SD & TM backups

[tuni]

When I use SD, I always turn off TM in my iMac System Preferences, so that the TM backups are NOT cloned or backed up on to my Lacie FW external by SD (Smart BU).

Yesterday I saw that I can add the SD "application" to the "excluded" files backed up by TM.

:confused: I'm a little confused as to exactly what I should be doing to ensure that my TM backups are not cloned by SD, and that my SD backups are not backed up by my TM. I can't see why I should include either in the other's backup.

Does this make any sense? Am looking for recommendations and the "whys".

many thx,
tuni

[dnanian]

I'm not sure what you're doing here at all, tuni. Turning off Time Machine doesn't do anything to SD, nor does excluding SD! from files to be backed up. Are you actually trying to prevent TM from copying SD!'s backups?

[fishmonkey]

When I use SD, I always turn off TM in my iMac System Preferences, so that the TM backups are NOT cloned or backed up on to my Lacie FW external by SD (Smart BU).

Yesterday I saw that I can add the SD "application" to the "excluded" files backed up by TM.

:confused: I'm a little confused as to exactly what I should be doing to ensure that my TM backups are not cloned by SD, and that my SD backups are not backed up by my TM. I can't see why I should include either in the other's backup.

Does this make any sense? Am looking for recommendations and the "whys".

many thx,
tuni

ideally you would have two partitions on your external FW drive, one for TM, and one for SD...

point TM at one partition to keep incremental hourly/daily/etc backups...

and use SD to make full bootable clones of your internal HD, say once every couple of weeks (more or less depending on the amount of safety you want) to the second partition on the external drive...

since you have a full bootable backup on the SD partition, you could set TM to exclude system and application files from its incremental backups...

[tuni]

Dave et al,

That's exactly what I'm trying to do. I've been turning TM off when commencing the SD backup so that SD doesn't backup my TM backups on the Lacie Ext. drive which I use ONLY for SD backups..

I see that there is also an option to include SD (or other applications) from being included in the TM backup. I added the SD "application" to the exclusion list in Sys. Pref. so that TM doesn't backup SD on my My Book External drive which I use only for TM backups.

I'm wondering though if including the SD "application" on to that exclusion list in TM does that though....I just don't want TM to backup my SD "BACKUPS". Is there a way to do that, or did I do that by including the SD application in that exclusion list (somehow I don't think so....)

[dnanian]

Again, turning off TM has nothing to do with whether SD! copies a file.

[tuni]

Dave,
Sorry to be a doofus here and I appreciate you patience however I still don't understand.


2 questions:

1. If turning off TM doesn't prevent SD from copying my TM backup files, how would I prevent the SD from copying them? I would think its unnecessary (and takes up additional space on the SD external) for SD to re-copy the already backed-up files from TM....

Or isn't it?

2. and the 2nd part of this question, are you saying that TM is also re-backing up the SD backup files too?

Please clarify....I'm going around in circles here....

BTW thanks for the great product and support....both very unusual these days...

tuni

[dnanian]

We don't copy the TM backups unless they're present on the source volume. Since you're copying your source volume, and your TM backups are on a different volume, why would we copy them?

If your backup drive is not ignored by Time Machine, it's likely backing it up (since TM tends to back up all attached drives).

[fishmonkey]

If your backup drive is not ignored by Time Machine, it's likely backing it up (since TM tends to back up all attached drives).

so TM will by default attempt to backup any mounted volume?

[dnanian]

That's how I remember it working when I tested this stuff.

[tuni]

Dave,

1.
I understand from what you say that placing the SD application in the TM exclusions probably doesn't serve any purposes since TM wouldn't be copying the SD backups which are backed up to my external Lacie FW drive. Got that one! <BG>

2.
I understand now that SD won't be copying my TM backups since they are on an external WD drive. that makes sense.

But....(there's always a "but" isn't there?) if I don't turn off TM whilst backing up with SD, TM could conceivably begin to and work on processing its own backup at the same time and, I think? (that's the operative word here) that the 2 programs working at the same time might cause a problem? therefore, probably I should continue to turn TM off prior to commencing the SD backup process. What do you think?

[tuni]

so TM will by default attempt to backup any mounted volume?


Fishmonkey & Dave,

If I understand you correctly, since I don't turn on my Lacie Drive until I'm ready to do a SD backup, TM shouldn't back it up because it doesn't see it (i.e., it isn't mounted until its switched on), right?

I think I've got this all straight now. The only question still remaining (I asked Dave, see above post) is whether or not I should continue to turn off TM prior to beginning the SD so as to avoid the possibility of both programs running at the same time...

thx
tuni

[dnanian]

No, that shouldn't cause a problem. If the system couldn't handle two different programs copying files it wouldn't be much of a multitasking operating system...

[tuni]

gotcha! many thanks for your prompt response AND patience...