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Level 1

4 points

Limiting the Time Machine's Time Capsule space

Hi all,

So I've searched through numerous threads and can't seem to find a good answer for this. I'm fairly new to Mac BTW, with a late 2012 MBA running 10.8.3. I want to limit the space on my Time Capsule for the Time Machine to use. I've already tried this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq7mSizqUSI

Got to the end and it says my Time Machine Backup is out of 2TB (which is my Time Capsule size) instead of the 2GB I set the image file to. I also tried this and it wouldn't let me - it says whatever size I set it to is too small:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTaNMkmQUEk

So I guess the question is, is there a way to do this without having to repartition my Time Capsule? I have data on my Time Capsule, and as I understand it, I will lose this data if I partition it now...? Maybe that's not true? If it's not, than can someone tell me how?

Second question:

I recently had to restore from a backup because of an SSD failure (thankfully Apple replaced it under warranty). I restored earlier this week. I moved this old sparsebundle to a new folder on my Time Capsule. Then I backed up using a new sparsebundle using the trick in the first youtube link above (which, like I said, didn't work). My question is - why is this new backup smaller (26GB) than my old backup (29GB). I know for a fact that I haven't deleted 3GB worth of stuff in the last couple days or so, and have actually added files. Strange...?

Thanks for your help!

MacBook Air, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3)

Posted on Mar 24, 2013 4:39 AM

Best reply

drdocument

Level 4

3,019 points

Posted on Mar 24, 2013 5:36 AM

Hi.

The best Time Machine info outside Apple can be found here.

You cannot partition the Time Capsule's internal drive, but in Mountain Lion you should be able to limit the size of the sparsebundle containing your backups, and it is also possible to create a disk image on the Time Capsule's drive.

Pondini advises TM needs 2 to 3 times the size of the data to be backed up (2GB is definitely too small). But I have found that 1.5 times is enough for more than a year's worth of backup data. However, my strategy is to also maintain an Archive drive to which I move inactive files (like finished projects), and I keep a clone of that Archive drive separately from TM.

Thus, I use TM solely for the ability to restore my startup drive (some or all) if necessary, and "historical archives" are maintained separetly. I have a 500GB Time Capsule as backup for about 260GB of current data (everything on my startup dtive except Downloads folder).

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17 replies

drdocument

Level 4

3,019 points

Mar 25, 2013 4:57 PM in response to phlipsidez

It's helpful to remember that a partition is different then the sparsebundle.

If you have divided your TC drive into multiple partitions, each one will have its own volume name. If you select Time Capsule in the Shared section of the sidebar (in list view) and the only thing that appears is a folder named "Time Capsule," then your TC drive has only one partition. And everything that's been placed on your TC is taking up space in that partition.

If you still have only one partition on your TC, and you have another drive you can use to move things around, I'd suggest taking everything else off your TC and storing it elsewhere, then you can reorganize things to suit your your needs.

One fairly easy thing to do would be to move everything except your current TM sparsbundle off your TC, then create a disk image on the TC which takes up almost all remaining unused space. That will limit additional growth of your TM sparsebundle, and you can then keep that additional disk image mounted on your desktop if you wish and use it for whatever you desire.

Just a thought.

phlipsidez Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 27, 2013 3:17 PM in response to drdocument

So I got it to work. I basically did what was in the first video that I posted, then followed steps 7-10 in the link you gave me. Thanks!

Limiting the Time Machine's Time Capsule space