2025 Best Time Machine Backup options please

NAS devices typically include Time Capsule emulation using SMB3 instead of the old Apple File Protocol AFP. They do this by using SAMBA a UNIX SMB service. SMB (CIFS) is Small Message Block but it is known as sharing in Windows. i.e. network drive connectivity. Apple adopted SMB and now they are removing AFP.

I created my own Ubuntu Server with 8 drive bays. I created a zpool for ZFS (software RAID that is bullet proof), setup Linux native containers (LXD). Created a container to be a Time Capsule. Setup mDNS, Samba and it broadcasts it's presence on the LAN to the Macs. Created users in Samba for each Mac user and set permissions.

On the Macs you go to Settings > Time Machine and click the + and you will see the Time Capsule you created. Select it and use it. Each user will have a directory created on the Time Capsule. Each Mac will then create a sparse disk image for the backups. ZFS has a dataset volume for Time Capsule that restricts how much storage to use. I set mine to 2TB. It's been working for years without issue. I even setup a second server and use ZFS send / receive to snapshot the Time Capsule ZFS storage and delta copy it to the second server to backup the Time Machine.

Synology and others are using Linux under the hood and are doing much the same thing to create a networked Time Machine.

Now I realize that this is super nerdy and likely overkill. So I would recommend a Synology or QNAP NAS be something you consider purchasing in the near future. It's a no brainer, all the hard work I described is done for you. It's an appliancce.

You can use it for more than just Time Machine. You can create your own little private cloud on the NAS. Add Tailscale and you reach it from anywhere outside your home. Tailscale (among other competitors) is a new type of VPN solution. It uses WireGuard technology but it adds mesh networking and access control lists for permissions. Tailscale is free for personal use. It's drop dead simple to setup and get it working. Lots of excellent documentation about how to do more advanced things with Tailscale. NOTE: Tailscale is not a VPN competitor. They do not have exit nodes around the world. This is more a private VPN solution to protect your LAN and perhaps interconnect multiple LANs. You could put Tailscale on an AppleTV. Configure it. Ship the AppleTV to your family member overseas. They connect it to their TV and network. Now you have an exit node to your family member overseas. But yeah, it doesn't compete with the likes of NordVPN, etc. It's really designed for small business but they offer a free tier that is quite sufficient.

David Bywater wrote:

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So what are the best backup options going forward?

External drive plugged in, but that won't do regular hourly backups unless the drive is always plugged in, and there's always a risk of power surges etc should anything happen to the MacBook itself that wipes it out.

You could use a cloud backup, but that has a monthly cost, keeps your data on someone else's drive and I'm not generally a fan of trusting my backup to the cloud and trusting my data to someone else.

Perhaps don't use Time Machine anymore and use something like Carbon Copy Cloner instead? Could software like that still backup to Time Capsule?

Apple doesn't seem to recommend anything specific - How to back up your Mac – Apple Support (UK)

So what are the best back up options for 2026 and beyond please?

The best backup option is to use a 3-2-1 backup strategy.

Keep three copies of your data, using two different methods with one copy kept off site.

So for this strategy you might use Time Machine with one or two direct connected external drives. Swap them at whatever interval you feel comfortable with, keeping one offsite, perhaps at your workplace or a family residence.

And also use a data cloning method such as CCC or SuperDuper! at whatever interval you feel comfortable with.

Neither of these will backup the OS, but that isn't the important data, is it? An OS can be recovered from Apple at any time. The really important stuff is what's in your home folder and user storage locations. Do whatever works for you, automated or not, and make multiple copies.

I’ve been using a Synology DS223j with a pair of 10 TB drives for a few years now, to back up 5 Macs in the house with Time Machine. It’s configured with 6 volumes, one for each TM backup and one as a general file share.

https://kb.synology.com/en-us/DSM/tutorial/How_to_back_up_files_from_Mac_to_Synology_NAS_with_Time_Machine

In keeping with the 3-2-1 strategy, I also use a pair of 4 TB SSDs that I connect to each Mac every other week so I can swap them weekly for offsite storage (one stays in my desk at work).

[in my opinion] Many Mac users just connect an external drive to their Mac and let Time Machine run. A variant of that is to only connect that drive at the end or the day, every other day, or weekly. I am not endorsing that as Best Practice, just realistically what regular folks settle for.

A variation on that is to use CCC or SuperDuper in place of Time machine. If you use a different backup mechanism on a second drive in addition to Time Machine, you have implement 1+2 of the Best practice backup scheme.

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I am the computer-head in a family of more ordinary computer users. My family members resist having to have One drive next to their Mac, as it cramps their style and messes up their portability. They would openly revolt at two.

So to accommodate their preferred way of working, I provide "invisible backups". I use an older Mac Pro silver tower in the basement (must be running 10.13 High Sierra or later) to host Shared Time Machine destinations. Backups are across the home network.

This is very similar to using a NAS, but in my case, the backups are on a Mac-hosted system for ease of maintenance.

I have some drives in bays, some drives in external enclosures, and one four-bay enclosure organized as JBOD, which holds the largest older drives I had on hand at the time it was created. This allows me to have MULTIPLE backup destinations for each active computer at home. This reduces the risk that a single failure takes out all backups for a particular user.

Drives can be replaced whenever I choose or in case of failure and users are still well protected.

I am (at best) implementing 1 + 1 backups.

I do not currently have an alternative to Time Machine to provide 1 + 2

I also do not have an off site storage to add +3 component, so I am at exposed when it comes to fire, flood, or other natural disaster.

Best practice remains 3-2-1 backups.

Apple is dropping SMBv1 (finally!) and AFP, which means dropping Airport Time Capsule.

If not direct-attached storage, then Time Machine to a Mac, Linux or other box is an option, and there are also various commercial and open-source NAS offerings with Time Machine server support. Ubiquiti, Synology, and TrueNAS, among others.

Related thread: Time Machine will no longer support Time … - Apple Community

David Bywater wrote:

It's in the grey section under each heading -

"this solution is no longer recommended"

"Time Machine backup to NAS devices over Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) is not recommended and won't be supported in a future version of macOS."

"These solutions are no longer recommended, because they use Apple Filing Protocol (AFP), which won't be supported in a future version of macOS."

I already said AFP is essentially dead. That’s why you started this post. All of the other options are still fully supported.

When AFP was the only option, a NAS was not recommended (except Time Capsule) because Apple never licensed AFP. All the NAS implementations of AFP were a reverse engineered hack that didn’t work well with Time Machine. They would back up seemingly ok, but would not restore.

When Apple switched over to SMB, a NAS became a viable option if it supports the Time Machine over SMB specification.

For HDD drives I would recommend the OWC Mercury Elite Pro.

If you're looking for quieter, faster drive but budget is a concern consider this setup:

I have the 4 TB SSD as TM for my Mini M4 + 4 external 1 TB SSDs. After the first full backups subsequent backups take less then a minute. It's totally quiet and buss powered.

OWC has discontinued their 4 TB SSD but several can be found on Amazon.com (and some in enclosures) for $200-$300).

However, OWC is considered by many to be the premier 3rd party hardware provider for Macs.

Apple doesn't seem to recommend anything specific - How to back up your Mac – Apple Support (UK)

So what are the best back up options for 2026 and beyond please?

It’s a couple links into that article.

Backup disks you can use with Time Machine – Apple Support (UK)

My MacBook backs up to a drive attached to my Mini.

Recently I switched to a Synology NAS for my Time Machine backups. Works perfectly.

Even the Developer of Carbon Copy Cloner is not keen on using Backing up to Network Attached Storage (NAS) for various reasons

https://support.bombich.com/hc/en-us/articles/20686449773847-How-to-schedule-a-backup

As for potential Power Brown-Out, Power Spikes, and Outages ?

Invest in an UPS that can accommodate the Power Requirements for all connected devices

Personal use this one from American Power Conversion (APC )

https://www.se.com/ca/en/product/BN1350M2-CA/apc-backups-pro-1350va-120v-avr-lcd-2-usb-charging-ports-10-nema-outlets-4-surge/

David Bywater wrote:

Yes, though 3 of the 4 options in that link say they are no longer recommended,

Where did you read that?

That list is what is recommended. That’s why I posted it in response to your question.

Time Capsule is going away as you noted, but the rest are perfectly acceptable and supported.

Apple doesn't seem to recommend anything specific - How to back up your Mac – Apple Support (UK)

So what are the best back up options for 2026 and beyond please?

It’s a couple links into that article.

Backup disks you can use with Time Machine – Apple Support (UK)

Tough question, but I prefer CCC over TM 20 to one.