iMac external drive partition for Time Mach

redhalton · Mar 9th, 2008, 03:35 PM

Hi

This is what I'd like to do.

Purchase a 500/750G external HD and use this drive for my images and also for the back up utility which came with my new iMac (time machine). I have a few concerns and instead of jumping right into it, I thought it more prudent to get some advice before I lay my hard earned cash down.

1-should the external HD have a fan?
2-is it possible/difficult to partition the drive and how do I go about this?
3-WD has some decent HD's at good prices--decent equipment or ?

Thanks

phuviano · Mar 9th, 2008, 03:59 PM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by redhalton
	Hi This is what I'd like to do. Purchase a 500/750G external HD and use this drive for my images and also for the back up utility which came with my new iMac (time machine). I have a few concerns and instead of jumping right into it, I thought it more prudent to get some advice before I lay my hard earned cash down. 1-should the external HD have a fan? 2-is it possible/difficult to partition the drive and how do I go about this? 3-WD has some decent HD's at good prices--decent equipment or ? Thanks

1) Some do, some don't. I've never had issues with either.
2) No its not difficult. Go under the applications->utilities->disk utility and once you double click "disk utility". You'll see a section to partition the hard drive.
3) I have a WD Mybook. I have a 1tb backup hooked up to my AEBS. Its partitioned. Most for my pictures and music, and the rest for time machine. I have no issues with it so far. Although I've only had since boxing day. Depending on what version of the Mybook you get. The warranties vary from model to model. I have the most basic version, so it has only a 1 year warranty. I could care less because I only paid $200 for it.

Rugby · Mar 9th, 2008, 04:14 PM

This link has some good data on partitioning. Good luck.
Formatting & Partitioning a Hard Drive in OS X

redhalton · Mar 9th, 2008, 07:01 PM

Would it be more advantages to purchase a 'firewire' external?

With respect to a fan or no fan--I've been told if the HD doesn't have a fan, it's best to shut it down when not using, where a fan cooled HD I can leave running. Any truth to this?