Hi Neil, A completely agree with Daniel Re: Entourage
Re: > I don’t have a copy of your October 2010 document: "How Time Machine Works - > How Time Machine Works Its Magic" - so if you could email me a copy it > definitely might help focus my thinking on this ;o) I'll email it to your Offlist ASAP Cheers, Ronni On 23 Jul 2014, at 8:10 pm, Daniel Kerr <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Neil > > As an aside,….Entourage also isn't supported anymore, so if you upgrade to > Mavericks at all, it will "run",..but it does some quite strange things. > The other thing that quite worries me with Entourage (having come across it > quite a few times and had to "work through" fixing it, is that it sometimes > only takes a few corrupt emails to take down the whole Entourage > database,..and it's then a real hassle to fix it. (And sometimes even it > won't actually restore from the backup database that Time Machine has made.). > If you do backup your Entourage, also make sure it's not actually running at > the time, as it doesn't always do the proper job. > Will see if I can find a good link I had to this "Entourage database" problem > that explained it a bit better,..and how to "sort of" check if your database > is ok,…. > Worth a look - > http://www.officeformachelp.com/2009/02/is_corruption_hiding_in_your_database/ > (knew I had it filed away somewhere,…) > > One of the reasons I moved from Entourage to Apple Mail (there were others) > was a) the database size that needs to backup GBs of data even if you get a > small kb email! and b) the way this whole database works. Mail handles it a > lot better I find. > (OK so that wasn't one,..it was two,..lol) > > Just my 2cents worth ;) > > Kind regards > Daniel > > Sent from my iPhone 5 > > --- > Daniel Kerr > MacWizardry > > Phone: 0414 795 960 > Email: <daniel AT macwizardry.com.au> > Web: <http://www.macwizardry.com.au> > > > **For everything Apple** > > NOTE: Any information provided in this email may be my personal opinion and > as such should be taken accordingly, and may not be the views of MacWizardry. > Any information provided does not offer or warrant any form of warranty or > accept liability. It would be appreciated that if any information in this > email is to be disseminated, distributed or copied, that permission by the > author be requested. > > On 23/07/2014, at 7:49 PM, Neil Houghton <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Thanks very much for that Ronni, >> >> I realise that Entourage database creates massive files on TM and that by >> switching off automatic back-up I am not really using Time Machine the way >> it has been designed to work. However, with a 4GB plus Entourage file, >> hourly automatic back-ups would fill even a 3TB disk in a few months! >> >> My manual backup approach has allowed the 1TB drive to accommodate my >> growing TM back-up over 4 years and it probably has several months before it >> finally fills (depending, of course, on how often I run TM). I do realise >> that this approach relies on my discipline in running TM whenever I have >> done an hour or two of work I would be upset to lose ;o) >> >> I did save a copy of your Jan 2013 tutorial 'Migrate to a Larger Time >> Machine Disk') and I expect that this will be my route when I finally run >> out of space. >> >> Since I am still running Snow Leopard, I will heed your (& Apple’s) warning >> and refrain from deleting the individual backups from TM. >> >>> You have two choices: delete a single entire snapshot (that is, all the >>> files from a particular hourly run of Time Machine) or delete all instances >>> of a single file from a certain location, regardless of how many times that >>> file was backed up. >> >> Neither of these approaches does what I need – deleting entire snapshots >> offers me no advantage over letting Time Machine automatically delete old >> backups to make space for new ones whilst deleting all instances of a single >> file leaves me with NO versioned back-ups (though I would still have a >> back-up on my last HD “clone”). >> >> I guess that a kludge would be for me to copy a few recent TM backups of the >> bloated database to an alternative (non TM) location and then do the “delete >> all instances of a single file from a single location” which would free up a >> huge amount of space - then have TM continue to back-up the file and then, >> once I had a few TM backups under the belt, I could get rid of the >> alternative (older) copies. - Would you see any problems with this >> (admittedly inelegant) approach? >> >> I don’t have a copy of your October 2010 document: "How Time Machine Works - >> How Time Machine Works Its Magic" - so if you could email me a copy it >> definitely might help focus my thinking on this ;o) >> >> I’m not in immediate danger of filling the disc, but it’s always better to >> have thought it out before the event! >> >> >> Thanks again for your very helpful explanations and advice. >> >> >> Cheers >> >> >> >> Neil >> -- >> Neil R. Houghton >> Albany, Western Australia >> Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 >> Email: [email protected] >> >> >> >> >> on 23/7/14 15:38, Ronni Brown at [email protected] wrote: >> >>> Hi Neil, >>> >>> On 23 Jul 2014, at 12:41 pm, Neil Houghton <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> A quick question for the TM gurus. >>> >>> Might be a quick question for you... but it will be a very long answer for >>> anyone to give you advice. >>> >>> Firstly you are not really using Time Machine the way it has been designed >>> to work. Plus I would be using a 3TB External Drive or 3TB Time Capsule to >>> store your TM Backups on. >>> >>> I created a document back in October 2010 explaining and showing "How Time >>> Machine Works - How Time Machine Works Its Magic". >>> There are two main bits of "Magic" behind Time Machine: >>> 1. The File System Event Database -- How changes are found >>> 2. Multiple Hard Links -- How backups are stored >>> >>> It might be beneficial for you to read this document first so you >>> understand more about how Time Machine works. >>> If you wish I can email my document to you "Offlist". Post back to WAMUG if >>> you do. >>>> >>>> I have my entourage database included in my TM backup - it has masses of >>>> emails filed in various folders & sub-folders and I need a back-up of these >>>> filed emails. >>>> >>>> Since the file is very large (my main identity folder is currently 4.32GB) >>>> and changes with every email send/receive - it takes up a significant chunk >>>> of space!! >>> >>> Entourage database creates massive files on TM - database programs do: Any >>> change, no matter how tiny, means the whole file or database is marked as >>> changed, and will be backed-up the next time. >>>> >>>> I don't have TM set to automatically back up - I prefer to do it manually >>>> as >>>> any valuable work is done - which keeps it manageable - but I am >>>> approaching >>>> the point where my 1TB TM disk will become full and TM will start deleting >>>> the oldest backups. >>> >>> When your backup volume gets close to being full, Time Machine >>> automatically deletes old backups to make space for new ones. >>> It doesn’t warn you about this, by the way, but the first time it happens— >>> and optionally thereafter—Time Machine does inform you that it has just >>> deleted some backups, suggesting that you select a different disk to avoid >>> having more files deleted. (If, instead, you’d like to migrate your Time >>> Machine backups to a larger volume you can 'Migrate to a Larger Time >>> Machine Disk'). >>> I have done this when I upgrading from a 2TB Time Capsule to a 3TB Time >>> Capsule. >>> >>>> >>>> My problem is that I would prefer not to delete most of these oldest >>>> backups >>>> across the board. I know that I could slash the space currently used by TM >>>> if I could selectively just delete the oldest backups of my Microsoft User >>>> Data main identity folder (whilst still keeping more recent back-ups of >>>> this). If I could do this manually I could soon free-up a few hundred GB >>>> whilst still retaining maximum backups of the other files. >>>> >>>> What I am not sure of is the safest way to do this. >>>> >>>> Whilst I could easily go into the TM volume using finder and manually >>>> select >>>> the earliest instances of the files/folders I wish to cull, I seem to >>>> remember dire warnings about messing with the innards of the TM volume >>>> structure - is it OK to manually delete individual back-ups that I know I >>>> no >>>> longer need - or is this likely to give problems. >>> >>> In Snow Leopard Apple warning was: never, ever, move, change, or delete >>> anything in your backups via the Finder or Terminal. That can corrupt them >>> beyond repair. >>> >>> While deleting backups via the Finder is, technically, supported on Lion, >>> Mountain Lion & Mavericks, you may have some of the same problems. >>> >>> I can give you instructions - How to delete individual backups from Time >>> Machine - but I take absolutely NO Responsibility if any corruption or >>> problems occur after deletion. >>> That out of the way: >>> If you decide to exclude a file from Time Machine after Time Machine has >>> already backed it up. Contrary to what the user interface implies, Time >>> Machine doesn’t let you purge just one instance of a particular file from >>> your backups. >>> You have two choices: delete a single entire snapshot (that is, all the >>> files from a particular hourly run of Time Machine) or delete all instances >>> of a single file from a certain location, regardless of how many times that >>> file was backed up. >>> >>> Delete an Entire Snapshot >>> >>> To delete all the files Time Machine backed up during a particular hourly >>> run, follow these steps: >>> >>> 1. Click the Time Machine Dock icon or choose Enter Time Machine from the >>> Time Machine <image.png>menu to show the “time warp” display. >>> >>> 2. Using the arrow buttons or the timeline control on the side of the >>> screen, navigate to the snapshot you want to delete. Note that if it >>> occurred within the last day, you’ll delete just that hourly run; if it >>> occurred earlier, you will delete the only remaining backup for a >>> particular day or week. You can verify which backup you’ll be deleting by >>> looking at the large bar at the bottom of the window. >>> >>> 3. From the pop-up Action <image.png>menu, choose Delete Backup. (It >>> doesn’t matter whether you have any file or folder selected.) >>> >>> Time Machine removes that entire snapshot from its backup. (You may be >>> prompted to enter an administrator password first.) >>> >>> Delete All Instances of a Single File >>> >>> To delete every backed up copy of a given file from your Time Machine >>> backup, follow these steps: >>> >>> 1. In the Finder, navigate to the folder that contains (or once contained) >>> any version of the file you want to delete; if you’re unsure where it is >>> (or was), do a Spotlight search. >>> >>> 2. Click the Time Machine Dock icon or choose Enter Time Machine from the >>> Time Machine <image.png>menu to show the “time warp” display. >>> >>> 3. Using the arrow buttons or the timeline control on the side of the >>> screen, navigate to any previous version of the folder that contains the >>> file you want to delete. Click the file once to select it. >>> >>> 4. From the pop-up Action <image.png>menu, choose Delete All Backups of >>> “File Name”. (You can also right-click or Control-click the item and choose >>> Delete All Backups of “File Name” from the contextual menu.) >>> >>> Time Machine removes from its backup every copy of that file, in that >>> location, that it ever backed up. (For some files, you may be prompted to >>> enter an administrator password first.) >>> >>>> >>>> Is there a "right way" to selectively delete, say, the first 2 years worth >>>> of backups of one specific large item - whilst not compromising later >>>> backups of the same item - and definitely not compromising any (old or new) >>>> backups of any other items. >>>> >>>> >>>> I hope the above makes sense ;o) >>>> >>>> >>>> Any thoughts/advise? >>> >>> Cheers, >>> Ronni >>>> >>>> >>>> Cheers >>>> >>>> Neil
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