What would the best tool to backup and then update just one folder.

vanakaru · 05-06-2012, 10:22 AM

I have a folder for my work I do on large external drive. I backup it when something important is added. But I have too many of these folders on different dives. So I think from now on I would like to add data that has been created in between and keep the stuff that is there already.
It seems that TM would be perfect for this kind of backup, but I can not see how to backup just this one folder. I do not want to do it for the whole drive. It is 1TB and there are many other things that do not need to backup. So I do not want to get another large drive to fit the full backup there. My work folder is about 60GB of size so my spare 160GB drive would be plenty.

benwiggy · 05-06-2012, 11:10 AM

Some rsync-based tool would be optimal.

Chronosync is probably the best commercial app, but there are stacks of others.

Or you could put together a shell rsync command that runs at regular intervals (or when the folder is written to -- perhaps through Folder Actions, though I find FA a bit temperamental).

fracai · 05-06-2012, 09:28 PM

Rsnapshot may be a good match.

Carbon Copy Cloner can be set up for this sort of task as well.

vanakaru · 05-07-2012, 04:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fracai


	Carbon Copy Cloner can be set up for this sort of task as well.

Could you elaborate on this. I have hard times to understand what it(CCC) is saying really.

fracai · 05-07-2012, 09:25 AM

Carbon Copy Cloner (free) or Super Duper ($) are backup tools that can be configured with a variety of backup tasks. I have multiple tasks that mirror my one large external array (Drobo) to several other, smaller drives whenever those drives are attached. I have two other tasks that mirror my boot drive to two separate drives.

Basically, you select a source folder or drive and a destination. In your case, you would select your work folder as the source and the spare drive as the destination. Then alter the backup method to keep old versions instead of replacing. You could save this task and set it to run periodically or manually.

I've not personally used the version saving feature, so I'm not sure how it renames things. When I've wanted versions I've used rsnapshot, which is very much like TimeMachine except for how it names and saves old snapshots. TimeMachine names the snapshot folder with the date and keeps as many weekly snapshots as the drive can hold. rsnapshot names them by "type" (hourly, daily, weekly, etc.) and saves as many of each type as have been set in the configuration file.

Is there a specific configuration that you are having trouble with in CCC?

05-06-2012, 10:22 AM	#1
vanakaru All Star Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 610	What would the best tool to backup and then update just one folder. I have a folder for my work I do on large external drive. I backup it when something important is added. But I have too many of these folders on different dives. So I think from now on I would like to add data that has been created in between and keep the stuff that is there already. It seems that TM would be perfect for this kind of backup, but I can not see how to backup just this one folder. I do not want to do it for the whole drive. It is 1TB and there are many other things that do not need to backup. So I do not want to get another large drive to fit the full backup there. My work folder is about 60GB of size so my spare 160GB drive would be plenty.

05-06-2012, 09:28 PM	#3
fracai MVP Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 2,012	Rsnapshot may be a good match. Carbon Copy Cloner can be set up for this sort of task as well.
$fracai is offline$

05-07-2012, 09:25 AM	#5
fracai MVP Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 2,012	Carbon Copy Cloner (free) or Super Duper ($) are backup tools that can be configured with a variety of backup tasks. I have multiple tasks that mirror my one large external array (Drobo) to several other, smaller drives whenever those drives are attached. I have two other tasks that mirror my boot drive to two separate drives. Basically, you select a source folder or drive and a destination. In your case, you would select your work folder as the source and the spare drive as the destination. Then alter the backup method to keep old versions instead of replacing. You could save this task and set it to run periodically or manually. I've not personally used the version saving feature, so I'm not sure how it renames things. When I've wanted versions I've used rsnapshot, which is very much like TimeMachine except for how it names and saves old snapshots. TimeMachine names the snapshot folder with the date and keeps as many weekly snapshots as the drive can hold. rsnapshot names them by "type" (hourly, daily, weekly, etc.) and saves as many of each type as have been set in the configuration file. Is there a specific configuration that you are having trouble with in CCC?
$fracai is offline$

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05-06-2012, 11:10 AM	#2
benwiggy League Commissioner Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 5,039	Some rsync-based tool would be optimal. Chronosync is probably the best commercial app, but there are stacks of others. Or you could put together a shell rsync command that runs at regular intervals (or when the folder is written to -- perhaps through Folder Actions, though I find FA a bit temperamental).