Best practices for using True Image to 2 external hard drives

I walk through setting up a scheduled task which recommends making an incremental if there's already a full image. OK. But over time the target hard drive will get full, right? What's best practice on how to set it up to keep as many backups as possible but also automatically deal with the hard drive getting full? I found some info saying to make 2 scheduled tasks - 1 that is incremental if full exists, and have that run every night. then have a full only backup run every x days / weeks? that will not delete all the incrementals but allow them to be overwritten with a new file with the same name? But that may still have the drive run out of space (if the full schedule is too infrequently) OR not keep enough backups? And after the full runs, overwriting the last full backup, then we have only 1 day of backups?

And then to add another wrinkle.... how does all this change / what are best practices when you have 2 external drives that you rotate offsite? So day 1 thru 5 say, drive 1 is doing backups. On day 4, it does another full backup. then day 6 you take it offsite and disk 2 is doing backups.... drive 2 won't have a full backup, so the incremental if full is present will make a full backup and some incrementals. then drive 1 is put back in place and does a full or incremental? How does that swapping of hard drives affect backup process with incrementals / full backups?

Thanks!

 

If you run an INC:
TI will look for the FULL referred to in the INC. If it does not exist, TI will create a FULL image. If it does exist, TI will create an INC based on changes between the FULL and the current system state. TI will not care when the FULL was created or whether or not that’s the FULL you want to append to; if a FULL is in the same target folder, TI will use it.

 

Thanks for the info but I still feel I am missing something. 2 issues - the hard drives filling up (yeah, it might take a while but will happen?) with that first full and lots of incs?

and so you call the image backup. then you will have backup, backup1, etc.

conceivably backup (the original) was made on day 22, then you swap external drives and backup on that 2nd drive was made on day 1. it'll make a backup2 with increments from backup from that drive's dull (day 1) or the last backup known to be made - (from day 22)?

I would think there is a knowledge base file on this (or just general best practices for a backup process), but it seems very sparce?!

 

“but will happen?”
TI will issue an out of disk space message and quit. There’s a section in the Users Guide explaining under what circumstances TI will auto delete old images. Your example is not one of them.

In simple terms, TI knows nothing about what it cannot see. If an image is not in the folder you direct it to, TI will assume it does not exist.