Time Machine Rookie - Backing up multiple drives?

[Nibiru]

Hey all!

I'm brand new to using Time Machine, so pretty please forgive my tardiness and ignorance. I admit I did some searching but figured I ask one of the many great people here.

Question: Can Time Machine backup not only my system drive, but also my projects drive, sound library drive, iTunes drive, etc?

I connected a 4TB G-Drive to use as my TM drive, and have it partitioned into 4 parts to accommodate the 4 drives I want to back up. I'm getting the feeling this is not the way to do it and am looking for advice/ideas as to how some of you go about doing this.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

[cuttime]

Yes to all, but there is no need to partition it for each drive. Time Machine backs up drives that are visible in the Finder. If you open the TM Preferences, and look at the options, you will see a list of what to exclude. Here is a good article on verification, and a nifty tip on backing up to more than one drive.

[mikehalloran]

Do not partition the drive.

One of the good things is that you can exclude drives and folders that don't require backing up. For example, I do not back up my Samples library as all are available for download from their vendors -- no sense taking up the space on my Time Machine drive.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Hold on there! You MAY want to partition that drive.

What you could do is setup the drive into two partitions of 2TB each (assuming that will hold all your stuff with room to spare - lots of room to spare!). Then use multiple TM backups. The drivers will alternate and you;ll have a dual backup. I did that and it totally saved my but last December when one backup failed to restore my system to a new Mac Pro. THe second drive did the trick. In fact, I am just now installing my second 2TB backup this evening as I am finally getting around to rebuilding the entire system.

http://macs.about.com/od/backupsarchive ... Drives.htm

I do, however, agree with Mike that backing up VIs and stuff like SFX that are easily restored from disc or clones is wise as they do take up a lot of TM space unnecessarily. I just update the VI and SFX drives, but the startup and data (project, iTunes, etc) stuff should be backed up regularly. Don;t be afraid to backup hourly (I only do that when sessions are active). It won't recreate the entire backup, just the files that change or are added. I mention SFX because I have about 30GB of SFX in my library (mostly MP3 files) and I still have the original discs as well as clones of that drive. My VI library is about 300GB and again, it's cloned and those don't really change all that often. When they do, I update the clone.

[Nibiru]

Man, I didn't expect to see a reply at all, let alone 3, and so quickly! Thanks for the suggestions and lightning fast responses guys. I really appreciate all your points and suggestions. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around where the data from my external drives is stored. When I enter TM and go back a day or two, I don't have access to my externals, they're greyed out. I'm sure I'm missing something...

Thanks again!!

[cuttime]

I don't have access to my externals, they're greyed out. I'm sure I'm missing something...

Are your external drives excluded?

[Nibiru]

That must be it. Thank you cuttime! Backing up now. Will check to make sure my drives aren't greyed out when it's done. Thanks again.

[Nibiru]

And of course, you're right cuttime. Thank you again. Love this forum. Does everyone know how special this place is? No really, do you?

[cuttime]

And of course, you're right cuttime. Thank you again. Love this forum. Does everyone know how special this place is? No really, do you?

Credit goes to James Steele and his stalwart assistant, Doris.