Data Management and Backups Flashcards

How does Time Machine determine which files to back up in each hourly backup?

Answer: It uses FSEvents to track files that have changed since the last backup

Time Machine uses the FSEvents framework, which tracks file system changes in real time, to efficiently identify only the files that have changed since the last backup — avoiding a full scan of the drive.

What is the maximum number of Time Machine backup destinations you can configure in macOS Ventura and later?

Answer: Multiple destinations are supported and Time Machine rotates between them

macOS Ventura and later support multiple Time Machine backup destinations simultaneously. Time Machine rotates between configured destinations, providing redundancy across multiple drives or network locations.

When restoring individual files from a Time Machine backup, which method allows you to browse backup snapshots without entering the Time Machine interface?

Answer: Mounting the Time Machine backup disk and navigating the Backups.backupdb folder directly

Time Machine backup disks contain a 'Backups.backupdb' folder with dated subfolders representing each backup snapshot. You can mount the drive in Finder and navigate this folder structure directly to copy files without using the Time Machine UI.

What is iCloud Drive's 'Optimize Mac Storage' feature and what risk does it introduce?

Answer: It removes local copies of older iCloud files to free disk space, but files are unavailable without internet

Optimize Mac Storage removes local copies of older or less-used iCloud Drive files when disk space is low, keeping only the file stub (cloud icon) locally. Files must be re-downloaded from iCloud when accessed, requiring internet connectivity.

Which Apple technology allows APFS volumes to take near-instant snapshots of the entire volume state?

Answer: APFS Snapshots

APFS (Apple File System) natively supports snapshots — point-in-time copies of a volume's state that are created nearly instantly and consume minimal additional space by using copy-on-write technology.

What is the recommended approach for backing up a Mac that uses FileVault 2 encryption?

Answer: Time Machine backs up FileVault-encrypted Macs normally; backups are stored unencrypted on the backup drive unless the backup drive is also encrypted

Time Machine works normally with FileVault-encrypted Macs. The source Mac's disk is encrypted, but by default Time Machine backups are stored unencrypted on the backup destination — unless you also enable encryption for the Time Machine backup itself.