Tagged Time Machine

How to Set Up Daily Time Machine Backup with Local Hourly

This piece is a continuation from an app-to I published a few days ago. Currently, Time Machine does not natively support hourly local snapshot creation when the backup schedule is set to daily. Although it sounds counterintuitive, the key here is “local snapshot”. Time Machine runs on snapshots, capturing what has changed at every interval. Creating a snapshot locally is a light task, whereas pushing the snapshot to a remote location isn’t. Hence why I searched for a solution.

App to Customize Time Machine Schedule

Of many things I have adopted over the course of years, Time Machine is one element that is both most helpful if hell breaks loose and least updated since. I have discussed the shortcomings of Time Machine and shared some of the possible remedies before. Apple’s own iOS backup system supersedes macOS Time Machine. It is remote, and nothing equivalent is offered on the Mac yet. But one feature was added rather recently: rudimentary scheduling.

App to Prune Time Machine Backup

Time Machine is the reason I recommend macOS for regular users. It’s quick. It’s simple. It’s set and forget. But there also comes a point where your Time Machine destination, be it remote or local, needs pruning. The cleanest solution without additional tools is to create another destination on a regular basis, perhaps with every new machine. However, keeping two independent destinations comes at the cost of double the initial commit.

How to Exclude Steam Games from Time Machine

One of the obvious challenges of using Time Machine is that not all apps and databases are optimized to use automatic backup. Or to be more blunt on the subject, with modern video games ranging roughly up to several hundred gigabytes with day one patches that are equally large, Steam has been enabling developers to distribute unfinished and unpolished games without repercussion.

How to Set Time Machine Quota on NAS

I don’t recall Time Machine having a quota feature when it was originally announced back in OS X Leopard. Most users would use any hard drive lying around, and if needed, can set up a pseudo-quota by creating a volume in Disk Utility.

How to Fix Time Machine Volume’s “Low Space” Warning on Synology NAS

Time Machine is a fascinating topic, so I’m back with more. One of the features Time Machine provide is its automated space management, i.e. delete older backups. Having a NAS doesn’t solve the physical limitation of any backup solutions; that is, it will always take up some space somewhere. On NAS side of the business, storage can be expanded relatively easily. However, storage filling up to its full capacity is not a desirable status.

How to Fix Time Machine Error 45, 5999 or SMB Connecting Error

One of my benignly controversial piece on how to fix Time Machine authentication error, while the drive is hosted on NAS, always gathers wrong kind of attention. Network problems are bound to be difficulty to troubleshoot; with at least 2 computers in the mix, just the very number of suspects double. But with added October Apple events, I wasn’t surprised to see more problems popping up left and right.

How to Fix Time Machine Backup Server Authentication Error

Another how-to on Time Machine backup, available on all OS X and macOS machines. Friendly reminder: your Mac does include nifty backup tools for free of charge, and you can use any drives lying around. If you have an old drive, preferably more than 3 years, and if it is at least the size of your Mac’s system drive, that is a perfect candidate to stow away Time Machine backups in it. Do encrypt your drive though.

Running Time Machine Backup Server on macOS

Time Machine backup is a MUST in this time and age, especially after you just paid couple thousands in Mac. Ultimately, no matter how ridiculous issue you just encountered on your machine, if you have a complete backup of the system, there should be no concern. I can’t believe I have to say this in 2019, Time Machine has been around since Leopard, and still provides better options than of its competitors. Make sure you are using a separate drive (e.g. external HDD, NAS) that is at least 1.5 times bigger than the target drive.

How to Make a macOS Bootable Disk

Part of your “backup plan” for a workstation must include a way to boot from an external source. And this is no different on Mac, regardless of the marketings Apple is selling. Although it is possible to boot a Mac with internet recovery mode, taking bets on at-risk computers are not advisable.

How to Hide Time Machine HDD from Desktop

I don’t recommend using Time Capsule for 2 reasons: price and wireless. The price tag is unjustifiable for a router, despite its praised stability. Now with the hint of Apple may be dropping the router line of its entirety, stability is not longer an accountable virtue. At any rate, it is the wireless backup drive which I would focus on, and I find the very idea hilarious. We are talking about creating a backup at least upward of 1TB with the expectancy of continuous increment. This backup, or as in Mac ecosystem, Time Machine, is supposed to be a life…