dmetzcher
Metzcher.com
I have a 250GB external drive that is only going to be used for backups (ok, maybe some files will be on it, as well...that's the point of this question). I have an internal drive in my iBook that has 100GB of total capacity, but I only have about 40GB used right now. This used space will grow over time, obviously. I also have another external drive (100GB) that I keep certain files on. It has about 30GB of free space right now.
I don't want to spend money on partitioning software that I'll only use now and then, but I also don't want to create partitions on my 250GB external drive just for the backups. I'd like to keep the drive as one partition of 250GB, and then possibly use sparse image files (because I can encrypt them) for backing up data. The sparse images will also be great for moving the backups around on my network, as I have a Windows PC that I store certain things on from time to time.
Here is what I would do:
Create two sparse image files on the backup drive (one for the internal iBook drive, and one for the external drive that houses all my important files).
Use SuperDuper to run two backups, one for each of these drives, to the mounted sparse disk images. The disk images can grow in size, as needed, and this is exactly what I want.
So, my question is, can I do this? Mounted sparse images are treated like any other mounted volume, correct? If that is the case, SuperDuper should be able to use them as backup volumes. Does this all makes sense? Is there a better way? Is there free partitioning software that I don't know about, which will let me resize partitions on the fly? I just don't want to be have to set aside 200GB of space on my external drives. If I use the sparse images, they will be small until their contents grows, leaving as much free space on the external 250GB drive as possible, for use as whatever I want.
Anyway, I hope someone takes the time to read through all this. I wanted to post as much information as possible. Thanks!
I don't want to spend money on partitioning software that I'll only use now and then, but I also don't want to create partitions on my 250GB external drive just for the backups. I'd like to keep the drive as one partition of 250GB, and then possibly use sparse image files (because I can encrypt them) for backing up data. The sparse images will also be great for moving the backups around on my network, as I have a Windows PC that I store certain things on from time to time.
Here is what I would do:
Create two sparse image files on the backup drive (one for the internal iBook drive, and one for the external drive that houses all my important files).
Use SuperDuper to run two backups, one for each of these drives, to the mounted sparse disk images. The disk images can grow in size, as needed, and this is exactly what I want.
So, my question is, can I do this? Mounted sparse images are treated like any other mounted volume, correct? If that is the case, SuperDuper should be able to use them as backup volumes. Does this all makes sense? Is there a better way? Is there free partitioning software that I don't know about, which will let me resize partitions on the fly? I just don't want to be have to set aside 200GB of space on my external drives. If I use the sparse images, they will be small until their contents grows, leaving as much free space on the external 250GB drive as possible, for use as whatever I want.
Anyway, I hope someone takes the time to read through all this. I wanted to post as much information as possible. Thanks!
