Macworld - USA (2020-02)

124 MACWORLD FEBRUARY 2020

HELPDESK MAC 911

with Backblaze.)
Here’s some strategies on how to
enhance and solve these situations:
Segregate your Time Machine
backup. Use Disk Utility to add a new
partition (HFS+) or volume within a
container (APFS) to the drive that contains
your Time Machine backup. APFS is easier
than HFS+ in this regard, because a new
volume in a container shares all available
space, giving you flexibility. Once split,
move your non-Time Machine data to the
new volume or partition, and then you can
have the cloud service back up that data.
Rotate Time Machine backups off site.
I recommend using disk encryption for
backup drives (Control-click the drive and
choose the Encryption item), because at
rest a macOS-encrypted volume is
extremely secure. That can avoid you

worrying about the

drive being stolen

or examined when

you’re not around.

macOS can

automatically back

up to multiple

Time Machine

destinations if

they’re connected

at once, but it will

also catch up

destinations that

you plug back in

after they’re removed. Put one in safe-

deposit box—though the New York Times

warns that’s not as secure as we thought—

or at another location to which you have

regular access.

Add a clone to your mix. Time

Machine works best in my experience and

opinion as an archive—retrieving older or

deleted versions of individual files or the

contents of folders—than for restoring a

drive. It’s also great for migrating from one

Mac to another. With external drives so

inexpensive, add one that uses one of the

packages mentioned earlier that can clone

the contents of your startup drive. These

all offer “smart” updates, so that only files

that need to be replaced or deleted on the

clone are modified each time it runs. I have

a nightly clone on my desktop computer,

and a weekly one for my laptop.

Use Disk Utility to add a new partition (HFS+) to the drive that contains
your Time Machine backup.