Recommended Backup HD with Time Machine on Catalina

againwiththeusername wrote:

But it only says it has "Two Thunderbolt ports", but doesn't say what version. This is the type thing that is making this impossible to make a decision. What do you think?

As was pointed out earlier, use the USB3 ports you have with your external drive for backups (or other uses).

To use your iMac's Thunderbolt 1 ports, you will need an adaptor so you can connect Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4 devices. However with that adaptor, those devices cannot run off power from the Mac, they require their own power supplies. So "portable" external drives won't work when connected to one of your Thunderbolt ports with the adaptor, but an external drive with its own power supply will. If you want to use a portable (bus powered) external drive, simply use one of your USB3 ports.

What many experienced users on these forums use is the OWC Mercury Elite Pro series, why....due to their high quality, very reasonable costs, very high reliability and the service provided from OWC. You can find them by clicking https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-mercury-elite-pro

Hey there!

The LaCie Rugged drive doesn't include the older-style USB-C to USB-A cable you'd need to connect the drive to your older iMac. Other than that, it's a great drive!

What may be a better option for you is the SanDisk Professional 2TB G-Drive ArmorATD™ - Apple. It includes the required USB-C to USB-A cable for a similar price to the LaCie.

Hope this helps!

-Jack

I will try and cover your last two posts.

----------------------

Time Machine does hourly backups and should never be manually managed or modified.

see > Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support

This is true, you should never use your Time Machine backup drive for extra file storage or a second type of backup.

-----------------------

The Thunderbolt 2/Mini DisplayPort ports on your Late 2013 iMac are for Thunderbolt 2 Devices and Display output only. Sadly there were only few Thunderbolt 2 drives ever made and the ones that were are very expensive.

You need to get and use a USB external drive that has a USB-A cable or adapter, so that you can plug it into one of your Late 2013 iMac's USB 3.0 ports.

To learn what Time Machine does please read Back up your Mac with Time Machine.

Den.Thed is also correct, NEVER EVER interfere with Time Machine and NEVER EVER use the Time Machine External Hard Disk to store additional data. Why, simple....all HD die, it is not a matter of if it is a matter of when. So using a Time Machine drive for additional storage is simply a ticking time bomb in that when that drive dies you will have lost your data and it's backup too. Many users have redundant backups because if one External Hard Disk dies, you have a second to rely on until you can replace the first. I have used this strategy many times because as I mentioned ALL HD's die and more often than not they give us no advance warnings.

The SanDisk Professional drive will work just fine with your Mac! It’s compatible with both USB 3 and Thunderbolt 3 ports, and since you have USB 3, you’re good to go.

-Jack