SOLVED Extended shutdown for Mac

[bladerunner714]

My Macs get substantial, daily use and are both current with their updates running Big Sur 11.5.1. They serve as an electronic filing cabinet for virtually all of my important records and are used for financial management, news and information, correspondence and entertainment. The workload is divided about 2/3 to the Mac Mini on my desk and 1/3 to a Macbook used in my recliner. The scheme provides the convenience of conducting the digital portion of my life from either my desk or my recliner as well as the backup security of complete redundancy should either system fail.

The recovery from a recent surgery has left me unable to work at my desk for a period of at least two months. Confined to the recliner, I’ve invoked the backup aspect of my scheme, relying entirely on my Macbook and shut down the Mac Mini until I can return to my desk.

It seems to have worked so well that I wonder if I haven’t overlooked something. Are there any cautions for which I should be alert when restarting my Mac Mini after its extended shut down?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hi,

I assume by backup scheme, you mean you are saving your documents/files in a cloud system - i.e. iCloud/Google Drive/Dropbox, and accessing them from either Mac? Or, are you using a network attached storage device (NAS) or backing up with Time Machine for both Macs?

C

 

[bladerunner714]

Cory: The data trees on the two Macs are identical. When I move from one Mac to the other (seldom more often than daily, usually less) I use Carbon Copy Cloner to backup the data tree on the Mac I'm leaving to the identical data tree on the Mac I'm moving to. Since volatility is usually limited to a very small subset of the data, the backup doesn't take long. In this way, the redundancy of the identical data trees on the two Macs is maintained and serves as a very effective backup. Of course, each Mac has its own Time Machine and Carbon Copy Cloner backups as well. The only risk is the possibility of inadvertently running the Mac to Mac backup in the wrong direction thus wiping out everything that was done since the last move.

 

[Cory Cooper]

OK, thanks.

I understand your flow now. Other than performing the clone the incorrect way as you mentioned, in this case Mac mini (older data) to MacBook (newer data), you should be fine as long as the mini is still in good health.

Just pay attention to the clone direction!

C

 

[bladerunner714]

Cory: Thanks for your help.

 

[Cory Cooper]

No worries...

Let us know how it goes.

C

 

[bladerunner714]

Cory: Will do (it'll be a while)

 

[bladerunner714]

No worries...

Let us know how it goes.

C

Yesterday I started the mac Mini after it had been shut down for more than six weeks. I applied several software updates without incident and everything seems to be working fine. I didn't think to turn off the Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad and they had both drained their batteries down to about 30% doing whatever it is that they do when they don't have anything to do. I suspect they could possibly drain their batteries close to 0% given a long enough period of inactivity. But all's well and returning quickly to what passes for normal in this quadrant. Thanks again to all.