Hi guys, as the title suggests I am in need of some advice regarding my home setup (I regard myself as a complete novice when it comes to hardware and therefore apologies if this becomes strenuous).
I am aiming to create a setup in which I can wirelessly access my usb printer and back up to two seperate hard drives using time machine (it is ridiculous how many times i decide not to backup my macbook pro because i have to move it from being connected to my tv). I already have a 1tb external hard drive that contains my music production and photos etc and would like, if possible, to save money by incorporating this into a new setup.
Despite spending about 3 hours researching the most reliable and cost effective way in which to achieve this, I've only come up with a few options, all with inherent drawbacks.
1. use a mac compatible NAS such as the Qnap t212 (however with the internal harddrives included this amounts to about £240, slightly more than I'm willing to pay to ease my paranoia.) Equally I do not need to access my files any where in the world and I feel most of the features will go unused.
2. Buy another 1tb ext hard drive, powered USB hub and AirPort Extreme. Issue with this option I gather is that time machine is not supported by apple via this method and again, pretty pricy.
3. Wireless USB hub and buy another 1tb ext hard drive, connecting them both and my printer. Ive read that it is very rare for a set up like this to function reliably but almost tempting due to the price.
Ultimately I wanted to know whether I can avoid paying the rather unjustifiable amount for the NAS and the 2x 1tb int hard drives (as this seems to be the only decent option).
All I'm after is a simple set up whereby one tb hard drive is used as the main time machine back up for my macbook pro as well as holding my current single copy files (photos, films, logic files etc) and the second tb hard drive is set to mirror (or some other more reliable way to copy over files) the first drive.
Again, I am sorry if this thread is incorrect, lacks enough detail or is written in a convoluted way. I am trying to get my head around the situation without having the basic knowledge and so would like someone to tell me what to do!
Any information required please ask and any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I am aiming to create a setup in which I can wirelessly access my usb printer and back up to two seperate hard drives using time machine (it is ridiculous how many times i decide not to backup my macbook pro because i have to move it from being connected to my tv). I already have a 1tb external hard drive that contains my music production and photos etc and would like, if possible, to save money by incorporating this into a new setup.
Despite spending about 3 hours researching the most reliable and cost effective way in which to achieve this, I've only come up with a few options, all with inherent drawbacks.
1. use a mac compatible NAS such as the Qnap t212 (however with the internal harddrives included this amounts to about £240, slightly more than I'm willing to pay to ease my paranoia.) Equally I do not need to access my files any where in the world and I feel most of the features will go unused.
2. Buy another 1tb ext hard drive, powered USB hub and AirPort Extreme. Issue with this option I gather is that time machine is not supported by apple via this method and again, pretty pricy.
3. Wireless USB hub and buy another 1tb ext hard drive, connecting them both and my printer. Ive read that it is very rare for a set up like this to function reliably but almost tempting due to the price.
Ultimately I wanted to know whether I can avoid paying the rather unjustifiable amount for the NAS and the 2x 1tb int hard drives (as this seems to be the only decent option).
All I'm after is a simple set up whereby one tb hard drive is used as the main time machine back up for my macbook pro as well as holding my current single copy files (photos, films, logic files etc) and the second tb hard drive is set to mirror (or some other more reliable way to copy over files) the first drive.
Again, I am sorry if this thread is incorrect, lacks enough detail or is written in a convoluted way. I am trying to get my head around the situation without having the basic knowledge and so would like someone to tell me what to do!
Any information required please ask and any advice would be greatly appreciated.