Partition my Time Machine drive?
I have an external drive for backups. I just got a Macbook and want to use the drive for Time Machine. The program seems to prefer a dedicated drive, but I also want to be able to use the drive for moving large files, etc. I know I could build a partition on it using the Mac OS X formatting tools. Is this wise? Will it affect Time Machine’s operation? Seems like it should be fine but I wanted to check up.
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The only effect it will have on time machine’s operation is limiting the space. I have similar set up, where half of my 1tb drive was dedicated to backups, the other half was dedicated to files. It woks just like you would expect.
You don’t ned to partition it. just use it for Time Machine and put stuff on the same partition. Like i do
Actually, if it is a large drive, you should partition it. Otherwise time machine will continue to add new backups until ultimately the entire drive is full.
Agreed with Maverick – Time Machine fills a drive with backup data until it runs out of capacity, then starts replacing the oldest backups with new ones. This means you want to have a good sized partition for it to store a good amount of backed-up data, but it’s wise to use a partition to limit the size TM can use on your hard drive if you’re planning on using it for other data too.
My setup:
• Archive Photos and any old data to DVD
• SuperDuper to run a similar thing to Time Machine: But instantly bootable, and in my opinion slightly more trustworthy. This hard drive is just a bootable clone of my machine.
• Partioned 500GB drive for Time Machine and the other half for Archive data that also exists on DVD.
• a 160GB portable drive to take a clone of the archive data off-site in case of fire.
Motto: You can never have too much back-up!
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