Sufficient for Photo Editing?

RDKirk wrote in post #9275043
Yeah, I know, that will draw ire. But then, look at the bulk of the Mac market--academics and artists--a lot of people will also argue even those people aren't the "real world."

Hey, I never wanted to be in the "real world", LOL! My world's much more fun.

Yes, switch 1 off, switch 2 on. Switch 3 is not used (set to off). After assembly, connect it to your Mac, then launch Disk Utility, which is in your Applications/Utilities folder. (If when you turn it on you're asked if you want to initialize the drive, click Cancel, then launch Disk Utility.) Click on the drive in the left pane (and not any volume that might show up, which would be below and indented), then click on the Partition tab. You can choose 1 volume of 4 TB, but if it were me I'd choose 2 volumes from the pull-down. I'd make one of them 3.5 TB (for your Time Machine volume) and the other 500 mb for additional working space if you needed it. While in this window make sure you click on the Options button and choose GUID for your partition map, then click on Apple to initialize the drive. After that, label the Time Machine volume as "Backup" or something. If you do two partitions, name the other one whatever you'd like.

If OS X doesn't ask you if you want to use Backup as the Time Machine volume, you can open the System Preferences from the gray apple in the upper left corner of the screen, then choose Time Machine and turn it on and select the drive. It should start backing up within a minute or two. First time is the longest - the subsequent hourly backups are faster.

b.d.bop wrote in post #9262422
Well put, BeritOlam! You've stated it beautifully re: different types of folks out there and their angle on things photographic - there are loads of folks who drive great cars but could care less about their air filters or carburetors.
Now on the other hand I'm not quite as vapid as "...all he wants to hear is -- "If you are wanting a strong machine for serious photo editing, AND if you can afford the 27-inch price tag, it's a great computer!"

What great cars are you talking about that use carburetors rather than fuel injection..

Tony-S wrote in post #9293860
Yes, switch 1 off, switch 2 on. Switch 3 is not used (set to off). After assembly, connect it to your Mac, then launch Disk Utility, which is in your Applications/Utilities folder. (If when you turn it on you're asked if you want to initialize the drive, click Cancel, then launch Disk Utility.) Click on the drive in the left pane (and not any volume that might show up, which would be below and indented), then click on the Partition tab. You can choose 1 volume of 4 TB, but if it were me I'd choose 2 volumes from the pull-down. I'd make one of them 3.5 TB (for your Time Machine volume) and the other 500 mb for additional working space if you needed it. While in this window make sure you click on the Options button and choose GUID for your partition map, then click on Apple to initialize the drive. After that, label the Time Machine volume as "Backup" or something. If you do two partitions, name the other one whatever you'd like.

If OS X doesn't ask you if you want to use Backup as the Time Machine volume, you can open the System Preferences from the gray apple in the upper left corner of the screen, then choose Time Machine and turn it on and select the drive. It should start backing up within a minute or two. First time is the longest - the subsequent hourly backups are faster.

Thanks again, Tony - you've been a tremendous help with this!

If you do not need the hourly interval that Time Machine is set at, you might like Time Machine Editor. It really gives you flexibility in scheduling backups.

Also any backup solution should include an off-site copy of your critical data. I rotate at least 3 copies of my photo libraries and one is ALWAYS kept off-site.

wlescall wrote in post #9295382
If you do not need the hourly interval that Time Machine is set at, you might like Time Machine Editor. It really gives you flexibility in scheduling backups.

Also any backup solution should include an off-site copy of your critical data. I rotate at least 3 copies of my photo libraries and one is ALWAYS kept off-site.

Very cool! Thanks for that tip!

Tony-S wrote in post #9293860
Yes, switch 1 off, switch 2 on. Switch 3 is not used (set to off). After assembly, connect it to your Mac, then launch Disk Utility, which is in your Applications/Utilities folder. (If when you turn it on you're asked if you want to initialize the drive, click Cancel, then launch Disk Utility.) Click on the drive in the left pane (and not any volume that might show up, which would be below and indented), then click on the Partition tab. You can choose 1 volume of 4 TB, but if it were me I'd choose 2 volumes from the pull-down. I'd make one of them 3.5 TB (for your Time Machine volume) and the other 500 mb for additional working space if you needed it. While in this window make sure you click on the Options button and choose GUID for your partition map, then click on Apple to initialize the drive. After that, label the Time Machine volume as "Backup" or something. If you do two partitions, name the other one whatever you'd like.

If OS X doesn't ask you if you want to use Backup as the Time Machine volume, you can open the System Preferences from the gray apple in the upper left corner of the screen, then choose Time Machine and turn it on and select the drive. It should start backing up within a minute or two. First time is the longest - the subsequent hourly backups are faster.

Tony, having some difficulty getting started, wonder if you could help - got my iMac set up and connected the unit via 800 FW. My Mac is only seeing 2.2 TB total volume in the external HD unit, so when I try to create 2 partitions (3.5TB and 500MB), it's not working out.

Thanks!

b.d.bop wrote in post #9364184
Tony, having some difficulty getting started, wonder if you could help - got my iMac set up and connected the unit via 800 FW. My Mac is only seeing 2.2 TB total volume in the external HD unit, so when I try to create 2 partitions (3.5TB and 500MB), it's not working out.

Thanks!

If you set it to RAID 0, it will only see 2TB (shows up as 2.2TB in OSX since osx uses linear bytes rather than actual bytes) because that's a limit for many RAID 0 controllers/software.

basroil wrote in post #9364966
If you set it to RAID 0, it will only see 2TB (shows up as 2.2TB in OSX since osx uses linear bytes rather than actual bytes) because that's a limit for many RAID 0 controllers/software.

Thanks, basroil - I've tried configuring it to JBOD as well as RAID 0 and it's still being seen as only 2.2 TB by my Disk Utility. Any ideas?

Mark, you should give OWC a call - they should be able to set you up.

Tony-S wrote in post #9370650
Mark, you should give OWC a call - they should be able to set you up.

It's up & running now, Tony! Smooth as silk - thanks for everything! Great advice.

OP What was the solution?

I was afraid someone would ask that - I had to re-plug it in when i called OWC customer support, and all of a sudden the iMac "saw" 4TB!! Only God knows what my original problem was.

b.d.bop (Dr. Polis?),

Sorry for coming to this party late. I see you went the Mac route - congratulations. I'm a software developer with 30+ years experience. I purchased the very first (1982 - six cost over $30K) IBM PC's for our local college while I was Director of Computer Services there. I've been involved in Apple vs. PC debates for years - since before there was a Mac.

I imagine not many folks are interested in my history. I'll finish it up by saying that I purchased an Apple iMac 27" for my photo processing and I couldn't be happier. I have an Apple Time Capsule. It works flawlessly.

I know you'll be very happy with the Mac.

I checked out your Flickr site - very nice!!

Regards,
Dan Pasco

lol!! Good to hear issue resolved.