When you bought your Time Machine backup drive, did you opt for a solid state drive or a hard disk drive? One is better than the other when it comes to backups.
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Watch more videos about related subjects: Backing Up (18 videos).
You can also watch this video at YouTube.
Watch more videos about related subjects: Backing Up (18 videos).
Video Transcript
Hi, this is Gary with MacMost.com. Let me tell you why you may have bought the wrong hard drive for Time Machine.
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Now when you buy an external hard drive to use with Time Machine to backup your Mac you have lots of different choices. More and more I hear people making the wrong one. What they're buying is a solid state drive or SSD. You, of course, want to get a good quality hard drive so a solid state drive would be considered to be a better quality drive than an older hard disk drive. One that has a spinning disk in it. After all SSD's have a couple of advantages over hard drives. One is that they're much faster. Another is that they are more durable. There are no moving parts. So theoretically they should also longer.
However hard disk drives have a couple of advantages that are actually more important when it comes to doing backups.
The big one is that you can get larger storage sizes. You can get much larger hard drives than you can solid state drives. Another big advantage to hard drives is they're much cheaper. There is no reason to waste money when you're not going to use the extra quality that that money brings. Let's talk about each of these differences.
First, while it is true that SSD's are faster you don't really need that speed when it comes to backups. Backups run in the background. There is no rush to get them done. If it takes 4 minutes to do a backup or 1 minute to do a backup it's really not going to change things for you as you use your Mac. It is just happening behind the scenes. So you don't really need that super fast speed. Now if you're thinking well what if I need to restore from my Time Machine backup. But hopefully you'll never need to do that. You should only need to restore from a Time Machine backup in an emergency. In case that happens I wouldn't worry too much about speed. I mean your work's getting interrupted. You're probably going to have to go and do something else while the restore happens anyway.
Now as for a solid state drive's being more durable than hard drives, well this isn't really a factor with backups either because it is just the backup. If the backup fails the only time that is a problem is if it fails at a the exact same time as your internal drive. Then you have two failures at once. Of course that is extremely improbable. Chances are if your backup drive fails it just fails on its own and you just replace it with a new one. This can happen whether it is an SSD or a hard drive. Is it more likely to happen with a hard drive. It's really hard to say. You're really not using a hard drive at its full capacity when you're doing just a backup to it. It's not like the internal drive on a machine that's constantly being read from and written to. It's being used at a much lower rate.
But if your concern is durability then what you should really be doing is going for a second backup that's online. So you're using a service like Backblaze and saving your files online in addition to Time Machine. Now you've got two backups. A second backup is not in the same location as the first backup. So let's talk about price and storage. But before we do let's talk about how much storage you need with a Time Machine drive.
In general you should look at how much stuff you're storing on your local drive and if you have any other external drives. So maybe, say, you've got a 1 TB drive and it is half full. You also have an external 2TB drive and that's half full. So that's 1.5TB of data right now. In the future that's going to creep up to 2TB and over. So you want to double that number to find the minimum size of a drive. So, for a 2TB you would double to 4TBs. Now this is minimum. So, I wouldn't use this. I would go with several times more than that. As a matter of fact I personally would go with a 12TB drive. But if I was to buy one today I would go even higher than that. Remember Time Machine doesn't just store a copy of each file you have now. It stores a history. So, a file that you deleted last week or last month its got a copy of that. A file you've changed 17 times over the last 17 days you're going to have 17 copies. You want the backup to last years. You want to be able to go back and fine a file that you didn't realize you deleted last year or two years ago. So you want this thing to be several times the size if you can do that.
Now let's look at some size and prices. Here's a hard disk drive from Western Digital. A typical one. As a matter of fact I have a very similar model to this. You could see at 12TB it's just over $200. This is a pretty typical price for something this size. You could actually jump up to 14TB. It's going to jump up a little bit in price but then you can go from there to 16TB and 18TB you're still under $300 even at 18TB of storage. That's going to be able to save years of stuff. If you're doing lots of work with images, with videos, and such you're going to have lots of large files and you're going to be changing them and even removing them all the time and this will allow the Time Machine backup to keep up with all that having all that extra space.
But a sweet spot does seem to be around 12TB for a little over $20. Now let's compare that to solid state drives. So solid state drives typically come out right now at about $200 for 2TBs. Sure they are exceptions and sometimes you can find sales. But typically you're going to pay twice that for 4TB. So you're looking at 2TB instead of 12TB if you go with a solid state drive. You saw I can go to 18TB for the price of a typical 4TB solid state drive. So you definitely get a lot more storage for a regular hard drive than you do a solid state drive. This is true whether or not you're trying to save money or get a larger drive or both. If you really just think you need 2TB or 4TB you can save a lot of money by getting a hard drive over a solid state drive. On the other hand if you're looking at 4TB solid state versus, say, an 18TB hard drive then the 18TB one is going to be a much better option as a backup.
Now another factor is power. These larger drives like this typically have their own power connection. So you're plugging into a wall socket and you're also plugging into your computer. The solid state drives don't have that. You're just plugging right into your computer. Just one cable which is great. But you can get that in hard drives too. These are typically called Portable Drives. They do have size limits. Typically 4 or 5TBs is the limit for a portable drive. They are much smaller and they just plug in with one USB cable. But the price and size ratio are still superior to the SSD. For instance for about $100 you can get a 5TB portable hard drive and it's going to cost you typically two or four times that to get a Solid State drive with the same amount of storage.
So if you're asking for my advice, which a lot of people do all the time, it is to get a hard drive, not a solid state drive, for a Time Machine backup. Get a large one! 12TBs or even a 18TBs if you really want something that's portable, that doesn't have another power cable attached to it, then go for one of the 5TB portable hard drives. I hope you found this useful. Thanks for watching.
Let's imagine I create a fresh file today(original). It goes into my time machine backup automatically. On next 15 days, I made little changes everyday. So, all 15 versions went to the backup. Now on 16th day, lets say time machine couldn't find enough space, so it deleted backup containing 1st version of file. And, continued with 16th version. And same on next(17th) day, it deleted backup containing 2nd version and took backup putting inside 17th version. Now, how to revert to original?
Jun: What type of Backup Drive should that be? A 16 GB Stick?
Let's stick to the real world here...
Jun: You can't. Your example is a good one to illustrate why you need a big backup drive. In your case, the drive ran out of space on day 16. So maybe a 2TB internal drive with 1TB used, and a 1TB backup drive. It runs out of space quickly because the initial backup takes almost all of it. So you end up losing a 16-day-old original version of a file. This is why you get a much bigger drive, like a 12TB drive. Then instead of old files dropping off after 16 days, it would be more like 3 years. This is why size matters so much more than speed. A 1TB SSD would fail you at this point, and a 12TB HDD would get you the backup you really need.
Thanks Gary for the answer that it can't restore the file as its corresponding backup got cleared off to make room for newer backups.
Henning: sticking to the real world - 16GB (or any GB/TB) is 'size' and not 'type'. Plus, my query was a hypothetical one which will still hold good regardless of 'size' (just that GB will turn into TB and days into months/years) [and of course not 'type']
Hi, In the past we could move TM backups to a different drive. I believe that you can no longer do that? Or is there a way to do that? thanks again for all your help. I always learn so much from your videos.
Russ: It has never been easy to move Time Machine backups. But there is really no need to. Start a new backup on your new drive. Keep the old drive around a while in case you happen to need a file from it.
Thanks for the article. I just had co-failure of my internal drive and my external Western Digital 8 TB (drive heads failed). Could you comment on the formatting option for an external rotational drive? I have read it is best to have rotational drives formatted as HFS+ rather than APFS. I also know that DiskWarrior can't reconstruct external directories on APFS drives but can for HFS+ drives, though data recovery software Disk Drill 5 can recover data from HFS+ or APFS.
Arthur: I use APFS. HFS+ is fine too, but the future is APFS. I wouldn't base my decision on what third-party apps can or can't do, especially if one is behind the times.
Regarding Time Machine, is there a drive available that can be attached to a LAN that can be used as a Time Machine for multiple devices?
Lyle: Any drive that is attached to a LAN can be used by multiple devices. Just select the drive to use on Mac 1, then do the same on Mac 2.
At this point, you should be considering the legacy of this backup drive when your heirs inherit it. Will you pass along the password decryption to the drive? What will they find? How long into the future do you think it will be readable/compatible for archaeological exploration?
Gary, thank you. Your timing on this is exquisite. I am sending a SSD drive back to Amazon now that I’ve seen your video and replacing it instead with a much bigger and less expensive hard drive. Thank you again. This was so incredibly timely advice. You rock.
We exchanged on this before I made my purchase & I want to confess I didn't listen (hope others will). I went with the 2TB SSD on sale for a 256 GB iMAC M1. I put it in place in Dec. 2022 and it's currently at 0.4 TB full. So, you're so right, as I estimate I'll be full within 2 years and need to plan for longer. Since I 'm currently not TM backing up on a 2019 iMac (was rarely used, but will be), at this point should I do a HDD on LAN (and cloud both, to have a 2nd backup - business reason)?
JL: Since they are both stationary Macs, I would go with attached drives for both. I would only use a network drive if my main Mac was a MacBook and I didn't plug it in at a desk very often.
Thank Gary! I will be using a Macbook too, but not primarily - I'm posting on the M1, so you confirmed a little feeling I had to not trouble myself with networking the HDD. I'll keep each separate for now.
Gary, great video thank you.
I often find that my Mac pauses waiting for my Time Machine HDD to spin-up. I've been looking for a solution to this for quite a while now, If there a way to avoid this frustrating delay?
Waiting for a HDD to spin-up does defeat the point of having a super fast Mac.
Thank you for your help.
Ian: Check System Settings, Battery/Power/Energy Saver for "Put hard disks to sleep when possible."
Very timely advice, thanks Gary
Is it possible to simultaneously connect two different external hard drives, that serve as time machine drives, to a Mac?
I recently went through this thought process myself and thankfully came up with the same outcome that you suggested that is to use a HDD but I still have that nagging issue of durability. I take your point that it unless both internal and TM drives fail at the same time it's easy to get another HDD up and running on TM, but what about all those years of data you have lost. As you say one of the advantages of TM is that you have those older copies if you ever need them.
Jonathan: Yes. See https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-time-machine-to-back-up-to-multiple-disks-mh40739/mac
David: Having older versions of files is a luxury, not a necessity. You typically use those older versions if you make a mistake with a file. If the drive fails and if it happens to be at the same time you need to revert to an old file, then you may lose that one file. But that is two "if"s. If that is your concern, then I mention in the video that the solution is to also have another backup, like an online one. Spend the money on that and also get a second location rather than on an SSD (which could fail too!)
This drive is USB3. Will I have to connect it to an external Thunderbolt extender, and will that affect the transfer of files in a negative way? (https://www.amazon.com/12TB-Elements-Desktop-Drive-WDBWLG0120HBK-NESN/dp/B07X4V2M3B)
Paul: I have no idea what you mean by "an external Thunderbolt extender." Do yo mean a USB hub or Thunderbolt dock of some kind? That maybe slow it a little bit, but for Time Machine backups that is fine.
Yes, a hub or dock with the USB3 on it. Mainly because I can't find anything Western Digital that will plug right into the back of my new Mac. I have several WD SATA drives on my old Macs, but that doesn't work either.
Paul: So you just have the wrong USB connector? Either replace the cable with one that is USB-C, or get an adapter. Either option cost a few dollars and is much better than going through a whole hub/dock.
I was hung up on data transfer rates etc. thinking that "USB3" was something different. I've already got the adapter poking out the back of my Mac! Thanks, Gary, for putting up with these comments!
Very useful. I wish you had also discussed how to revive a portable HDD that the Mac refuses to recognise. It has happened with me a few times. I also wish you had discussed available online backups as a second backupfor Time Machine
Gary, I find that the System Settings, Battery/Power/Energy Saver for "Put hard disks to sleep when possible." does seem to have much effect on external USB drives used for TM.
Thank you for your help.
Just bought a 12 TB external HDD per your recommendation. The Time Machine backup is using less than 2 TB. The 12 TB external HDD is not allowing me to put Time Machine backups in a folder so that I can store other things on the drive, such as videos, some of which I want to edit. In fact, Apple says somewhere that my external HDD should be used only for Time Machine backups. I have not had to do that in the past and don't want to do it now. What's the best solution?
Kalani: As you create, modify and delete files Time Machine will use more and more space. It will create a "history" so you can recover files you accidentally deleted or modified and want to revert. That's the whole point of Time Machine. Don't try to put anything else on that drive. Use it only for Time Machine and never access it directly in the Finder. Get another drive if you want to store other things on it. Storing files on a Time Machine drive is not only bad for the backup, but also means you can't back up those files. See https://macmost.com/why-you-should-never-partition-your-backup-drive.html
Thank you, Gary. In that case I think I'll get a smaller capacity external HDD and use my present 12 TB HDD to store videos, some of which I will be editing for publication. Years ago when I tried to erase my Time Machine backup from an external HDD which was also holding other files, the HDD became unusable, if I remember correctly. Do you think I'll run into any problems if I erase my 12 TB HDD and stop using it for Time Machine? It will still be usable, correct?
Kalani: I would use the largest drive you can for Time Machine, not a smaller one. Never store anything else on the Time Machine drive at all. If you need to erase a drive, do it properly in Disk Utility and you should have no problems regardless.
I used to used a hard drive but changed to a SSD because we found the noise of the disk annoying. In fact, it was the same reason I bailed out on my beloved Tivo. We don't need that much storage, so expense was not a major factor. Different priorities.
I'm thinking of buying an external HD for Mac. I have a 2015 laptop and a 2007 desktop. Can I use time machine for the same HD using both without any problem?
Martin: Only if you have a network setup where you can attach a drive or you buy a NAS. Otherwise, you'd be shuttling the drives between your Macs all day long. Are you using iCloud Drive to sync all of your files across these two devices though? Because if you have the same files on both, then you really only need to backup one.
First, I would stick with 4 or 5 TB max in a spinning drive. The technology used in higher density spinning drives seems to be so "on the edge" that failures are more likely (google "shingled magnetic recording).
Second, whenever I wake my mac, it pauses, waiting for my Time Machine HDD to spin up -- a little annoying, but I like my 4TB reliable (8-10 years+) LaCie spinning drive!
FYI you can backup an external drive to a Time Machine drive.
(So tempted to buy a $129 2TB SSD backup!)
While all you said was true, you left out one important consideration that substantially colors your recommendation - the file system used on the backup device. TM backups to APFS drives have several advantages over HFS+ drives (faster, more reliable, less prone to damage) and should be used if at all possible. The biggest drawback to using TM to an APFS drive housed on an HDD is performance degradation from fragmentation.
Mark: Yes, use APFS (most people just let Time Machine format the drive for them anyway). I would argue that "performance degradation" is not really an issue here since you are using the drive as a backup. I doubt anyone will see notice slowdown.
Hi Gary, is there a way to mention time machine backup for only desired folder (let's say Documents or folderA) instead of mentioning only exclude folders(opposite)? Actually, I am trying to do fresh new setup of time machine backup. Fortunately, my Mac drive is just 128GB, so I think it's plenty for time machine backup on brand new 1TB drive. While setting up, I see estimated backup size shows 81GB. I wondered why? Then I checked disk usage. I noticed: 53GB "System Data" ( I don't need it)...
... 15GB "macOS data" (I don't need it), 24GB "Apps" (I don't need it), 1GB "Mail" ( I don't need it), 3GB "Documents" ( I need it -- and this is the only thing I need it). So... Why should I be keeping 81GB time machine backup when all I care to have backup is of just 3GB "Documents". I am just wondering if there is a way simpler way to tell Time Machine to backup only this ( instead of putting the whole world minus this one folder in exclude list).
hult: Don't try to micromanage your Time Machine backup like that. It isn't worth your time and you never know when that piece of system data or other stuff may be needed. Just let Time Machine do its work and back everything up. You have plenty of space on that drive, and a 2TB or 4TB wouldn't have cost much more.
Thanks Gary for the advice. I will follow as you suggested. Just wondering why this can't be provided as an optional feature for the users to focus on what is valuable instead of taking care of whole as a bundle. I know those "macOS data" and "System data" may be useful when OS level issues arise, whole recovery etc. But in my case, I am okay with wiping out whole thing with fresh OS installation (as long as my Documents are safe and recoverable). Anyway..just hope ..for one day..:) Thanks.
hult: The idea of a backup is to save you if you accidentally delete or alter a file, or if your drive breaks or computer is stolen. Given options like you are suggesting will only lead to people failing to backup what is needed. Some > 0 number of people would choose not o backup something and then regret it later.
Gary, I have an old time capsule. I use it with Time Machine on my new MacBook Air 15' and iMac. Every time I change anything on my iMac desktop, when I start my MacBook, it automatically updates those desktop files that were changed. I don't know if I change to a simple external drive connected by LAN if that would still work, because the time capsule has its own WiFi. So, if it does, do you suggest buying a new hard drive or replacing the time capsule drive?
Hugo: Not sure what this has to do with your Time Machine backup. It sounds like maybe you simply are using iCloud Drive with Desktop & Documents turned on, so that the Desktop would be the same Desktop ("in sync") for both Macs.