External Hard Drives Relationship - MacBook Pro and Mac mini (Backup Solution?)

A

astokesmusic

Member
I record on a Mac mini desktop setup in my studio and I use a MacBook Pro to record when I travel. Both computers use external drives to run sample libraries and DAW session files. The external drive called "Libraries" runs mostly all sample libraries I own. I use a drive for DAW sessions called "Recording" for the Mac mini desktop setup, but I also have another drive called "Recording 2" which is basically a copy of the "Recording" drive, to be used with my MacBook Pro. The data on my "Libraries" external drive rarely changes, so I use it universally between my Mac mini and MacBook Pro (so I have to use this drive on one computer or the other when I'm recording). The problem is... trying to keep both the "Recording" and "Recording 2" external drives updated to each other as the data grows for my sessions and audio files. I make a lot of changes to my sessions daily, and if I record on "Recording" I'd like to always have "Recording 2" updated to what's new and vice versa. Currently, I use a software called Carbon Copy Cloner to backup everything between different drives. It's a very useful software, but it's still tedious to think about what should be updated each time I use the MacBook Pro or Mac mini. I'm looking for a system to make my recording process simple/plug-and-play no matter which computer I'm using, while maintaining the data that gets updated between the two recording drives. Also... I know it might seem logical to just use the "Recording" drive for my Mac mini on the MacBook Pro when I need to, but the reason I have two recording drives that represent the same data is because the "Recording" drive is a bulkier, rugged drive used for the studio, but "Recording 2" is a smaller, more mobile drive that I can travel with. Sometimes even a small name change on data can cause reading issues between drives that essentially have the same data but each take updates from work from the other computer overtime.

So... with all of that said, does my backup method between the recording drives seem efficient, or is there an easier or better way to achieve what I'm trying to achieve? I need a process that doesn't cause me to overthink what's happening with my data. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
I'm not sure why you keep switching drives. It seems like it would be simpler to just use one drive and just update the other as a backup. You don't say how big the drives are, but you can get a portable SSD of 2TB for a couple hundred$. I'd just use that for everything, and then keep it backed up to the other drive (and/or "the cloud") at least weekly.

If you want to sync, then command line ("Terminal") rsync app might work for you. Depends if you're doing just updates/adds or also deleting/pruning and need to keep that stuff in sync, too.
 
I agree with Keith. I understand you're saying one drive is bulkier than the other but my approach would be to buy one very large (capacity) physically small drive, and use that for everything.

Say you get a 2.5" Sata III 2TB drive, for example in an appropriate caddy.
Put all your libraries on it in one folder, and all your recording sessions on it in another folder.

That becomes your daily driver, no matter which computer you're on.

Once in a while you copy/paste the recording sessions folder to some other drive as your longer term backup.

I go one farther and have folders called 'Current' and 'Closed' inside my recording sessions folder.
Anything that's completely finished and has been backed up gets moved into 'Closed', so I know I only need to periodically back up the 'Current' folder.
 
astokesmusic said:
I record on a Mac mini desktop setup in my studio and I use a MacBook Pro to record when I travel. Both computers use external drives to run sample libraries and DAW session files. The external drive called "Libraries" runs mostly all sample libraries I own. I use a drive for DAW sessions called "Recording" for the Mac mini desktop setup, but I also have another drive called "Recording 2" which is basically a copy of the "Recording" drive, to be used with my MacBook Pro. The data on my "Libraries" external drive rarely changes, so I use it universally between my Mac mini and MacBook Pro (so I have to use this drive on one computer or the other when I'm recording). The problem is... trying to keep both the "Recording" and "Recording 2" external drives updated to each other as the data grows for my sessions and audio files. I make a lot of changes to my sessions daily, and if I record on "Recording" I'd like to always have "Recording 2" updated to what's new and vice versa. Currently, I use a software called Carbon Copy Cloner to backup everything between different drives. It's a very useful software, but it's still tedious to think about what should be updated each time I use the MacBook Pro or Mac mini. I'm looking for a system to make my recording process simple/plug-and-play no matter which computer I'm using, while maintaining the data that gets updated between the two recording drives. Also... I know it might seem logical to just use the "Recording" drive for my Mac mini on the MacBook Pro when I need to, but the reason I have two recording drives that represent the same data is because the "Recording" drive is a bulkier, rugged drive used for the studio, but "Recording 2" is a smaller, more mobile drive that I can travel with. Sometimes even a small name change on data can cause reading issues between drives that essentially have the same data but each take updates from work from the other computer overtime.

So... with all of that said, does my backup method between the recording drives seem efficient, or is there an easier or better way to achieve what I'm trying to achieve? I need a process that doesn't cause me to overthink what's happening with my data. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
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You method seems convoluted. For redundancy backup you should have your OS drive and the main - and then 1 or 2 external drives as backup. These days you can get a
6gb External Drive for nothing - so in reality you should have 4 - 2 for each. Run a back up on the second external drive every once in while - the main external drive every day - and have at least a 1 tb hard rive as your onboard.
 
Papanate said:
You method seems convoluted. For redundancy backup you should have your OS drive and the main - and then 1 or 2 external drives as backup. These days you can get a
6gb External Drive for nothing - so in reality you should have 4 - 2 for each. Run a back up on the second external drive every once in while - the main external drive every day - and have at least a 1 tb hard rive as your onboard.
Click to expand...
Thanks for replaying everyone. @Papanate I do have backup drives (2 of them). I appreciate your reply.
 
The best thing I've ever had for my video and audio recording is a synology NAS drive. It means all my computers in two locations have access to everything. So I can work in the remote studio on audio or video, and then (as I'm doing now) I'm in the home audio studio, and all today's work is almost ready. The one big video file -2.3Gb hasn't uploaded yet as my office broadband uploading speed is quite low, but it's nearly here. I have an old macbook that only has a 250gb drive and there is not enough space to have the audio and video synced, and that is a pain. It is running a 1Tb external drive, but I don't leave that kit powered up 24/7 like everything else. My NAS isn't huge but it's so damn handy, and you can access it via web browser from anywhere and download stuff.
 
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