Time Machine backups ONLY during Power Nap

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Level 1

4 points

Time Machine backups ONLY during Power Nap

I have a USB3.0 hard drive attached to a Gen 5 AirPort Extreme for the in-laws. Is it possible to set up their MacBook Airs (2011 and 2012 models) to perform Time Machine backups to the HDD connected to the AE only during Power Nap? They both hate when it starts working wirelessly, and they always shut the whole process off.

If I can somehow figure out how to cause TM to ONLY backup during Power Nap, I can set that up when they're not around, and they'll be none the wiser that their data is being backed up. I've found this software, but it doesn't have an option to backup only during Power Nap.

http://www.klieme.com/TimeMachineScheduler.html

Other ideas?

Posted on Mar 21, 2013 9:00 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 21, 2013 9:05 AM in response to EEaudio08

No, it's not. Time Machine backs up hourly.

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Answer 2

EEaudio08 Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 21, 2013 9:11 AM in response to William Lloyd

Well, that's a shame. At a minimum, I'll use that scheduler to set the backups to every 12 hours, so they're less intrusive.

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Answer 3

drdocument

Level 4

3,019 points

Mar 21, 2013 9:33 AM in response to EEaudio08

Just out of curiosity, is there something on the MBAs that causes large incremental backups (such as a virtual Windows partition), or would otherwise cause a TM backup to be "intrusive?"

The only way I can tell TM is doing a backup is if I happen to notice the active TM icon in the menu bar, and most backups take less than a minute and are virtually unnoticeable, even on my 2008 Mac Pro. I would expect 2011-2012 Airs to suffer no performance degradation during a backup.

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Answer 4

EEaudio08 Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 21, 2013 9:39 AM in response to drdocument

There is a popup dialog that shows up when backing up wirelessly to the AirPort Extreme's connected HDD. I'm not quite sure why it does this during wireless backup, because on my 17" MBP, I also only see the icon spinning in the menu bar.

If I could shut off that dialog, that would also solve some problems.

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Answer 5

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Mar 21, 2013 9:43 AM in response to EEaudio08

This program appears to have more flexibility than the one in your OP.

Time Machine – Change Backup Schedule

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Answer 6

EEaudio08 Author

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4 points

Mar 21, 2013 9:46 AM in response to Eric Root

Perfect - I can set it for midnight each night, and it'll start up Power Nap; assuming TM triggers Power Nap.

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Answer 7

drdocument

Level 4

3,019 points

Mar 21, 2013 9:51 AM in response to EEaudio08

EEaudio08 wrote:

There is a popup dialog that shows up when backing up wirelessly to the AirPort Extreme's connected HDD. I'm not quite sure why it does this during wireless backup, because on my 17" MBP, I also only see the icon spinning in the menu bar.

If I could shut off that dialog, that would also solve some problems.

Aha! Thanks. A popup would definitely be more intrusive then the menu icon.

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Answer 8

EEaudio08 Author

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4 points

Mar 21, 2013 9:58 AM in response to drdocument

And to clarify, on my 17" MBP, I backup directly to USB (via Expresscard 34 USB3.0 adapter). No wireless going on for me.

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Answer 9

EEaudio08 Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 21, 2013 10:07 AM in response to EEaudio08

The below thread seems to suggest that the popup is only during initial backups. Maybe the in-laws stop the process so frequently that there has never been a complete initial backup... I'll have to check into that further.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3464783?start=0&tstart=0

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Answer 10

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Mar 21, 2013 12:42 PM in response to EEaudio08

That backup configuration is unsupported and should be expected to result in total data loss.

Time Machine doesn't back up to AirPort Extreme AirPort Disks

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