akirby Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Bootable time machine drive. (You thought someone was going to say "emergency restore disk", didn't you?) Ok. So that requires an external drive and time machine software on each system, right? That's the best part about WHS or possibly the other Synology solution - they're network based and can back up any number of devices without any additional hardware or software. There is only a thin client that runs on each client. The other thing I like is that I can extract a backup from any device at any point in time and access it as a network share on any other device. So I can pull a file from my daughter's laptop backup from 8 days ago on my laptop. The thin client on each device also gives you status of the entire network, so if my daughter's laptop backup doesn't work I get a notice and visual alarm no matter which device I'm using. It also warns about missing firewalls and anti-virus software and failure to install security updates, etc. I can boot from cdrom on any device and initiate a full disk restore without having to reload the O/S or other software first. That is a handy feature. In my case it was only $150 because I had a spare desktop. Sounds like there are other options now like Synology that might be worth a look if you want a centralized network based solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullynd Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 (edited) Time Machine is built into the OS (Leopard and up). All you need is an external hard drive. It's very elegant. Edited August 11, 2011 by sullynd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2005Explorer Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Time Machine is built into the OS (Leopard and up). All you need is an external hard drive. It's very elegant. I love Time Machine. It is so easy just to go back in time and find what you need like a little trip through space. I believe you can pair it with a Time Capsule and then can wirelessly back-up all Macs on your network. I just use it with a FW800 drive attached to my Mac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Time Machine is built into the OS (Leopard and up). All you need is an external hard drive. It's very elegant. For a single machine. The network solutions also provide shared storage, internet-accessible web server and media server for all devices in the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suv_guy_19 Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 For a single machine. The network solutions also provide shared storage, internet-accessible web server and media server for all devices in the house. For a Mac network, the solution would then be either a Time Capsule, or an Airport Extreme connected to a HDD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullynd Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 For a single machine. Though I have never tried it, I'm pretty sure you can back up multiple macs to one hard drive on one mac provided the drive is accessible from the other machines (without the need for a Time Capsule or Airport, though both are probably a preferable solution). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 Though I have never tried it, I'm pretty sure you can back up multiple macs to one hard drive on one mac provided the drive is accessible from the other machines (without the need for a Time Capsule or Airport, though both are probably a preferable solution). I understand there are ways to make it work. I just like the network solutions with a separate stand alone box and thin clients. And I think the bootable cdrom solution that WHS provides is a neat way of handling full restorations without having to do any pre-restoral software installs. Just plug in the new drive, boot from cdrom and select restore. 30 minutes later you're booting up. I'm sure there are other similar solutions out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Harbinger Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 For a single machine. The network solutions also provide shared storage, internet-accessible web server and media server for all devices in the house. I have set up networked time machine backups on the regular version of Mac OS (it's just a network share). The client device detects that it's a network device and automatically uses the correct backup mechanism, and in the future auto-connects/disconnects the drive to do backups. And who needs a media server? iPhoto shares photo albums, iTunes shares music and video. The regular OS version has file sharing and "web sharing" (Apache+php) built in, too, with no client limits or limits on where the connections originate. Client/connection limits on the basic OS versions are artificially imposed by Microsoft to force offices into more expensive software packages as they grow. For whatever you feel about things like app stores, I can't think of anywhere Apple uses artificial limits on service capabilities to drive software upgrade sales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 I have set up networked time machine backups on the regular version of Mac OS (it's just a network share). The client device detects that it's a network device and automatically uses the correct backup mechanism, and in the future auto-connects/disconnects the drive to do backups. And who needs a media server? iPhoto shares photo albums, iTunes shares music and video. The regular OS version has file sharing and "web sharing" (Apache+php) built in, too, with no client limits or limits on where the connections originate. Client/connection limits on the basic OS versions are artificially imposed by Microsoft to force offices into more expensive software packages as they grow. For whatever you feel about things like app stores, I can't think of anywhere Apple uses artificial limits on service capabilities to drive software upgrade sales. Huh? I already said I don't like Microsoft and I'm not against Apple either. I have 4 iphones and one ipad. I'm just saying that WHS works very well and has some nice features. I haven't had to touch it in over 3 years and it's running in a closet with no monitor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Harbinger Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 Oh and there are hundreds of articles out there about how to create a bootable USB drive from which you could do a restore, in case your drive is so farked up that the emergency partition (a hidden partition on your drive that bootstraps you into system recovery tools if the main partition is messed up) won't boot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 Oh and there are hundreds of articles out there about how to create a bootable USB drive from which you could do a restore, in case your drive is so farked up that the emergency partition (a hidden partition on your drive that bootstraps you into system recovery tools if the main partition is messed up) won't boot. Here is the scenario where I like the way WHS works. Not sure why you hate it so much. Hard drive dies - DOA. Can't be read. Buy and install new blank hard drive. Boot from WHS CD-ROM. Pick machine name and date to restore. Wait 30 minutes. Reboot. You're done. I like it and will continue to use it. That's all I was trying to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2005Explorer Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 Here is the scenario where I like the way WHS works. Not sure why you hate it so much. Hard drive dies - DOA. Can't be read. Buy and install new blank hard drive. Boot from WHS CD-ROM. Pick machine name and date to restore. Wait 30 minutes. Reboot. You're done. I like it and will continue to use it. That's all I was trying to say. I say use whatever works for you. The only disadvantage of running a separate server is the additional power consumption. Even idle it is probably drawing close to 60 watts and more then double when it is working. In South Dakota we average around 7-8 cents a kilowatt hour and compared to other areas it is pretty cheap. Lets just say that an extra server in a closet average 100 watts of power consumption for a month. It would use 73 kWh for a month. Now lets say you live in a place that charges 10 cents for kilowatt hour that server would cost you $7.30 a month to operate. Now that doesn't sound like much, but over a year it is $87.60. Now what if you run it for 5 years? That is $438. Of course if you feel it is necessary and saves you time (and I believe a persons time is worth something) then it is worth it. If another solution works for you and does not require running another computer then go buy a couple extra Starbucks for the month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 I say use whatever works for you. The only disadvantage of running a separate server is the additional power consumption. Even idle it is probably drawing close to 60 watts and more then double when it is working. In South Dakota we average around 7-8 cents a kilowatt hour and compared to other areas it is pretty cheap. Lets just say that an extra server in a closet average 100 watts of power consumption for a month. It would use 73 kWh for a month. Now lets say you live in a place that charges 10 cents for kilowatt hour that server would cost you $7.30 a month to operate. Now that doesn't sound like much, but over a year it is $87.60. Now what if you run it for 5 years? That is $438. Of course if you feel it is necessary and saves you time (and I believe a persons time is worth something) then it is worth it. If another solution works for you and does not require running another computer then go buy a couple extra Starbucks for the month. Again, I never said it was the cheapest or best, just that it was very easy to use and had been rock solid. Then again, it replaces external drives on 3 separate computers which would also consume some amount of electricity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Harbinger Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 The only disadvantage of running a separate server is the additional power consumption. Even idle it is probably drawing close to 60 watts and more then double when it is working. My Mac Mini runs 11.5 watts at idle, 50 watts when running full blast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Harbinger Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 Here is the scenario where I like the way WHS works. Not sure why you hate it so much. Hard drive dies - DOA. Can't be read. Buy and install new blank hard drive. Boot from WHS CD-ROM. Pick machine name and date to restore. Wait 30 minutes. Reboot. You're done. I like it and will continue to use it. That's all I was trying to say. Well, I shouldn't be criticizing how you back up, I should be complementing you for backing up at all. It's something so few people do, when everyone should do it. So bravo for finding something that works to your satisfaction. Nevertheless, I maintain that Time Machine has led to a much higher percentage of Mac users having backups than Windows users, because the effort required is just trivial, and fits the computing skills of the 'average' user. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Posted August 14, 2011 Author Share Posted August 14, 2011 Just building and pricing for fun, at least they can get rid of multi-disc changers for starters and have NAV systems w/ USB connections more available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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