Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
“Mac” from “Mac OS X,” Mountain Lion introduced a long list of
changes, including a few that relate to backups:
•
Time Machine can now encrypt backups that are stored on a Time
Capsule. For more information, read
Encrypt Your Time Machine
Backup
.
•
You're no longer restricted to a single destination in Time Machine.
Instead, you can select two or more destinations, and Time Machine
automatically alternates among them. I say more about this in
•
Power Nap, a feature available on Mac laptops with flash storage,
enables your Mac to wake up briefly to run Time Machine (and
perform a few other tasks), and then go back to sleep. For details,
see
Use Power Nap
.
The next version of OS X, 10.9 Mavericks, drops the “big cat”
nomenclature in favor of surfing spots; it's scheduled to ship in late
2013. As I write this, I haven't yet heard what, if anything, might
change regarding backups in Mavericks, but I'll certainly be keeping
a close eye on it.
More Data Needs Backing Up
The amount of data we generate, and want to back up personally,
continues to grow—but in some respects, the rate at which it's growing
has slowed:
•
Digital imaging is getting higher-res.
The average number
of megapixels in digital camera sensors (including those built into
mobile phones) continues to rise. Both digital still cameras and
camcorders are now more likely to record HD video content, and
1080p support is nearly universal. Cameras and displays that
support 4K Ultra HD resolution for video are becoming more
common. (Various flavors of 4K range from 7 to 12.7 megapixels.
And yes, 8K Ultra HD will be the next big thing after that.)
•
Video streaming is all the rage.
The Apple TV and numerous
set-top boxes and Internet-enabled TVs and DVD/Blu-ray players
