Rotating External HD Backups...

[obeechi]

I have two Maxtor TB OneTouch HD's... that I'm only now putting into use... and I'm wondering.. if with a rotation... can I name each Maxtor with the same name... so that when either one mounts... it looks like it's Joe again.. back again for more Money... they're twins... same size... same partition scheme...

[dnanian]

You'd need to set the low-level UUIDs to be the same, actually. Drop me a line to support and I'll send you some steps.

[davep]

Dave - I also have two identical external drives that I rotate each time I do a weekly backup. However, they are named differently. What are the advantages of naming them the same? Do you recommend doing this? Is it more trouble than it's worth?

Also, didn't you once say that if a backup clone is being used as a startup drive to replace a crashed drive, then the name of the drive needs to be changed to the same name as the crashed drive? If this is true, could you explain why?

Thanks, Dave N.
from Dave P.

[dnanian]

The UUID isn't the name, actually. It's a lower-level item that isn't generally accessible by the user, so it's easier to ensure the drive is the one that the user saved.

If your plan is working now, stick with it.

The reason to name the drive the same is so that aliases, which have the volume name in them, properly resolve to the new drive. You don't want them to refer to files on the "old" drive if it's available.

[obeechi]

The reason I want to use the same name.. is because of the backup scripts..

and I want the external drives to be essentially twins..

And it'd be cool if SuperDuper had a single button I could place on the Screen... so it would be a one touch process to run the clone (which would work identically for both external drives [targeting a volume on the drive])

Also.. I really don't want to use my computer when its cloning.. and I don't want anyone else to either.. so it also be cool if it could lock out any usage... though with a passcode override.. [like Maxtor's Manager does...]

[dnanian]

Thanks for the suggestions...