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Can I didtch using Vaults to b/u?

I have a new 1TB HDD installed, I converted my Aperture Library to Managed and am sing Vaults to back up, but it's stoppped at about 330GB, my Library is 400GB and it's about 75% done (according to the process metre). I was wondering if there was a need for vaults now, I remember readng a while back that Time Machine was not the thing to use in place of Vaults, but is that still true?


I'ts taken about 20hrs to where I am and it's 9pm now, since about 4pm the process metre hasn't moved, I know just how slow Vaults can be, I am prepared to have a dog of a system for about another 24hrs, but does it HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS?


Can I forget Vaults or are they still neccessary, I get the impression that it's a hang over and just there for users without a Time Capsule, a sort of all-in-one for Pro Photographer users?


Thanks

MacBook (13-inch Late 2007), Mac OS X (10.7.3), 4GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

Posted on Nov 10, 2012 1:19 PM

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Posted on Nov 11, 2012 4:59 AM

Can I forget Vaults or are they still neccessary, I get the impression that it's a hang over and just there for users without a Time Capsule, a sort of all-in-one for Pro Photographer users?



It is up to you, what kind of backup you prefer. The important point is that you do backup your images, and that you have more than one backup - preferably at least two backups in different locations. I keep three backups: Time Machine, a clone, and a second copy on a second Mac.


Each kind of backup has its advantages:


  • Time Machine backups are automatic and it is easy to restore your current Aperture library. But you have no control over how far into the past your backups go, Time Machine will delete backups, when it needs to free space, and it is difficult to restore single images.
  • A vault is handy to make snapshots of your library of a certain time. Vaults are very convenient for incremental backups, and very compact, at least for referenced libraries. To restore single images from the vault you have to restore the whole library.
  • A (bootable) clone is great, if you are upgrading your system and want to save the state before the upgrade, so you have a painless way to revert to the previous system, just in case the new version does not work well on your mac. Usually it is very hard to downgrade again, if you have to reinstall everything. Also it is easy to restore ingle images from the clone.


Regards

Léonie


P.S. Let your backup run. The progress meter is not always reliable. But you may have a problem with a corrupted library. I'd use the First Aid Tools (Repairing and Rebuilding Your Aperture Library: Aperture 3 User Manual) to repair and rebuild the library, when your backup is finished.

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Nov 11, 2012 4:59 AM in response to Hamper

Can I forget Vaults or are they still neccessary, I get the impression that it's a hang over and just there for users without a Time Capsule, a sort of all-in-one for Pro Photographer users?



It is up to you, what kind of backup you prefer. The important point is that you do backup your images, and that you have more than one backup - preferably at least two backups in different locations. I keep three backups: Time Machine, a clone, and a second copy on a second Mac.


Each kind of backup has its advantages:


  • Time Machine backups are automatic and it is easy to restore your current Aperture library. But you have no control over how far into the past your backups go, Time Machine will delete backups, when it needs to free space, and it is difficult to restore single images.
  • A vault is handy to make snapshots of your library of a certain time. Vaults are very convenient for incremental backups, and very compact, at least for referenced libraries. To restore single images from the vault you have to restore the whole library.
  • A (bootable) clone is great, if you are upgrading your system and want to save the state before the upgrade, so you have a painless way to revert to the previous system, just in case the new version does not work well on your mac. Usually it is very hard to downgrade again, if you have to reinstall everything. Also it is easy to restore ingle images from the clone.


Regards

Léonie


P.S. Let your backup run. The progress meter is not always reliable. But you may have a problem with a corrupted library. I'd use the First Aid Tools (Repairing and Rebuilding Your Aperture Library: Aperture 3 User Manual) to repair and rebuild the library, when your backup is finished.

Nov 11, 2012 5:33 AM in response to léonie

Thanks for your reply, I just finished the Vault backup at 9am, so it was on for over 24 hours, that's normal. The thing is it's only 340GB when the Library is 400GB. Now I did think that it would be smart to start from my existing back-up (rather than start a new one) to save time, that was around 130GB and a year old (I've been very low on space), this from an older (point release, still v3 though) of Aperture, so it had to upgrade it as it were for compatibility.


As mentioned I migrated to a Managed Library which was something I'd been meaning to do, when I had the space. Now having 500GB free (you can't imagine) I found that after I had a few thousand duplicates, which I didn't need in my Pictures folder, it always seems like something on my system is a mess, but I'd been using Aperture for a long time.


So now I feel like I've wasted 24hrs waiting for a backup that never really worked (I should have started from scratch I guess) and from the research I've done notice that TM has been "fixed" to work with Aperture. Before I remember the advice to be to ignore the Library file as it would keep updating, but that isn't the case now, apparently.


It seems like Time Capsule can restore problems I might have, but using a managed Library I'm not sure if that's such a good idea because only Aperture should be putting files in and out of it, especially as its Managed now, so I'm not sure how that works. You mention that a single image cannot be restored with a Vault, which doesn't surpise me, but is it still like that, pretty silly I think.


I would like to go the TC route but it just seems like it cannot work with a Managed Library, if anything goes wrong, what about my precious metadata, only a Vault can restore that, right? So it looks like I'll have to create a new Vault then and give it 30hrs again?

Nov 11, 2012 6:08 AM in response to Hamper

The thing is it's only 340GB when the Library is 400GB.

You can look into your vault and Aperture Library and compare sizes: The vault should essentially by a copy of your Aperture library.

If you ctrl-click the vault or the Aperture Library, and then select "Show Package Contents" you should see folders inside. Compare the sizes of the folders "Masters" in both your Library and the vault. This folder contains the originals and should be about the same size in both the vault and the Library.


The iPod Photo Cache alone can have a considerable size and account for the difference in file size between the vault and the library. Are you using photo stream? Aperture 3.4.1 does not seem to include the original images imported from Photo Stream into the vault.


Before I remember the advice to be to ignore the Library file as it would keep updating, but that isn't the case now, apparently.

The problem was, that with Aperture running while a Time Machine backup was in progress, TimeMachine would backup the complete library instead of making an incremental backup. But that is working now. I never noticed a problem in this respect.


You mention that a single image cannot be restored with a Vault, which doesn't surpise me, but is it still like that, pretty silly I think.

That is the same for Time Machine or a vault. To restore from these backups, you restore the complete Aperture library (on an external volume, where you have enough space) and then lauch Aperture to extract and restore the images you want. A referenced library is easier to restore, simply because it is smaller. That is why I occasionally make clones. It is quicker to access single images.


I would like to go the TC route but it just seems like it cannot work with a Managed Library, if anything goes wrong, what about my precious metadata, only a Vault can restore that, right? So it looks like I'll have to create a new Vault then and give it 30hrs again?

I have more than once restored managed Aperture libraries from a Time Machine backup, when migrating my system. The aperture library has been restored without problems, all metadata o.k. Only if you just need to restore one single image it is a nuisance to have to restore the whole library.

Nov 11, 2012 2:45 PM in response to léonie

Yes, that's right, I read that the thumbnails were re-generated, however the size of the "Masters" folder differs: My Library is 181GB and the Vault is only 103GB!


I think this whole Backup thign in a nonsense, one of the options needs to go, it needs to be simpler and much, much quicker. I'll send feedback through the usual channels but until then I think I'll stick with Vaults, just because it's a part of Aperture and all the rest.


Thanks fo your help, at least the delay in AP4 will spur hope that the finishing touches to a more intuitive backup system are being made (that and a new maps system).

Can I didtch using Vaults to b/u?

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