Need help with Safepoint Backups

MBL #1 has multiple shares (e.g., dad, mom, kid, kid2, etc).  Some are used more frequently than others.  MBL #2 is to be used for Safepoint backus.  I want to schedule Safepoint updates of each share independent of the others.  For example:

Dad: update daily at 0100

Mom: update weekly at 0200 Saturday

Kid: update monthly at 0400 Sunday

How do I do this?

And can I restore individual files and folders from a Safepoint backup or do I have to restore the enitre share (like a Ghost image)?

Thanks

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Update:  Answering my own questions for the masses…

Can I schedule separate Safepoint Backups for each individual share of a drive? 

No.  Safepoint Backups operate similar to a RAID 1 (mirror) configuration with one exception (see note below)*.  If using Safepoint to backup one MyBook Live to another, the Safepoint image is a mirror of the Source drive.  After the initial Safepoint Backup is created, subsequent updates synchronize with the original files on the Source drive; only changed or deleted files are modified on the destination drive.  That means that subsequent Safepoint Backups should take less time to complete as compared to the first one.  Generally speaking, updating a Safepoint image takes less time than creating one.

Can I restore individual files and folders from a Safepoint backup or do I have to restore the entire share (like a Ghost image)?

Both.  The Safepoint Backup can be used to fully restore your Source drive.  For example, if the Source drive fails, you can restore your Sharepoint image to a new My Book Live, recovering all shares and files exactly as they were when the last Sharepoint Backup was taken.

However, you can also access and restore individual files or folders.  The Safepoint Backups are true copies of the Source drive so you can navigate the Backup image (copy) and access the share folder structures and individual files via Windows Explorer (or Apple OS equiv).

*Note:  Safepoint Backups differ from a true RAID 1 configuration in that RAID 1 mirroring actions take place in real time; changes on Disk 0 are simultaneously applied to Disk 1.  In contrast, Safepoint only modifies files on the Destination MyBook Live when a scheduled Backup runs.  For example, you have a Safepoint Backup set to run every Sunday at 0300.  If you accidentally delete a file from your Source drive on Wednesday, that file will still exist and can be recovered from the Safepoint Backup image until Sunday at 0300. 

The differences between Safepoint Backups and RAID 1 are both good and bad.  Good because it provides an opportunity to recover deleted files otherwise impossible since there is no “Recycle Bin” or comparable temp storage location for deleted files on a MyBook Live.  Deleted means deleted unless you are using Safepoint Backups.  At the same time, the difference is bad because the mirroring actions are not real time.  If a catastrophic failure of your Source drive occurs, you can only restore to the last scheduled Safepoint Backup.  If your Source drive crashes on Saturday night, you will lose all data created during the previous week (since Backups run on Sundays).

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