HFS or OSX Journaled for CCC Clone?

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Level 1

74 points

HFS or OSX Journaled for CCC Clone?

Hi All.

Pretty new to the MacOS here and I want to clone a 150 GB and a 1 TB HD (laptop and desktop machine respectively).

I'm reading up and getting some help from the list here but I see I am missing a couple of pieces of information.

First, I am currently formatting my external drives as OSX Journaled. I have two internal HD's running Windows (XP and Windows 7) but my understanding is that neither of these come into the discussion except with respect to my needing Mac Drive and Paragon software to read and/or write from the two OS's to each other.

Anyway, am I correct in thinking that the external drives should be formatted as OSX Journaled?

What is the reference to HFS+ that I see in the CCC documentation? Is this simply for formatting a drive that is going to receive a clone?

Also, I see that there is a reference to GUID and APM and I believe I am on Intel Based Macs in both cases. I gather the reference here is to the fact that I need to use some kind of drive format software that will partition my 2 TB drive into two partitions using GUID - if I do in fact decide that I want to Clone both of these machines to the same drive?

At that point I start to wonder if I should just skip the Partition Step and just clone each to a separate drive.

Would anyone mind giving me a reasonably long enough explanation to just nail this down for me? I'm savvy in some respects but the acronyms and the partitioning in particular are not my strong suits.

Thanks!

Posted on Nov 7, 2011 7:29 AM

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Answer 1

lupunus

Level 4

1,000 points

Nov 7, 2011 7:39 AM in response to hotwheels22

If you create a CCC image (clone) from a volume (disk / partition) it's a 100% identical clone including file format and structure of the source.

It's basically a sector to sector / bit to bit copy of the drive or partition.

On that the file system format of the destination drive is of no matter.

Lupunus

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Answer 2

jsd2

Level 5

6,245 points

Nov 7, 2011 9:26 AM in response to hotwheels22

The entire disk (the topmost, non-indented icon in Disk Utility) has a single "partition-scheme", which can be GUD, Apple Partition Map, or Master Boot Record. You want this overall partition scheme to be GUID.

Contained within that disk are one or more volumes (partitions), and each volume (indented icon in Disk Utility) has its own "volume format". Choices of volume format include Mac OS X Extended, Mac OS Extended (Journaled), FAT32, etc. "HFS+" is essentially synonymous with "Mac OS X Extended." Journalling is an added feature which can be turned on and off at any time. You routinely want the volume format to be Mac OS X Extended (Journaled).

You should use Disk Utility to set up the overall disk partition scheme as GUID, containing two volumes that are each formatted as OS X Extended (Journaled). For details, see this CCC help page.

Preparing your backup disk for a backup of Mac OS X

In step 4, choose "2 partitions" and then use the slider to adjust the sizes of the partitions.

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Answer 3

jsd2

Level 5

6,245 points

Nov 7, 2011 9:43 AM in response to lupunus

Most routine uses of Carbon Copy Cloner involve choosing the current boot volume as the source for the backup clone. Under these circumstances CCC will create the clone by copying file-by-file, not block-by-block, and so the destination volume must be pre-formatted correctly. See

http://help.bombich.com/kb/explore/the-block-level-copy

SuperDuper always uses file-by-file ("file-level") copying.

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Answer 4

ds store

Level 7

30,715 points

Nov 7, 2011 10:18 AM in response to hotwheels22

hotwheels 22 wrote:

I'm reading up and getting some help from the list here but I see I am missing a couple of pieces of information.

This thread of mine will fill you in.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3358920

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Answer 5

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Nov 7, 2011 12:39 PM in response to jsd2

dude. thanks for the link. i was reading similar material from there but i missed that exact link.

OK, so that is a tad technical for me but am I missing something?

I have a Mac OSX Journaled External Drive which I formatted previously. This is the exact same thing as this HFS+ is that what I was told? I mean, if I have OSX Journaled - I would simply re-format the same way I did originally if I really wanted to wipe it down before running the Cloned Backup is that right?

The other info about GUID is if I wanted to partition the drive which I realize now I don't need to...?

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Answer 6

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Nov 7, 2011 12:45 PM in response to ds store

Hi. Thank you. I have that link printed out and found it pretty fantastic. It is in my backup binder as I try and get a method here for the office.

The two things I think I had on it were that I am trying to use multiple manufacturers for my drive in case one production run or one mfr. gets bought by the whomevers who drive the quality into the ground before I know it and both my backups bite the dirt for the same manufacturing issue. Also, I decided to run both Deja Vu and CCC for sort of the same reason (i.e. in case I am doing something wrong by not checking a box or something).

Also, I sort of wish the images had better resolution and were organized in a more linear manner. I haven't found very good info on restoring from a Clone or running from a Clone etc and same in terms of making a clone but I gather the latter is simply choosing a differnt setting ("Maintain a back(Archive modified and Deleted Items" from the configuration settings?) and then hitting "Clone". I sort of found this confusing because when I think back to running a file backup in CCC I think I remember having to hit "Clone" even though I was like - wait, why does it say clone even though I am running a backup??

Do you happen to know if there is anything special in CCC in terms of running a backup as opposed to a Clone? I'd like to make sure I run the clone...

Thanks.

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Answer 7

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Nov 7, 2011 12:49 PM in response to jsd2

arg. I'm not sure I understand the practical difference between file by file (CCC) and block by block (SuperDuper).

Also, I like to think I am good with this kind of thing but I am getting lost on the formatting of my external drive for a Clone.

Is it different than what I am doing for all my other backups, assuming I am not partitioning the external HD to run multiple cloned backups to it? I mean, Mac OSX Journaled is my regular format for these external drives...

Thanks

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Answer 8

jsd2

Level 5

6,245 points

Nov 7, 2011 1:50 PM in response to hotwheels22

The formatting for a clone is no different than what would be used for any bootable Mac system. You are probably fine, except that it sounded as if you might want to increase the number of partitions from one to two.

To check your present setup, click on the upper non-indented "disk" icon in Disk Utiity, and confirm that the partition scheme is GUID:

.

Then click on the lower indented "volume" icon and confirm that the volume format is "Mac OS Extended (Journaled):

.

It sounded initially as if you were planning two partitions, one for each of your Macs. If you still want to do this, just follow the instructions in the CCC link.

With respect to settings, CCC recently changed its defaults so as to archive items that get modified or deleted, rather than deleting them on the destination volume so as to maintain a true clone. I myself prefer the old way, and when I use CCC I use the ""Maintain a backup (No archiving)" option. Actually I generally use SuperDuper these days for my routine backups.

My post about the block-level clones was actually a response to the preceding post by lupunus. Don't worry about it.

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Answer 9

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Nov 7, 2011 5:04 PM in response to jsd2

Oh, man. Thanks so much. It is so nice to see the road ahead.

I think I am good to go with just the exception that the "static" backup (total write over) versus the "archiving" - this latter one is the one where you retain files that were deleted (is that right?)?

Anyway, since I have Time Machine - I am checking the "Maintain a Backup (no archiving)" because I don't need to go back in time with the clone - I just need the static "snapshot" is that right?

Thanks so much.

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Answer 10

jsd2

Level 5

6,245 points

Nov 7, 2011 5:27 PM in response to hotwheels22

Anyway, since I have Time Machine - I am checking the "Maintain a Backup (no archiving)" because I don't need to go back in time with the clone - I just need the static "snapshot" is that right?

There's not a definite "correct" way to do it, but that was my reasoning as well - I also keep a Time Machine backup.

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Answer 11

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Nov 7, 2011 5:28 PM in response to jsd2

Hi jsd2.

Sorry a second follow up here please.

I am realizing that since I have a 2 TB drive and I am cloning 150 GB and 1 TB drives that it makes sense to run both of these to the same drive. This way they can both sit on the shelf over here together and I can use the other drive.

Is there a reasonable partition size to make for these two clones given this situation? Is there a reason to do 3 partitions which I think you mention?

It seems like as good a time as any to finally tackle this and my assumption is that when I re-run the clone I just select the correct sub-volume and I am all good to go.

Thanks a ton.

- Jon

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Answer 12

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Nov 7, 2011 5:28 PM in response to jsd2

Thanks!

Awesome.

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Answer 13

jsd2

Level 5

6,245 points

Nov 7, 2011 6:11 PM in response to hotwheels22

Although you have more than enough room on the 2 TB drive for both backup clones, there may be a significant convenience factor involved. Because the external drive is presumably going to be connected directly via FireWire or USB rather than over a network, it can only be connected to one computer at a time. There might be some type USB a/b switch you could use (I don't know anything about these) , but otherwise you would end up plugging cables in and out every time you wanted to clone the alternate computer. If you instead obtain a different drive for each computer, you could keep it connected and then schedule the clones to run automatically in the middle of the night without taking up any of your time.

Whatever you decide, the size of a target volume does not ever have to be bigger than its corresponding source volume - anything larger is wasted space. If you use a 2 TB drive for both systems, you might as well have at least 3 partitions - a 150GB partition for the 150GB source HD, a 1TB partition for the larger HD, and the remaining 850GB either as a single partition or several smaller ones for "other stuff". It's always good to have a few "spare" partitions available - they can be used for such things as bootable OS X installers, or expendable test systems.

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