[Harvey]

I have been using Time Machine and Time Capsule for many years and am currently at a point where I have filled my TC and a 4TB Seagate drive with backup from my iMac , and 2 other family laptops.

I currently am using a second 4TB Seagate drive for backup and am unsure what to do with my 2TB TimeCapsule as well as the first 4TB Seagate drive. Should I archive them? Where and how? Or can I simply erase them . . . . and how do I safely do that?

I looked online for these answers without much luck. Backing up on a Mac is not discussed much online it seems. Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Harvey

[reader50]

A TimeMachine hard drive can be erased and used as normal for other purposes. It's not a "special" drive, if that's what you are asking.

Few people discuss TM because it mostly "just works". You can run into problems though if you need a bigger TM drive than say, a TC came with. Or worse, if your machine has multiple volumes, and you need a TM space bigger than any HD currently on the market.

iFixit has guides on how to replace the TC internal drive, say to a bigger one. Considering Apple's habit of going for compact size instead of cooling capacity, definitely go for a 5400 or 5900 green drive.

If you need more than 14TB, then you need a RAID array for backups. A NAS is the best option, though there are others. Like USB multibay drive enclosures.

[Harvey]

Thanks reader50 for that very clear and helpful explanation.