Apple introduced a new filesystem in macOS High Sierra, so naturally you may be wondering how Carbon Copy Cloner deals with this and how this new change might affect your backups. You might even be wondering, 'What's a filesystem?', so we'll start with that, and gradually move into more technical details.
What's a filesystem?
The file system is perhaps the most important piece of software on your Mac. It’s also one of the most transparent, at least when it’s working correctly. Every user and every application uses the file system. The file system keeps track of and organizes all of the files on the hard drive, and also determines which users and applications have access to those files. The file system also keeps track of how many files you have and how much space they consume. Every time you look for a file, open a file, move a file, save a file or delete a file, it's the filesystem that is fulfilling that action.
Why is Apple introducing a new filesystem?
Apple’s legacy file system, HFS+, has worked well for almost 20 years, and Apple has made consistent improvements to it over that time. For example, Apple added support for extended attributes, file system compression, file system journaling, and full-disk encryption. All of these new features were added to keep pace with new operating system features and to make the file system more reliable. But that file system was created initially for Mac OS 8, and was designed for platter-based hard drives. Storage technology has changed a lot over the last 20 years, and modifying HFS+ to keep pace with those changes has proven increasingly difficult. To meet the challenges of new OSes and new storage technology, Apple introduced the Apple File System, or 'APFS' in High Sierra.
When I upgrade my Mac to High Sierra (or later), will my startup disk be converted to APFS?
When you upgrade to macOS High Sierra, systems with all flash storage configurations are converted automatically. Systems with hard disk drives (HDD) and Fusion drives won't be converted to APFS on macOS High Sierra. When you upgrade to Mojave, HDD and Fusion volumes are also converted to APFS. You can't opt-out of the transition to APFS.
If I first upgrade to High Sierra on an HDD, and then clone to an SSD, will the SSD be converted to APFS?
With Carbon Copy Cloner, your data and the operating system’s data are all preserved on a bootable volume, ready for production at a moment’s notice. When disaster strikes, simply boot from your backup and get back to using your Mac. CCC doesn’t in itself create encrypted backups, even if the drive that you are backing up is encrypted. There are work arounds, essentially, you will get your Mac’s built in File Vault to encrypt the drive and handle the encryptions. Making the drive encrypted takes a few. CCC Backup both or one. Thread starter Dittoman1; Start date Mar 16, 2021; Dittoman1. Joined Dec 20, 2013 Messages 548 Reaction score 6 Points 18 Location Chalfont.
If you're running macOS High Sierra or Mojave, then neither the HDD nor the SSD will be automatically converted to APFS. You can choose, however, to erase the SSD as APFS prior to cloning to it. Both APFS and HFS are valid destination formats when using Carbon Copy Cloner 5 on High Sierra and Mojave. When making a backup of a macOS Catalina system volume, CCC will automatically convert the destination volume from HFS+ to APFS, but only after your explicit approval of the action.
If the OS upgrade converted my startup disk to APFS, what do I need to do to my backup disk? Do I have to erase it as APFS?
You don't need to do anything at all to your backup disk after upgrading to macOS High Sierra or Mojave (and again, on macOS Catalina, CCC will automatically convert the destination to APFS, so you still don't have to do anything to the destination volume). Having an HFS+ backup of an APFS-formatted High Sierra or Mojave startup volume is acceptable; that will function just fine for any future restores, even to an APFS-formatted volume. If your backup disk is an SSD, or if you were planning to erase the destination anyway, we do recommend that you erase it as APFS.
I'm running Mojave — can I erase my HDD destination as APFS? Are there any advantages to using APFS on the destination?
- If you're working when a backup is due to take place, you can defer it to a later time, so the backup process doesn't affect the performance of your Mac. A couple of CCC catches.
- Carbon Copy Cloner is a bootable backup solution for the Mac. Suppose the unthinkable happens while you're under deadline to finish a project - your Mac is unresponsive and all you hear is an.
If you were planning to erase your destination volume anyway, we recommend that you format the volume as APFS. While enumeration performance of APFS on a rotational disk is still significantly worse than HFS+ on the same hardware, there are some other advantages to choosing APFS rather than HFS+. For example, an APFS destination can store snapshots from which you can do point-in-time restores. APFS volumes also support sparse files, and you're less likely to run into name comparison problems (e.g. when files on the source APFS volume have Unicode characters like 'é') when backing up to an APFS-formatted volume. You also cannot boot a T2 Mac from an HFS+ encrypted volume, so if you have a T2 Mac and encryption of the backup is required, you must choose APFS.
Can I use CCC to clone an APFS startup disk to another Mac?
The macOS installer applies a firmware upgrade to your Mac when you install the macOS upgrade. This firmware upgrade cannot be made part of the cloning process. Only the macOS Installer can upgrade a Macintosh to support APFS. If you attempt to clone an APFS volume to a Macintosh that has not yet received the firmware upgrade from the macOS Installer, that Macintosh will not be able to boot from the APFS volume. Once your Mac has received the firmware upgrade via the macOS Installer, your Mac can boot from a CCC bootable backup on an APFS volume. Note, however, that every major MacOS upgrade may require a new firmware upgrade to allow use of the newer operating system.
Note that this is also applicable to a Macintosh running in Target Disk Mode. If you upgrade one Mac to High Sierra (or later) via the Installer, you cannot boot a second Mac into Target Disk Mode, attach it to the first, then clone High Sierra (or later) to the Mac in Target Disk Mode. The required firmware upgrade cannot be applied to the Mac that is booted in Target Disk Mode, you must run the macOS Installer on that second Mac. Once the second Mac has received the firmware upgrade via the macOS Installer, you can clone the first Mac to the second Mac booted in Target Disk Mode.
Does CCC support encrypted APFS volumes?
Yes, CCC 5 can clone to and from encrypted APFS volumes (aka FileVault encryption). Note that CCC doesn't play any role in the encryption process – encryption is a function of the volume, not of the tool that's writing a file. If you enable FileVault on your startup disk, then the files on your startup disk will be encrypted. Those files are decrypted on-the-fly by the filesystem when they're opened by an application. Likewise, if you enable FileVault on the destination volume (e.g. via the Security Preference Pane while booted from the backup), then the files on the destination will be encrypted. CCC doesn't have to encrypt those files, they're encrypted on-the-fly by the filesystem as the bits are written to disk.
I heard that APFS has a 'cloning' feature. Is that the same as what CCC is doing?
No, the cloning functionality within APFS is completely unrelated to the cloning that CCC performs.
APFS cloning allows the user to instantly create copies of files on the same volume without consuming extra storage space. When cloning a file, the file system doesn’t create copies of the data, rather it creates a second reference to the file that can be modified independently of the first file. The two files will share storage on the disk for portions of the files that remain identical, but changes to either file will be written to different parts of the disk. APFS file cloning only works when you make copies of a file on the same volume (e.g. duplicate a file or folder in the Finder). CCC is typically copying files between volumes, so APFS cloning isn't applicable for that kind of task.
The important take-away is that APFS file cloning can save you space on your startup disk, but CCC cloning can save your data if your source disk fails. They serve completely different purposes; APFS file cloning is not at all related to making backups.
Why doesn't the disk usage on my backup disk match the disk usage on the source disk?
CCC's global exclusions as well as the SafetyNet feature have traditionally led to legitimate differences in disk usage in the past. The aforementioned APFS file cloning feature, however, adds a new dimension to this concern. While APFS file cloning saves space on your source volume, those space savings can't be consistently applied when copying your files to another volume (because Apple doesn't offer a way for us to determine that one file is a clone of another). Making matters worse, Finder does not accurately represent the true disk usage of your files. Finder doesn't take into consideration whether one file is a clone of another (again, because Apple doesn't provide a way to make that assessment), so it sums up the total size of each file and folder, presenting a total value that is possibly astronomically higher than the capacity of the disk.
If you convert your Mac's disk to APFS, understand that the disk usage on your source and destination may never add up, and therefore may not be a reliable measure for comparing the source and destination.
Additional Resources
We're here to help
If you get stuck or need some advice, you can get help right from within CCC. Choose 'Ask a question' from CCC's Help menu to pose a question to our Help Desk.
If the unexpected happens, you want to get back to work as quickly as possible with all of your data. Here is an elegant solution to backup you Mac and the pros and cons of Carbon Copy Cloner Vs Time Machine backups.
My Backup and Restoration Experiences
I have been an avid Apple user for over a decade. Between my wife and I, we have had over a dozen Macs. I have gone through the pain of a fail graphics card on both an iMac and a MacBook Pro. Neither of these issues
How I Back My Computers Up and Why
There are a lot of ways to reach the backup solution that you want. I use a combination of backup methods and they are relatively transparent on a daily basis and best of all the software is free. My primary backup method is a Time Machine backup on a Synology NAS 412+. This Network Attached Storage (NAS) is used to back up an iMac, a MacBook, and a MacBook Pro all over ethernet or wifi automatically. Additionally, the NAS is not only used for backup it also hosts my Plex Media Server. I occasionally make backups using Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper, usually using a free trial, or software that came with a hard drive purchase. The most common times I do a clone is when I am upgrading a hard drive or upgrading my whole computer.
You Should Ensure Your Backup is Backed-up
A
Backup the Most Important Things Online
You can back up the most important things online for free, at least I can back up my most important things. If my house was destroyed in a fire, the most important things that I would want back off my computer are my memories. The pictures of my family are the most important thing on my computers. Everything else is just not that important. Fortunately, Google Drive will let you backup all your photos for free with no limit in “High quality”.
What the Difference Between High Quality and Original Quality For Google Drive?
You may be wondering why I said “High Quality”. Because Google Drive backs up your photos with two options “High Quality” or “Original Quality”. If you select “High Quality” Google will backup all your photos and they won’t count towards your 15GB, the
- Photos are compressed to save space. If a photo is larger than 16MP, it will be resized to 16MP.
- You can print good quality 16MP photos in sizes up to 24 inches x 16 inches.
- Videos higher than 1080p will be resized to high-definition 1080p. A video with 1080p or less will look close to the original. Some information, like closed captions, might be lost.
I think this unlimited picture storage is great, most of my photos are already under 16MP and most of my videos are under 1080p. So for the things that really matter, I can have a free cloud backup with unlimited storage. If they can’t convert the photo or video then it will count towards your data usage.
This is an Error I got for a few photos that couldn’t be reduced by Google Drive.
Carbon Copy Cloner vs Time Machine Benefits
The Main Benefits of Carbon Copy Cloner
You Have a Bootable Clone
This is the most advantageous benefit for Carbon Copy Cloner vs Time Machine. If your original hard drive fails, your computer is stolen or damaged. You can plug your CCC backup into a computer and boot from it and it has all the information from the last backup.
The Backups are Fast
Well fast is a relative term, but CCC backup is touted to be faster than Time Machine and SuperDuper. The speed of your backup depends a lot on the hardware that you are using as well.
Very Customizable
Instead of ease of use, you get options galore. You may find this very handy that you can customize the backups to meet your needs.
Find and Repair Corrupt Data
CCC can check your backup drives health. Drive health is an advanced option and you must turn it on. This will add additional processing overhead, but will help ensure the health of your backup.
The Main Benefits of Using Time Machine
You Already Have Time Machine
Having a Time Machine backup can be very convenient, it is the easiest backup system to use on a Mac. It is built in very elegantly into Mac OS. For this reason, once Time Machine is running if you deleted something that you need to recover you can easily get it back with Time Machine. I have probably used this feature more than any other feature of Time Machine. Additionally, if you change a file and you want to get back the original file, you can do that as well.
This is what it looks like to “Enter Time Machine”
You Only Need One Additional Thing – A Drive
The only extra thing you need to get your Time Machine backup going is an external hard drive or cloud storage, the same as you need for any other backup system.
Time Machine Does all the Work – Set it Up and Forget It
Once you plug a drive into your Mac and go to format it, you will be prompt you to use the drive as a Time Machine volume. After you click yes, you are done with setup and your Mac will regularly back itself up to that drive. If you disconnect the drive, Time Machine will prompt you to connect the drive occasionally.
Create Multiple Backup Seamlessly
Your ease for setting up one backup is just as easy to set up two or more. Every time you format a new hard drive, the first thing you mac will ask is if you want to use it as a Time Machine backup.
Easy Encryptions
So you want your backups to be encrypted, Great! With Time Machine all you have to do is check the box Encrypt Backups when you setup Time Machine.
Carbon Copy Cloner vs Time Machine Drawbacks
The Main Drawbacks of Carbon Copy Cloner
Ccc Backup Mac
Does Not Integrate with the Cloud
Now you may be able to create a volume with CCC that you can store on the cloud, but this is not a beginner process. Additionally it removes the primary benefit of having a ready to go bootable backup at your fingertips.
Ccc Backup Macbook
Does Not Create Encrypted Backups
CCC doesn’t in itself create encrypted backups, even if the drive that you are backing up is encrypted. There are work arounds, essentially, you will get your Mac’s built in File Vault to encrypt the drive and handle the encryptions. Making the drive encrypted takes a few additional steps and is not a beginner process you can find it here.
The Main Drawbacks of Time Machine
Hard to Customize
You have far fewer options to customize your backup method. There are third-party applications that can solve many of your desires for this. TimeMachineEditor is one
Slow Backups
The reason you may want to change your backup intervals is that backups are slow. Additionally, you may not want to waste time running Time Machine every hour while you are sleeping.
No Drive Health
Many of the cloning methods have system checks that are performed routinely on the drives that hold the backups. This is not the case with Time Machine. Though if you are using a NAS, which should have its own health checks or the cloud you won’t have to worry about this.
Not a Bootable Clone
Your Time Machine Backups are not bootable. Meaning you can’t just plug it in and use it as your primary computer drive. Instead to recover your backup or set up all your stuff on a new computer you have to use Migration Assistant.
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