Sliced bread or Time Machine?

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Wed Nov 09, 2011 9:29 pm

Can't figure out which I'd rather live without. I needed a piece of audio from a project that I didn't think I'd need. Changed my mind... imagine that. Turns out that I had done housekeeping and deleted it. Time Machine to the rescue. Seriously, it's the shiznit!

b.g. · Post by **b.g.** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 6:59 am

Toss up.

Gravity Jim · Post by **Gravity Jim** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 7:02 am

I have a good bread knife.

So I hafta go with Time Machine.

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 7:09 am

Rye or whole wheat?

Original or remake?

rodger1811 · Post by **rodger1811** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 7:33 am

James Steele wrote:Can't figure out which I'd rather live without. I needed a piece of audio from a project that I didn't think I'd need. Changed my mind... imagine that. Turns out that I had done housekeeping and deleted it. Time Machine to the rescue. Seriously, it's the shiznit!

Definitely 100% true! It's really awesome!

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 7:39 am

Good insurance is to have both a good clone on the ready AND a TimeMachine backup. Double, even triple or quadruple backups are not that hard to have and if your data is critical there is no reason not to do that.

mikehalloran · Post by **mikehalloran** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 8:58 am

Having suffered a major crash in OS 6 in my business (saved only by paper backups!), I am of the opinion that something like Time Machine should have been part of OS 7 or 8.

I have a networked Time Capsule that backs up my wife's and daughters' iMacs and laptops via ethernet or wireless. Not mine, though.

One reason that I switched to a dock for TM on my own system is so I can use multiple drives. I lift one drive out and place the other one in as the drive gets full. I won't let it drop the oldest files - you never know. So far, the 2G drive I have been using still has room but, as soon as the alert pops up, there's a replacement waiting to drop in. I have another drive that I run once a month.

With the industry going to SATA-3 (6G transfer), 2G "green" SATA-2 drives can be had around $60 if you keep your eyes open.

Apple's Time Capsule works really well for backing up the rest of the network and serving as a wireless gateway - including my iPad. On reading of the power supply problems caused by heat, I replaced the stock drive with a 2G "green" low power drive. Besides the increased capacity, the result is much cooler to the touch (and quieter, too).

Data loss? Never again!

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 10:18 am

mikehalloran wrote:
Data loss? Never again!

The backup scheme to end all backup schemes? LOL! Like the war to end all wars.

Hate to be the one to break it to ya, Mike, but poop happens and regardless of how much we try, something that can happen, will happen. Comes with the nature of the universe. On top of that, the Sun only has a few billion more years. What'll we do then? Interstellar WiFi backups?

mikehalloran · Post by **mikehalloran** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 10:54 am

All my DP files are backed up to CD or DVD depending... Yes, it can all go away but I'm trying to make it as difficult as I can.

mhschmieder · Post by **mhschmieder** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 11:34 am

Easy question for me, as I hate sliced bread. I eat 100% whole grain bread and the ones who pre-slice it don't understand that it should be sliced thinner and that it crumbles if you re-slice it after the fact.

"The best thing since sliced bread" has been one of my most hated sayings for decades now.

Personal rant over.

As for Time Machine, it gives me piece of mind, but after almost a year with my new MacPro and running Snow Leopard, I have yet to need it, thank goodness.

I look at it now and then just so that I'm aware of what's there, as a sanity check. It always amazes me how little space it uses, given that I have it back up both my system drive and my main data drive. I probably "over-bought" when I chose 2 TB for my Time Machine drive size.

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 11:38 am

FWIW, in July 2011 I bought a 2TB Caldigit drive for my TimeM backup and last week it bit the dust. CalDigit has it now and I'm damn glad it wasn't my main drive or I'd be in big trouble....

kgdrum · Post by **kgdrum** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:38 pm

A bit off topic :
Recent events in Thailand(flooding) have been attributed to major price increases for hd's. Articles on the Internet:various sites and postings on GS are speculating the market prices will be affected for another 4-6 weeks.I have noticed some hd's I was considering(OWC) a couple of months ago cost considerably more now.
Some hd's have stayed the same price but some have really jumped up in cost.
Waiting a bit,hope the prices drop soon.

mikehalloran · Post by **mikehalloran** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:15 pm

MIDI Life Crisis wrote:FWIW, in July 2011 I bought a 2TB Caldigit drive for my TimeM backup and last week it bit the dust. CalDigit has it now and I'm damn glad it wasn't my main drive or I'd be in big trouble....

I have no disagreement with your earlier remarks about needing 2, 3 or 4 backups. That example is perfect.

When the $1,000 20MB external for my Mac+ crashed and the $1,500 tape backup didn't work properly (not ever)... I bought another external SCSI drive and a copy of Norton 1. I put the crashed drive into the freezer which brought it back to life just long enough for Norton to recover all but my last two days worth of invoices. Having paper copies allowed me to re-enter the data and bill my customers. I avoided the "Please, my computer crashed. Could you tell me how much you owe me?" scene. I have since spent a lot of time and money using various backup schemes over the years.

Yes, the Bureau of Redundancy Department is very active.

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 7:27 am

You missed one invoice Mike. You still owe me $10k. Still have my mailing address?

mikehalloran · Post by **mikehalloran** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 8:28 am

I put it in the mail in 1987. You should have it any day now.

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