be sustained. While FireWire is constant in its transfer rate.
Regarding the FW - this is crazy for TM. There is absolutely no need for firewire to do TM backups, none, period. This is a classic case of where USB is more than enough - you are doing small occasional data transfers. FW is needed and better than USB when you are dealing with sustained data transfers (like massive copying of video files), or you need data fidelity correction in the transfers like when you are doing video/audio editing. So it is good to have FW - it's better than USB for any function, but for TM it's overkill. Won't hurt, but not necessary for the purpose you outlined. The only reason in your situation to get it is that down the road you may want to use that drive for other purposes, and FW can come in handy at that point.
I agree with OldCorpse (did I actually say that), I've got one of these and works just fine, is a ton cheaper, yes it's USB only, but that's ok.
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digit...4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1261165744&sr=8-4
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digit...4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1261165744&sr=8-4
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I have the La Cie quadra hooked to my firewire 800. There is a firewire 800 connection on the Hd so you don't lose your firewire drive, but can connect another firewire device on a daisy chain. I found the USB HD I have to be extremely slow. That could be the drive and not USB.
If I were you, I would go ahead and put $20-30 more with a USB model and get a FW400/800 and/or one that also has esata. You will be much happier that you did in the long haul.
Yes, USB 2.0 may be more than suffcient for time machine backups, but believe me, you will grow to live FW if you have never used it. I use my FW drives everyday. They are amazing.
Some other drives to check out are ones from OWC. Google them or try otherworldcomputing.com . I think that is their site. I have some of their drives, ram, etc. They have great stuff!
Good luck. P.S., spring for firewire. You'll be glad you did.
Yes, USB 2.0 may be more than suffcient for time machine backups, but believe me, you will grow to live FW if you have never used it. I use my FW drives everyday. They are amazing.
Some other drives to check out are ones from OWC. Google them or try otherworldcomputing.com . I think that is their site. I have some of their drives, ram, etc. They have great stuff!
Good luck. P.S., spring for firewire. You'll be glad you did.
I agree with Shaunymac, I use firewire 800. I bought my first ext HD from OWC (Other World Computing) for my MBP and they come with all of the cables (USB, FW400, FW800 and eSATA). I bought a Gtech for my i7. You may not back up a lot of files after your initial backup however, should you have to restore a lot of files then FW800 would be the better choice. Additionally, if you import/upload a lot of photos or music that you would backup, again, FW800 is better.
I have a 1.5TB FW 800 partitioned as 1TB/500MB. 1TB holds an image of my iMac drive (I do a SuperDuper backup every weekend) and the other 500 MB hold backups of my "shared drive" (external drives hooked up through Airport Extreme base Station for access throughout my house).
For Time Machine, I'm using a USB 1.5TB drive.
My logic is that if my iMac drive crashes, I can boot from the FW drive. And if I replace my iMac or its drive, I can bring in my information quickly with Migration Assistant.
I've used Time Machine only to recover emails and files that I accidentally deleted so USB is sufficient as there's only a few at a time that I need to bring back in this case. I don't care about the backup transfer speed as it's transparent to me...
For Time Machine, I'm using a USB 1.5TB drive.
My logic is that if my iMac drive crashes, I can boot from the FW drive. And if I replace my iMac or its drive, I can bring in my information quickly with Migration Assistant.
I've used Time Machine only to recover emails and files that I accidentally deleted so USB is sufficient as there's only a few at a time that I need to bring back in this case. I don't care about the backup transfer speed as it's transparent to me...
That's what I use.
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