Dumb question re need to have external hard drive turned on for scheduling of backup

[Mike Blayney]

I have just become a member of this forum,and would appreciate an answer to what is probably a stupid question. I have an iMac G4,running Tiger 10.4.11.A technician hooked up my newly purchased Rocstor Pro 850 500 GB external hard drive,using only one cable connection,and successfully backed up the contents of my computer HD. I have since scheduled Super Duper! to backup once a week at 9.00p.m.,and tomorrow night will be the first scheduled backup,if all goes properly.
My question is this: is it always necessary for the external hard drive to be turned on(it has an on/off switch) prior to the beginning of the scheduled backup? Common sense would seem to suggest that,yes,the external hard drive has to be "on" so that the backup can occur,but it occurred to me in my ignorance that possibly the SuperDuper! software could in fact activate(turn on) the Rocstor hard drive.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,including anything which I might have overlooked. Thank you to the collective mind!

[dnanian]

Yes, it has to be on -- but it can be ejected, if you'd like.

[Mike Blayney]

Thank you for your rapid response, Dave. What do you mean when you say that "it can be ejected"? Sorry if I have not fully understood,but at least I now know that the external drive must be on.

Mike.

[dnanian]

I mean, if it's on, you can eject it so it doesn't show up on the desktop. SD's scheduling will mount the drive, copy to it, and eject -- automatically.

[Mike Blayney]

Thanks for explaining this,Dave. Now I understand! This is a great forum,and I am so glad that I have found it. Now I must explore and see what else I can learn.

Many thanks,and best regards,

Mike