TM backup: can I use two drives to back up data on two other drives?

somanna wrote:

Thanks once again for the in-depth feedback. Based upon this feedback, I am contemplating to do this:

Make two partitions of the 3 TB Seagate and allot one partition of 1.5 TB as TM backup of the internal HD; Use a freedownload version of CCC and utilise the second partition to backup the Thunderbolt via CCC.

Don't have the inclination to buy the CCC.

I would like to have a secondary backup of the internal HD because of the presence of all the applications, especially the FCPX which it has.

Hope you understand my line of thinking and counsel according to my need.

Sounds like that will probably work, mostly. And yes, I always recommend keeping secondary backups (at least) of anything important.

However, CCC is no longer donationware; you can download it for free, and use it (and all it's options) for 30 days, but then you have to pay for it ($40 U.S.) or stop using it.

The other major cloning app is SuperDuper! It has a free version, but it will only do full replacement (you must erase the destination each time and do a full backup), and you must run it manually, rather than set up automatic scheduling. To do "smart updates" or scheduling, you must pay ($27.95 U.S.).

In both cases, I believe the fee is "forever" -- you won't be charged for upgrades.

I use CCC, in addition to Time Machine, and recommend it highly; I've downloaded SD a couple of times, intending to compare it, but never got around to it. Some folks prefer one, some the other. CCC seems to be more flexible and will do some things SD won't. They're both clearly good, and have excellent support.

Good luck!

somanna wrote:

. . .

1] have two 1.5 TB partitions of the 3 TB EHD and use TM to backup the internal HD to one partition and CCC to back up the thunderbolt's video data to the other partition.

2] have a secondary backup of the internal HD onto one of two partitions [to be made] in the 'e' drive, utilising the services of CCC for the same. If CCC is capable of 'multitasking' then I would have updated backups of the internal HD on two drives.

Yes, that's what I'd recommend. You can do that sort of thing manually via CCC, but for best results, set up two "Scheduled tasks." You can set them to run at various times or intervals; or only when you select one and click the Run button; or both.

3] have the CCC connected to the 'b' and 'c' drives so that whatever data is put on the LaCie is automatically copied onto the 'c' drive.

If you mean automatically and immediately, no, CCC won't do that, but your can easily set up a third "task" for it, and schedule and/or run it on request.

If you want data copied immediately, you'll need a "syncing" app of some sort. I'm not familiar with any, but I think I've read that ChronoSync or Tri-Backup might work.

If this is a workable workflow, then, I should not mind spending the amount required to purchase the CCC.

Yes, I think it's well worth the $$. It also has good Help, some on-screen explanations, and very good support (usually by the author, Mike Bombich).

But download it and experiment for a while to be sure it will meet your needs before spending the money. 😉

Have a great night.

You, too!

somanna wrote:

. . .

Would like to know what booting up means, and what source and destination mean?

Booting up means starting your Mac. If you make a "bootable clone" of your Mac on an external HD, then you can start it and run from that disk, just as you do from the internal HD (it will be somewhat slower, though).

EDIT: The source drive is the one you want to copy FROM; the destination is the one you're copying TO.

I had intended to use my Seagate EHDs as the volume to which the clone has to be created. These are 2 USB based. Would these drives meet my cloning needs?

Yes. FireWire is a bit faster, and some think more reliable, but USB will work. (If you had an old PPC Mac, it wouldn't boot from USB).

Message was edited by: Pondini

somanna wrote:

And further, may I know the meaning and implication of this statement?

As I read it it seems there is no absolute guarantee of data being backed up. I am puzzled!

No, what he's saying is, once your data is backed-up, don't delete it from your Mac. If you delete it, you only have one copy.

somanna wrote:

And...another question: when I searched for startup disk under system preferences, I got this information that the rebooting [?] has to be done with a firewire cable attached to the backup drive.

No. An Intel Mac can boot from either USB or Firewire. Once you've made a "bootable clone," it will appear as an option in the top part of that window, sort of like this, so you can select either one to start from:

EDIT: Note that "bootable" only applies to clones of your OSX drive; the clones of your other, data-only drives/partitions, won't be bootable and won't appear here.

The lower part of that screen is for a different procedure: "Target Disk Mode," where you can connect two Macs with FireWire (not USB), start the "target" Mac up via that option, and the other Mac will see the "target" Mac as a simple external HD.

Message was edited by: Pondini

somanna wrote:

. . .

Your explanation is good but don't you think that the wording of the original needs to be changed so that it is not misunderstood as I have?

If you mean the CarbonCopyCloner wording, it seems pretty clear to me, but don't hesitate to contact them if you have a suggestion.

somanna wrote:

. . .

FYI, I have opened a thread in FCPX to know whether cloning of FCPX events and projects from one drive to another would be acceptable to FCPX. I am getting the feedback that these projects and events are best duplicated within FCPX itself.

I don't use FCPX, so can't really comment with any authority.

Seems to me, if your manual copying doesn't cause a problem now, using CCC wouldn't be a problem, either. Using CCC accomplishes the same thing, but automatically.

I think Russ H may be saying you should probably unmount the backup drive while actually using FCP; you might want to ask him for clarification.