Is backing up Laptop (uses wifi) to FreeNAS (wired connection) safe and reliable?

[drwoodcomb]

I have a Macbook Pro Retina (late 2015 model) that I was able to configure so that TimeMachine would back up the laptop to my FreeNAS server. The FreeNAS server itself has a wired connection to my network.

I am wondering if anyone on the forums has any information about how reliable it is to back up over wifi? Is data loss or corruption something to be more concerned with when compared to a fully wired connection between the laptop and the NAS?

 

[Ericloewe]

Time machine is infamous for corrupting backups if you look at it wrong. That includes Wi-Fi, unfortunately.

You can mitigate the issue with snapshots, allowing you to roll back to a usable version instead of starting over.

 

[snaptec]

From Time to Time TM crashes itself. The Last 2 years over 5 macs everything went fine without problems. Backing up wired and wifi


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[Nick2253]

You should not have problems with a good backup program, but like @Ericloewe, I've found that Time Machine is not that reliable. I use Rsync on my Mac at home, and I find that I prefer the control I get using Rsync. However, I understand that that's not for everyone.

 

[Spearfoot]

I have a Macbook Pro Retina (late 2015 model) that I was able to configure so that TimeMachine would back up the laptop to my FreeNAS server. The FreeNAS server itself has a wired connection to my network.

I am wondering if anyone on the forums has any information about how reliable it is to back up over wifi? Is data loss or corruption something to be more concerned with when compared to a fully wired connection between the laptop and the NAS?

I can't speak to the reliability of Time Machine backups, as I've never had the need to restore a Mac from its TM backup. As @snaptec noted above, TM seems to 'Just Work' most of the time...

That said, you might look into an OS X backup package such as Carbon Copy Cloner, which supports backing up to a NAS.

With an external USB disk, you can create a clone of your Mac's disk. I believe you can also do this with a NAS-based target image file, but I won't swear to it as it's been a few years since I tried...

And finally, I always make a bootable USB flash drive for the version of OS X I'm using. When you need this, you really need it.

 

[drwoodcomb]

Thank you all for the great replies. And so quickly too!

 

[Spearfoot]

Thank you all for the great replies. And so quickly too!

You're welcome! @Nick2253 mentioned rsync, which jogged my little pea-sized brain and made me remember that OS X is really just another variety of Unix. Between rsync and a good bootable USB flash drive of OS X, you should be able to keep a nice backup of your Mac without too much ado. Good luck!

 

[adrianwi]

I've got 2 MBAs backing up to FreeNAS datasets using TimeMachine over WiFi. Both have been good as gold since I updated to the last 9.3.1. Every now and again they want to do a full backup, but I seem to have been lucky for a good few months.