Daisy chain external hard drives for backup?

[Drew]

Currently, I have a 2TB external drive that I use for backup. I made two partitions, and use one for a nightly clone and the other as "storage" drive where I keep old files, photos, etc., stuff that I don't need regular access to. I've realized though that if that 2TB drive gives out, then I have no other backup for "storage". The clone is a daily copy of my computer, so that wouldn't be catastrophic to lose.

I'm thinking about getting another external drive to "daisy chain" to the current external drive. Could I just connect the two drives to each other by USB and then have Carbon Copy Cloner make a duplicate each night?

I suppose that an external cloud service might be another idea.

[Winston]

Unless it's changed with later versions, you cannot daisy chain USB directly. However, you can connect two USB drives to one port via a USB hub.

FireWire does allow daisy chaining, as does Thunderbolt.

But other than needing a hub for USB, I'd think that would work. But you still somewhat have all your eggs in one basket, if, say, you have a fire or lightning strike. An off-site backup is always a good idea.


Good luck.

- Winston

[jdc]

Hes right, cant daisy chain USB. Each drive needs its own port.

Another drive is a great idea, you can probably find 4 TB for under $100, even a portable one (no fans, no wall wart) I might advise using Time Machine to copy both your system AND your 2 TB external to it. Just plug in and done, never have to think about it again.

Skip the whole partitioning thing, even in the scenario you have it really serves no purpose.

[Drew]

I forgot that daisy chaining is a lost art with USB. Would I need a powered USB hub? Do I just place the hub between the two external hard drives, or does it need to be connected to my computer?

I leaning more towards some kind of cloud backup. Used to use Backblaze but gave it up a while ago.

[ka jowct]

Does Amazon Prime membership include Amazon Drive storage? If yes, you could give that a try for off-site storage.

[WHiiP]

I recommend this for your archival storage.

Can you still burn an Optical disc?
If you need to buy one, they're very inexpensive now.

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/LG/P60NS50/
This one has M disc capability.

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MR3UBDRW16/
This one adds Blu-Ray capability

https://eshop.macsales.com/search/M%20discs
Has 25 GB, 50 GB, 100 GB available and will last for many years.

Good for 1000 years.
https://www.pcworld.com/article/2933478/...years.html

[FormerlySaleenl]

I actually highly recommend partitioning a disk if you want to have a backup + data on it; it's cleaner, makes it harder to accidentally delete data, plus it restricts the amount of space that your SafetyNet backup consumes. Sure, you can do that by tweaking CCC's in-app settings but a partition is easy.

USB hubs often lead to I/O errors and I would avoid one if at all possible. With the price of disks, I'd look into a larger disk that you can partition into data and primary backup. Then use the current smaller one to back up the data partition.

Do you not have two USB ports? What available ports do you have? Do you have more than one computer in your household? I have a couple of different strategies I'd recommend, but need some context.

It's a good idea to add offsite into your backup strategy, but I would get your local backups set up first.

Sarah

[Winston]

Drew wrote:
I forgot that daisy chaining is a lost art with USB. Would I need a powered USB hub? Do I just place the hub between the two external hard drives, or does it need to be connected to my computer?

I leaning more towards some kind of cloud backup. Used to use Backblaze but gave it up a while ago.

Sarah's comment noted discouraging using a USB hub for backup,

- a USB hub needs to be connected directly to the computer
- if the devices connected to the USB hub are themselves powered, or have a very low draw, then you can use an unpowered hub, but a powered hub will work with more devices. You don't want to "overdraw" on the power from the USB connection.

My guess is that someone could build a high-quality USB hub which would not give I/O errors, but that may be harder to find.

Note that if your computer has Thunderbolt, you can pull a bunch of different connections out of one Thunderbolt jack with a dock. Like OWC's Thunderbolt 2 dock ($199):
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Thunderb...=affiliate&utm_campaign=cj
- Dual Thunderbolt 2 ports for daisy-chain support
- Ultra-HD 4K and multiple display support
- 5 fully-powered USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports including two high-power ports
- FireWire 800 for connecting external storage and legacy devices

Wirecutter has a nice summary review of Thunderbolt docks:
https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-t...bolt-dock/

[DeusxMac]

Winston wrote:
- Dual Thunderbolt 2 ports for daisy-chain support

Only IF the daisy-chained devices ALSO have Thunderbolt ports.

[Winston]

DeusxMac wrote:
[quote=Winston]
- Dual Thunderbolt 2 ports for daisy-chain support

Only IF the daisy-chained devices ALSO have Thunderbolt ports.
Yes. There are no Thunderbolt hubs, so to daisy chain, each Thunderbolt device needs to have two Thunderbolt ports, one to connect toward the computer, and one the next device in the chain. Some Thunderbolt-equipped hard drives only have one Thunderbolt port, so can't have another device on the chain after them. And I believe a monitor has to be the last device in the chain. Up to 7 devices in a chain IIRC.

But this is separate from the Thunderbolt dock also supporting USB and FireWire. FireWire also supports daisy-chaining, in much the same way as Thunderbolt.