Aperture - One Library and Backup

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Level 1

118 points

Aperture - One Library and Backup

Hello,

I'm trying to build a new solution for my Aperture library between 2 computers and a "better" backup solution.

I am currently setup as follows:

My Aperure library resides on my 27" iMac internal HD. It is backed up by Time Machine and then I have an off-site Carbon copy clone that gets backed up every 3 months or so. I currently have a 27" iMac that I have to do all my work on as I don't want to separate my library between that and my macbook pro. But, I would like to be able to work on both.

I recently moved my iMovie/Final Cut libaries off my Macintosh HD off the iMac to an external RAID 1 drive. I did this so Time machine didn't have to backup raw video files that just took space...but I'd like to keep the files just in case and the RAID 1 allowed me to do that.

I have been thinking about doing something similar with Aperture. My Aperture libray is currently around 100GB and one of the solutions could be to use 1 external RAID1 drive for this as well and move between the iMac and the Macbook pro. It would be great if it was a portable solution like the G-Tech RAID products but that one is not really user "changeable" unlike the Western Mybook Thunderbolt I use for video. (This one is much heavier and would be a mess to transport with me every time.

Any ideas? What are you doing?

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Jul 17, 2013 8:55 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Frank Caggiano

Level 7

25,909 points

Jul 17, 2013 9:10 AM in response to Julie O

Just keep in mind RAID is NOT backup. Even if you place the library on a RAID array you will still need to back it up.

As for using the library on both systems placing it on an external drive is the easiest solution. Aperture doesn't lend itself very well to being shared between systems, there i no good way to keep separate libraries in sync. So having one library on an external drive that is moved between systems is best.

regards

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Answer 2

Julie O Author

Level 1

118 points

Jul 17, 2013 9:35 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

So you recommend external and I guess RAID not needed, but then set a workflow to either use Carbon Copy Cloner? Can you set time machine on 2 different drives on each computer to backup one libary such as Aperture? I just don't want to forget.

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Answer 3

Jul 17, 2013 10:25 AM in response to Julie O

For sharing the library between Mac's then yes putting the library on an external dive and moving it between systems is the best way to go.

For backup, RAID isn't needed (it does provide benefits but backup isn;t one of them) you can use Time Machine. Normally external drives are excluded but you can go into TM's settings and add the drive. You could have both systems backing up the drive by TM when the drive is plugged into that machine. Just be aware if the drive was not plugged into one of the systems for an extended period and you did work on the library during that time, when you do plug the drive in the backup could take a while.

Adding a clone of the external drive with the library on it would be a good idea. While TM is good it isn't an archival backup so for images especially, I like to add a clone.

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