Hard drive size needed for backup?

[Hoosier_1701]

I am planning to get a new 20" iMac G5 that includes a 250GB drive. I currently do not have any external hard drive or backup solution. My question is, how important is it to have an external drive that matches the size of the internal drive? I'd like to partition an external drive into one for backup (using SuperDuper's smart update option) and another for other files. Would it be necessary for me to get an external drive larger than 250GB then, or would I be okay to get a 250GB drive and partition it into smaller drives? I know it would be an issue if the space used on my internal drive ever exceeded the backup partition's size, but if that doesn't happen will SuperDuper work?

I am only using about 40GB on my current mac's hard drive, so I have a hard time believing I'll get to 250GB any time soon.

[dnanian]

The size doesn't have to match, Hoosier: you just have to have enough room to store what you've got, or plan to get.

Sound good?

[Hoosier_1701]

Thanks, Dave. That answers my question. It starts getting a little pricey after you get above 250GB! Wow, you replied within 7 minutes of me asking my question. That level of service, combined with the positive press I've been reading, is why I'll be buying SuperDuper! once I get my new iMac. Thanks again!

[dnanian]

Glad to hear it, and happy to help!

[B2O]

Originally Posted by dnanian

The size doesn't have to match, Hoosier: you just have to have enough room to store what you've got, or plan to get.

Sound good?

I've created 2 paritions on my external 2.5" drive. The first, 'Backup' is roughly 5gb (12%) less than the size of my internal drive. It's not a good idea to completly full a drive (those of you who have lost a drive will probably remember it happened just as you filled what little available space you had on your drive). The second partition obvously consumes the rest.

[dnanian]

Even more than that, if you plan on booting from a drive, you really can't fill it: you should have about 15-20% free space for swap files, temporary files, working space, etc.

[sjk]

Originally Posted by Hoosier_1701

I'd like to partition an external drive into one for backup (using SuperDuper's smart update option) and another for other files. Would it be necessary for me to get an external drive larger than 250GB then, or would I be okay to get a 250GB drive and partition it into smaller drives?

For the long term, you may find it useful to split your internal drive into different volumes. For example, a smaller boot volume can be faster and easier to backup and restore. And certain damage to one volume that doesn't affect other volumes can be easier to recover from. The tricky part is figuring out space allocations to minimize wasted space.

So when you get an external drive you may want to clone your internal drive to it, then repartition and clone back to the internal drive. If you're interested I can post some details of the internal/external drive setup I use with my iMac G5.

[Hoosier_1701]

Originally Posted by sjk

For the long term, you may find it useful to split your internal drive into different volumes. For example, a smaller boot volume can be faster and easier to backup and restore. And certain damage to one volume that doesn't affect other volumes can be easier to recover from. The tricky part is figuring out space allocations to minimize wasted space.

So when you get an external drive you may want to clone your internal drive to it, then repartition and clone back to the internal drive. If you're interested I can post some details of the internal/external drive setup I use with my iMac G5.

Sure, I'd appreciate that. I haven't seen the need to partition the internal drive before, but I've never had one as large as the new iMac ships with.

[sjk]

I still haven't gotten around to rewriting the convoluted explanation I decided not to post the other day.