Hi Folks,

If this question has arised before, I apologise.
I've used the search-function, but that didn't give any results.

I'm wondering:

Is it possible to use the 2nd (or 3d, 4th) disk bay in a Mac Pro as a internal back-up disk?
Will time Machine let you select an internal disk to back up to? Or only external?
Will time machine let you back-up to a SECOND external HD?

I'm looking to limit the amount of external hard drives. I have three at the moment.

Yes

Internal or external or even a partition on the boot drive.

At this time, Time machine can only backup and restore to one HD. You can change the hard disk (ex: use HD1 for week 1 and then change for HD2 for week 2 and then change to HD1 for week 3 etc…).

Thanks Francois,

This is good news! Too bad TM can only back-up to one other disk. But I could always do that manually.

regards,

Mike

I will never use an internal drive as a backup. A few years ago i had a surge strike happen both my internal drives went but my external drives had no damage.

I find it very convenient to use an internal drive for Time Machine backup; however, it is not my only backup.

Once a week I make a full bootable backup on an external drive using SuperDuper. I keep that disk in a Pelican case in a separate building from my computer.

Time Machine keeps copies of whatever changes during the week, and beyond.

Time Machine isn't a great backup solution because it requires a lengthy recovery process in the event of a total disk failure. The Time Machine disk is not bootable. It is a great way to recover a file that was accidentally changed or deleted and it requires no user action to stay up to date.

SuperDuper creates a very useful bootable backup that will quickly have you up and running after a disk failure.

The two are complimentary and I recommend using both for comprehensive and convenient backup.