iMac Time Machine question

[michelepixels]

Exciting news! Thanks to an extremely generous friend, I'm now using a iMac with an 8Tb internal drive (replacing my old 2011 iMac).

Previously I saved EVERYTHING on a 5Tb EHD, which has reached about 75% capacity. I've already begun copying all that data from the EHD to my new spacious internal storage and I think I'll use the EHD as a Time Machine backup.

But all my searching is only finding out how to make the backup, not advising whether it's reasonable to use my old 5Tb drive as a Time Machine. It's a few years old and hasn't given me any trouble, so I'm not so much concerned with age. And I realize if I managed to fill my iMac's internal storage beyond 5Tb, then the EHD would no longer be adequate. But right now, with only around 4Tb of data and my current acquisition of more data rather small, wouldn't it be reasonable? At least until someday when I get an even higher capacity EHD.

This would be the first time I've had local backup. I use Backblaze and Smugmug, so I have TWO off site backups, but I've never managed to have a local one before. My first iMac only has 1Tb of internal storage, and I quickly learned that the emptier I kept it, the better the machine ran; that's why my EHDs were extensions of my computer storage, never backups (because I couldn't afford to buy multiple drives).

Thanks for any advice! I've posted at the Apple Support forums too, but I've never gotten much help from them. My TLP friends are much more responsive! I'd also love to hear just in general how you like Time Machine; is it even really helpful? In the last decade, during which I've been using both Backblaze and Smugmug, I've only needed to restore data two or three times. Maybe I'll just do manual backups of the data most important to me.

p.s. Think speedy thoughts for me. Because I'm reorganizing things, I'm going to have to re-do my Backblaze back-up, which I expect to take at least a week. I think the last time I re-did it, it took 2-3 weeks. This is a faster machine though! Hm, same internet though. Well, so far I'm finding that it multi-tasks easily (though I haven't actually done anything with the memory hogs, LR or PS, yet) so I maybe I'll get a lot of digiscrapping done while my data gets uploaded yet again to Backblaze.

 

[cookingmylife]

Michele, I too now have a 5T as my Time Machine backup. My iMac has a 1TB Fusion Drive so I keep as little as possible on it. The first image shows that while I have 1T and it says I only have 164.65 GB empty the graph shows a different picture. Go figure...

For whatever reason, I have never been able to get the iMacs to delete the oldest Backup when it's getting full. With my older 4T I had to manually delete a backup now and then with an App called Trash It! It's free but after using it for a good amount of time, I finally donated to him. It was also pretty slow but there was no way I could get an old backup to delete, and it was Apple who suggested I use this app.

Now with the 5T, while it still doesn't auto delete any backup when close to full, it takes me no or little time to do a delete of the oldest backup, which now is the June 16th one. I plan to delete, one at a time, all the June ones by Monday. I try make sure I don't delete something new while that process is happening which causes it to have two processes going at once. Nor do I let my iMac go to sleep or shut down during that process. I usually do it in the am when I am going through emails.

Like you, knock on wood, I have only once had to go into Time Machine to get one file or folder and that was just before I got the 5T. Both the LaCie Orange and the LaCie Porsch are 4Ts and I keep them only half full as much as I can. The 2T shown in this list is totally empty as I did a really good clean out when I got that 5T. The LaCie 500GB is strictly for zip files as I have them divided by the main three stores I've bought from over the years. I do clear out items by age as supplies really built up when I've been on CTs. And yes, I'm anal about that!

All my EHDS are backed up so knock on wood I feel comfortable in what I have with Time Machine and also with Backblaze. Hopes this helps!

 

[Karen]

I know zilch about Macs, so I can offer no advice, but congrats on the generous friend and a new-to-you computer! Yippee!!

 

[michelepixels]

Thanks Maureen and Karen!

This machine is amazingly fast. I've never seen Lightroom speedy and Backblaze is really blazing fast. I think it may finish backing up my 2.9Tb of stuff in less than 24 hours (compare to 3 weeks with my old iMac!). I started it at 12:40 a.m. and now at 2:08 p.m. it's 75% done. That's everything except my digistash, which I'm still ruthlessly weeding out. Well, I'm trying to be ruthless. I have so much digiscrap stufff that it's very tedious and overwhelming. I'm alternating weeding digistash and reading The Singularity, a heavy book I checked out over a week ago and I'm determined to finish it before it's due on Wednesday. I don't know if I'll be able to renew it; not if anyone else has requested it.

I still haven't decided whether I will use the old EHD as a Time Machine or just manually back up my important things. I'd love to hear more experiences with Time Machine.

 

[jenn mccabe]

Exciting news Michele.

I have Backblaze (Backs up my iMac and other EHDs with older data. I don't keep everything on the iMac internal drive.) I also have a dedicated EHD as a Time Machine Backup (backups my iMac only). I like having it in case anything happens - I can access all my files immediately and quickly. It just runs like butter and I've never had an issue with it. If I update my iOS and something doesn't go right- knowing I have my iMac backed up on that local EHD makes me feel safe.

With Backblaze - I sometimes have issues with an EHD dropping so Backblaze will send me a warning email that "such and such drive hasn't backed up in a few days". I'm always worried something is missing. User error more than anything. Backblaze is more to protect the data on my other EHDs in case they fail - which has indeed happened.

 

[cookingmylife]

@michelepixels Since Time Machine is designed to be automatic and with an iMac, it's unlikely you'll be carting the EHD around the house, I really say go with the automatic back ups. But for me, what's on my EHDS is almost more important than my what's on my iMac. Those are Applications and some documents but as I say with the 5T EHD, everything is backed up. btw, @LynnG is a Mac user as is NBK I believe.