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joelsd
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: can I use the same drive to backup more than one computer

Can I use the same external hard drive to backup (using Time Machine) my Macbook pro and iMac computers?

 

Can they be the same partition?

MacBook Pro (13-inch Early 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on May 27, 2012 8:20 AM

by Pondini,Solvedanswer
Pondini Pondini
Level 8 (38,747 points)
A:

As Shootist007 says, it's best to create separate partitions.  See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #4 for details.

Posted on May 27, 2012 4:40 PM

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joelsd

Q: can I use the same drive to backup more than one computer

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  • by etresoft,

    etresoft etresoft May 30, 2012 12:36 PM in response to Pondini
    Level 7 (29,380 points)
    May 30, 2012 12:36 PM in response to Pondini

    I don't know. That isn't a procedure I would recommend. It seems to me that if Apple wanted you to use that disk, it would display it in the Time Machine dialog right next to the Time Capsule. Why does one shared network drive show up in that list but not the other?

     

    I did manage to get it started following your instructions, but then it crashed my Time Capsule that I'm using as a wireless router. Coincidence?

  • by Pondini,

    Pondini Pondini May 30, 2012 12:42 PM in response to etresoft
    Level 8 (38,747 points)
    May 30, 2012 12:42 PM in response to etresoft

    etresoft wrote:

     

    I don't know. That isn't a procedure I would recommend. It seems to me that if Apple wanted you to use that disk, it would display it in the Time Machine dialog right next to the Time Capsule. Why does one shared network drive show up in that list but not the other?

    It does show up, once it's mounted, like any other network drive:

     

    shapeimage_4.png

     

     

     

    I did manage to get it started following your instructions, but then it crashed my Time Capsule that I'm using as a wireless router. Coincidence?

    I've never heard of that happening before. 

  • by etresoft,

    etresoft etresoft May 30, 2012 6:56 PM in response to Pondini
    Level 7 (29,380 points)
    May 30, 2012 6:56 PM in response to Pondini

     

    Pondini wrote:

     

    It does show up, once it's mounted, like any other network drive:

     

     

    It does show but, but not like any other network drive. One need not do anything special to see a Time Capsule show up. It just magically appears. According to Apple's documentation, a Lion Server Time Machine service would do the same.

     

    Clearly Apple markets Time Machine as a feature of Lion Server where while it does not promote that as a feature of Lion client file sharing. I would expect that any limitation of Lion Server would also apply to Lion client sharing a folder for Time Machine. Apparently, you aren't supposed to use external drives as Time Machine repositories in Lion Server.

    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3327294

    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2472139

     

    I assume that would be true of Lion client as well. The best that RAID device has is eSATA and I don't know if that interface is even being used. I wonder if a Thunderbolt RAID would be considered "external" or not. I bet not.

     

     

     

    I did manage to get it started following your instructions, but then it crashed my Time Capsule that I'm using as a wireless router. Coincidence?

    I've never heard of that happening before. 

     

    No big deal. I can see why it would happen. I was running over wireless and two wireless devices trying to do Time Machine is just too much. Using the Time Capsule as a backup would only be half as intense. That wouldn't be an issue over a LAN.

  • by Pondini,

    Pondini Pondini May 30, 2012 7:11 PM in response to etresoft
    Level 8 (38,747 points)
    May 30, 2012 7:11 PM in response to etresoft

    etresoft wrote:

    . . .

    Clearly Apple markets Time Machine as a feature of Lion Server where while it does not promote that as a feature of Lion client file sharing.

    They may not promote it, but the Help clearly says it's supported.  I'd guess I've steered about a hundred users to my setup page, and the only problems reported turned out to be hardware problems or things missed in the setup. 

     

    And nobody has reported getting that message. On that subject, note that he does get TM set up and connected (not getting the usual generic AFP message); only when the backup actually starts does he get a Time Machine AFP message.

     

    I assume that would be true of Lion client as well. The best that RAID device has is eSATA and I don't know if that interface is even being used.

    It's connected via FW/800 (an eSATA card is on order).  See the repost for full details: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3991062

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