Will Superduper copy a TM backup that's located on a Drobo?

[streborg]

I need to reformat my Drobo (currently a single volume) and would like to backup and later restore the Time Machine backup that is on it. My approach is...

1. Using two large HDs to create a single raid concatenated volume large enough to hold my entire Time Machine backup from the Drobo.
2. Use Superduper to back up the entire Drobo to the concatenated volume.
3. Reformat the Drobo into 2 volumes.
4. Use Superduper to restore the original Time Machine backup from the concatenated volume to one of the new volumes on the Drobo.

Does this sound feasible? Any reason this might not work? Crazy?

[dnanian]

Can't you just create another volume on the Drobo using their Dashboard?

[streborg]

The only option in the Dashboard is to rename the volume or reset the Drobo. This is a Drobo S and apparently does not have this feature via Dashboard. Checking their website they indicate I should use Disk Utility to partition it, hence the convoluted procedure mentioned above. Dashboard and Drobo firmware are up to date.

[dnanian]

OK. So, yes, you can copy Time Machine like that (although you should use copy both times, NOT the "Restore" script).

Remember, though - and this is important. Time Machine is not an archive. Treating it like that, as you seem to be doing, is a recipe for disaster and sadness.

[streborg]

Thanks, instead of restore I'll use "Backup all files" to copy both ways. Just curious, how does "Restore all Files" differ from "Backup all Files"?

Not sure what you mean Time Machine is not an archive unless you are referring to compressed files such as zip, etc. Time Machine backups appear to be a non compressed volume or folder of individual files organized by date and time, keeping the incremental changes with each new backup.

[dnanian]

No, I'm saying it's not a place to rely on as an archive - that is, you remove the file and assume it'll be fine in the backup. It's not intended to be used that way, and is not reliable enough either.