osx external drive ?
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- rasko4
so I just bought a new external drive, and before I chuck a load of stuff on there thought I would ask what would be best to do with it, I guess it would be a good idea to install osx on there, do I partition the drive first? What are you favourite solutions?
ta
- de4k0
if you're gonna have a bootable backup on the ext. then yeah partition it and then clone your hd to the ext with SuperDuper..
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/Supeā¦
which means if your computer goes tits up then you can boot from the ext. with minimal damage. the partition means you can store other shit on there too.
if you knew all this then carry on!
- rasko40
so if I just make a partition the same size as my desktops HD, and then clone it?
what I als want to do is store my mp3's on the HD, and play them through itunes, can I play them from the cloned partition?
- de4k0
mp3s from a clone?
I dont think so.one of the partitions needs to be at least as big as your hd.
how big is your ext hd?
you may have room to do both.if its 300gb then you should have room. 150g clone and 150g for what the hell you like/mp3s etc.
- horton0
personally i'd leave all your tunes on an internal drive then you don't need to fire up the ext all day/ every day.
the clone of your OS X system can be smaller than your desktop HD, depending on how you use your user directories and where you store your veryday work, and if that gets backed up some other way.
i'd clone just the system and user libraries so you get a backup all your mail, address book info etc.
Carbon Copy Cloner is what i'd recommend.
- de4k0
cloning may not be what you want, if you just want straight forward backup then there's no need to partition.
I had all my mp3s on an external for some time, and like horton said, the little time lag does annoy now and again.
- rasko40
ok Ill leave the tunes where they are. Horton, my stuff is basically stored in folders on my desktop, if I clone as you said, should I then just back this stuff up onto the other partition, then I can throw it away off this machine?
seems to make sense, then I have a smaller partition for the clone, 30gb be enough?
- rasko40
I just thought it would be a good idea to have a bootable external HD
?
- de4k0
it is a good idea.
- rasko40
ok cool, so how much should I leave just for the clone?
thanks for the help btw, much appreciated.
- horton0
cloning your system to an ext disk for backup is smart and a very good routine to get into.
i'm just saying i prefer to focus my clones on the core OS X system and user directories.
all my work files get backed up to DVD every couple weeks.
- rasko40
cool so how small can I get away with? 30gb?
- horton0
to be honest sounds like you need to consider reconfiguring your internal HD as well.
how big is the drive in your box? just one?
saving all your work to folders on the desktop is not really the best way to manage files imho.
you might wanna consider breakng up your internal disk into partitions... i've got 5 different volumes for fonts, work and music plus a little chunk for a scratch disk.
- horton0
cool so how small can I get away with? 30gb?
rasko4
(Jan 28 06, 11:18)is the ext. just for backup? if so you don't really need to partition it.
- rasko40
yes the external is just for back up, so if I just reformat to HFS+ journalled and clone onto that? What happens to the other space, I can use it for back up?
This machine is just my at home thing, I know just having these on the desktop is not the best, but for now its not worth worrying about, I will sort it out when I buy a new mac.
- horton0
yeah just skip the partitioning and reformat. and sounds as though you might as well just straight clone the entire thing then your work is backed up too.
partitioning is best for when you need to isolate specific items to improve disk performance and/ or keep your system volume clean. i love having a font volume (if you have lots of fonts) because they get damaged frequently and can slow down the system.
and make sure to select the "zero all data" option.. shouldn't assume a new disk is clean.
- rasko40
great help thanks, and yes, my next machine will be organised as you say, I want a partition for fonts, and I want to get my fonts organised into genre's etc, but for now I am just happy to back up and make some space.
Thanks for your time!
- horton0
yes the external is just for back up, so if I just reformat to HFS+ journalled and clone onto that? What happens to the other space, I can use it for back up?
(Jan 28 06, 11:27)
if its just for backup its easy. just do your first clone, which will duplicate your internal disk - including those desktop folders, which are a bad idea.. at least put your work in your HOME directory and create alias folders on your desktop to drop files into.
then next week or month or whenever your next scheduled backup your cloning software will just update the ext. clone it already created.
- rasko40
will do, yeah aliases sound like a good idea :)