Best external hard drive for Time Machine?

Question

Level 1

15 points

Best external hard drive for Time Machine?

Hi all,

I have just finished setting up my new iMac 24 inch (1TB) after my old iMac of 10 years gave up.

I have restored the files I wanted from Time Machine and would now like to start a new Time Machine backup. I want to keep my current Time Capsule as is as a historical back up.

Can you suggest a new drive for me to use as a new back up drive? I’d ideally like to connect via Ethernet so it can go underneath my desk all ni early tucked away.

Thank you in advance.

iMac 24″, macOS 12.2

Posted on Feb 8, 2022 6:33 AM

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Answer 1

hcsitas

Level 6

12,620 points

Feb 9, 2022 6:10 AM in response to Sam Thompson

Can recommend the Toshibas https://storage.toshiba.com/consumer-hdd - very good value for money.

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Answer 2

Feb 8, 2022 7:52 AM in response to Sam Thompson

There is no "best".

Ethernet is not recommended, finding a NAS compatible with TIme Machine can be tricky. Any drive from OWC should work fine. Time machine is slow enough that a mechanical HDD should be fine.

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Answer 3

rkaufmann87

Level 10

143,176 points

Feb 9, 2022 7:30 AM in response to Sam Thompson

A general rule of thumb is the Time Machine External Hard Disk should be 2-3 times the size of the internal HD. The larger the better. I'd get at least a 2TB, a 4TB would be much better and give you more Time Machine space.

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