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Ok, I think the local snapshots in Lion are great.
My problem is that I have a 60GB SSD as my boot drive and a 750GB HD as everything else.
I've noticed that when using local snapshots it can only keep one snapshot due to only having <8gb free on my boot drive.
Does anyone know if it's possible to change the location of the snapshots onto my larger drive?
Thanks,
Chris
Macbook Pro 15.4, Mac OS X (10.7)
As far as I know, Snapshots are part of the new MobileBackup feature which is stored on your internal hard drive and is supported by TimeMachine. You can simply turn off TM and restart your machine and the space that it is using will be free. So, to answer your question, No I don't believe there is a way to relocate where the snapshots are to be stored, as it is meant to temporarily save your stuff when you have TM on, but not connected to any external drive so that if you want to quickly get back to something that you lost or had changed by mistake you can.
As far as I know, Snapshots are part of the new MobileBackup feature which is stored on your internal hard drive and is supported by TimeMachine. You can simply turn off TM and restart your machine and the space that it is using will be free. So, to answer your question, No I don't believe there is a way to relocate where the snapshots are to be stored, as it is meant to temporarily save your stuff when you have TM on, but not connected to any external drive so that if you want to quickly get back to something that you lost or had changed by mistake you can.
That was my thinking as well. But only being able to store one snapshot is pretty useless.
Maybe someone will find a terminal trick to set it.
The snapshots are on the same drive as the data; if you have data on the HD, the portion of each snapshot that relates to files on the HD will actually be on the HD, not your SSD.
Snapshots may look like normal Time Machine backups (extra copies of files), but they're actually very different. They're not extra copies; they're the version of a file that was deleted or changed; instead of being deleted, they're retained and visible only through the TM browser.
So, unless you've updated OSX, apps, or other things on your SSD, there's probably very little space used on it by Local snapshots.
See #30 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.
Use this link to get a better understanding on how Versions and TimeMachine uses the snapshots.
I'm sorry, but "Snapshots'" are actually being used in two ways. They are being used for the MobileBackup feature, which works with TimeMachine and they are being used for Versions. All of which use your machines internal hard drive.
It's actually the other way around. Snapshots will use the Versions database for those files, rather than retain an extra copy.
And both hidden databases are on the drive where the originals are or were; the SSD, the HD, or both.
Ditto if you use a Versions-enabled app on a file located on an external HD; a hidden /.DocumentRevisions-V101 database will be created on that HD.
Ditto if you have Time Machine backing-up an external HD and Local backups are enabled; a hidden /.MobileBackups database will be on it, too.
It's not so much the amount of space the snapshots take up, its more the fact that there is only enough space for one snapshot on the SSD.
So it's more of a usability issue than space saving.
@ e3gle: Understood.
@ Pondini: Yes, both Versions and TimeMachine use snapshots, which are stored on the internal hard drive. However, the snapshots that are being used for the MobileBackup feature used by TimeMachine is shown in the Backup section of the storage report and can be turned off. However, the snapshots that are being used by Versions is not specifically shown in the storage report, thus it is stored within the same space as the original file. Also, Versions takes only snapshots of the files you are working on, where as the snapshots used for MobileBackups are of everything.
AMMOCAN wrote:
. . .
However, the snapshots that are being used by Versions is not specifically shown in the storage report, thus it is stored within the same space as the original file.
No, the changed "chunks" are stored in the hidden /.DocumentRevisions-V100 folder, not the actual file. And the new storage report is often wildly inaccurate (especially with regard to categories) and out-of-date (it depends on the Spotlight index).
Also, Versions takes only snapshots of the files you are working on, where as the snapshots used for MobileBackups are of everything.
Yes, Versions only apply to files edited by Versions-capable apps, but Snapshots don't make a separate copy of the "chunks."
Gotcha, we are on the same page, as I just don't think we are understanding each others explanation of it.
Thanx for helping out the OP.
I don't mean to belabor the point, but if you think the Versions info is stored in the file, try this:
Create and edit a file, so it has at least a couple of Versions.
Copy it to an external volume, or back it up and restore it to an alternate location.
Then open the copied/restore file, and see how many Versions there are.
I am not saying that it is stored with the file per say. What I am saying is that from what I can tell is that according to the Storage report it is classified under the same segment as the file. For example: if it is a version capable text file then it is saved under other. If it is a version capable photo file then it is saved under photo.
Change location of Local Snapshots
