> But encrypted sparsebundles can't be backed up when they are mounted, > only when they are unmounted. So, if you use encrypted sparsebundles
To the contrary - I regularly backup my sparsebundle via time machine while it is mounted. And have restored it, to verify that the backup did in fact work correctly. Um ... Because it's prone to change while it's mounted, there is some risk of inconsistency. True you're only guaranteed to get a guaranteed snapshot while it's unmounted. But generally speaking, it's usually not a problem to backup while it's mounted. Especially if your backup runs every hour, and you have relatively low IO in your sparsebundle mounted files. The main part I didn't like was that you can only restore the whole volume. You can't just restore one file from within the sparsebundle backup. > for your home directory (a.k.a., FileVault) and you use Time Machine to > back up your computer, the problem is that Time Machine can't back up > your home directory while you're logged in -- which kind of defeats the > purpose of Time Machine. I read this comment, I think while enabling filevault, and I felt the same as you about it. I was disappointed. But then I tried and tested it and discovered it worked anyway. So I don't know why they make that statement... I suppose, just to cover their bottoms incase anything goes wrong. It's like ... Driving in New England in the winter, there are dips and frost heaves in the roads everywhere. But wherever you see a sign saying "dip" or "heave" ... usually there is none. Usually the construction crew is just required to stick a sign wherever they did some work, just incase any dip or heave develops as a result of their work. I will say one more thing though - Don't use FileVault. I've had way too many incidences where a user simply reboots their laptop, and presto, their whole home directory is vanished. They can't login anymore. We have to restore time machine. There is no problem with a sparsebundle inside their home dir. Provided the home dir itself is not using filevault. _______________________________________________ Tech mailing list [email protected] http://lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tech This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators http://lopsa.org/
