Using Remote File Access to Save Disk Space on Your MBA

[freelander]

Clayj, Is there any way of knowing if the port has been blocked on the network I am on. I had this working fine on a relatives wifi network, however, I am now in work logged onto my Co wifi network and I can't connect again. Just wondering if there is a way of identifying if the issue is a "blocked" port without having to ask the network manager.

[clayj]

Originally Posted by freelander

Clayj, Is there any way of knowing if the port has been blocked on the network I am on. I had this working fine on a relatives wifi network, however, I am now in work logged onto my Co wifi network and I can't connect again. Just wondering if there is a way of identifying if the issue is a "blocked" port without having to ask the network manager.

Try this:

http://www.canyouseeme.org/

[Cronus130]

Excellent guide but a have a question:

Here is what I am trying to accomplish:

I want to create a share for my iTunes library using either Time Capsule or a NAS drive. The point to the share being to house my entire iTunes music library with the ability to access it with my MBP remotely (Internet) and/or on my local network. I do not want to have to change the location of the library within iTunes whenever I move between a remote connection and my local network.

So my question is will iTunes be able to still locally connect to my music library if it's setup to connect remotely?

[clayj]

Originally Posted by Cronus130

Excellent guide but a have a question:

Here is what I am trying to accomplish:

I want to create a share for my iTunes library using either Time Capsule or a NAS drive. The point to the share being to house my entire iTunes music library with the ability to access it with my MBP remotely (Internet) and/or on my local network. I do not want to have to change the location of the library within iTunes whenever I move between a remote connection and my local network.

So my question is will iTunes be able to still locally connect to my music library if it's setup to connect remotely?

Yes, but remember that if you are away from home, you will need to connect to your home Time Capsule/NAS drive before you launch iTunes. Otherwise, iTunes will start scanning for its songs on a drive it can't reach, and you will see a bunch of exclamation points in your iTunes songs list as songs are not found. If this occurs, you will need to exit iTunes, establish the connection to the home server, and then relaunch iTunes.

Also, equally important: The path that you use to connect to the Time Capsule should be the same whether you are inside or outside of the network. This should not be hard to do... just make sure that when you connect to the drive that contains the music, you connect to the root of that location, not a folder that's below the root.

[rapps]

Your guide was amazing. Thank you for such a clear explanation. So far it's work perfectly. One question though...itunes works when I'm off network, but really really slowly. I have a setup similar to yours. AEBS with USB HD. Do you think speeds would be much improved with the TC? Is the bottleneck from internet speeds or from the AEBS to USB.

Additionally...is there a way to automate the server connection? Having it automatically connect when I'm off the home network would be really cool. Or if there was a way to have it permanently on the sidebar?

Thanks so much

[clayj]

Originally Posted by rapps

Your guide was amazing. Thank you for such a clear explanation. So far it's work perfectly. One question though...itunes works when I'm off network, but really really slowly. I have a setup similar to yours. AEBS with USB HD. Do you think speeds would be much improved with the TC? Is the bottleneck from internet speeds or from the AEBS to USB.

Additionally...is there a way to automate the server connection? Having it automatically connect when I'm off the home network would be really cool. Or if there was a way to have it permanently on the sidebar?

Thanks so much

Glad you like it!

The slowness is a function of network speed, not the speed of connection between your AEBS and its USB HD. A Time Capsule would be just as slow, as would going through your router to a Mac server (which is what I actually do). If the "away from home" location is using a B-only router, upgrading it to a G or N router might help, but there are no guarantees.

I really haven't looked into automating the process, because the first step in doing that would probably be for the MBA to "know" if it's at home or away from home, and I am not sure how exactly I'd do that (not to mention the overhead required to establish the connection when I may actually not want to). Given that it only takes me a few mouse clicks to make the connection manually, since I have saved the proper AFP address in Go > Connect to Server and my username and password are saved in the keychain, I don't know that I want to spend any time trying to automate something that may cause more problems than it solves.

[rapps]

Originally Posted by clayj

Glad you like it!

The slowness is a function of network speed, not the speed of connection between your AEBS and its USB HD. A Time Capsule would be just as slow, as would going through your router to a Mac server (which is what I actually do). If the "away from home" location is using a B-only router, upgrading it to a G or N router might help, but there are no guarantees.

I really haven't looked into automating the process, because the first step in doing that would probably be for the MBA to "know" if it's at home or away from home, and I am not sure how exactly I'd do that (not to mention the overhead required to establish the connection when I may actually not want to). Given that it only takes me a few mouse clicks to make the connection manually, since I have saved the proper AFP address in Go > Connect to Server and my username and password are saved in the keychain, I don't know that I want to spend any time trying to automate something that may cause more problems than it solves.

Thanks for the quick reply. Glad to hear that upgrading to a TC wouldn't help. If I set my AEBS to N only, what would happen if someone without an N-card tries to connect to it?

[clayj]

Originally Posted by rapps

Thanks for the quick reply. Glad to hear that upgrading to a TC wouldn't help. If I set my AEBS to N only, what would happen if someone without an N-card tries to connect to it?

One clarification: It's not the speed of your home network that really matters, since the AEBS' HD or Time Capsule HD or Mac server HD is not connected wirelessly to the network. The bottleneck comes from (1) having to go through the Internet in the first place, which is not as fast as accessing a hard drive directly (in the same machine) or via a wired network and (2) having to go through wireless networking at the "away from home" location. Even if you eliminate (2) by connecting to the network using a USB Ethernet adapter, you still have to contend with the fact that your iTunes bits are going through the Internet. The speed difference is substantial.

Setting your home router to N-only will only affect users at home who do not have N; they won't be able to connect to your home network. It won't make any difference with respect to how quickly you can access files when you are away from home.

[rapps]

Originally Posted by clayj

One clarification: It's not the speed of your home network that really matters, since the AEBS' HD or Time Capsule HD or Mac server HD is not connected wirelessly to the network. The bottleneck comes from (1) having to go through the Internet in the first place, which is not as fast as accessing a hard drive directly (in the same machine) or via a wired network and (2) having to go through wireless networking at the "away from home" location. Even if you eliminate (2) by connecting to the network using a USB Ethernet adapter, you still have to contend with the fact that your iTunes bits are going through the Internet. The speed difference is substantial.

Setting your home router to N-only will only affect users at home who do not have N; they won't be able to connect to your home network. It won't make any difference with respect to how quickly you can access files when you are away from home.

Gotcha, but would those on my home network be able to access the internet if the AEBS is on N only if they don't have N?

[Cronus130]

Yes, but remember that if you are away from home, you will need to connect to your home Time Capsule/NAS drive before you launch iTunes. Otherwise, iTunes will start scanning for its songs on a drive it can't reach, and you will see a bunch of exclamation points in your iTunes songs list as songs are not found. If this occurs, you will need to exit iTunes, establish the connection to the home server, and then relaunch iTunes.

Also, equally important: The path that you use to connect to the Time Capsule should be the same whether you are inside or outside of the network. This should not be hard to do... just make sure that when you connect to the drive that contains the music, you connect to the root of that location, not a folder that's below the root.

Thanks! Now I just need to find a way to automatically mount the share before iTunes launches... I'm thinking an apple script perhaps

[clayj]

One thing I hope you all will take into consideration when accessing a home server or TC/AEBS+HD when you are on the road: For many broadband systems, there are two speeds of data transmission. When you're at home, the download speed is important. But when you're away from home and you are accessing files remotely, the upload speed is important.

In my case, right now I am getting a download speed of 4700+ kbps, or 4.7 megabits per second (roughly .6 MB per second)... and that's pretty good. But my upload speed is only 360 kbps, not even one-tenth as fast as the download speed. This figure is what you need to bear in mind when you are accessing files remotely... if it seems slow, you'll know why.

Check out http://speedtest.twcnc.com for one way to check your download and upload speeds.

[bcegi]

Here is a question that I did not see asked here nor in the guide. Can I access the hard disk connected to the Time Capsule remotely without having a Mac Computer turned on and connected to my network at home.

I have tried the steps outlined in the guide but just want to make sure that before I invest anymore time in this that the scenario exists as described above.

[clayj]

Originally Posted by bcegi

Here is a question that I did not see asked here nor in the guide. Can I access the hard disk connected to the Time Capsule remotely without having a Mac Computer turned on and connected to my network at home.

I have tried the steps outlined in the guide but just want to make sure that before I invest anymore time in this that the scenario exists as described above.

Yes. The Guide has an entire section about how to set up connectivity for your Time Capsule or AEBS + USB hard drive. Once set up, no other machine is required at home. (Obviously you will need a machine at home, presumably your MBA, to set this up in the first place.)

[prim2]

Many thanks, clayj.

I'm sitting in Starbucks with full access to my TC and full Time Machine functionality (backup and retrieve). Slicker than snot on a linoleum floor!

Cheers,

Geoff

[VS007]

How do I find out the disk space per directory for all users?
Or the top 10 high usage directories so I can clean up.

My MBA is only 20 days old and already 50GB is used up. I did not know MacOS itself takes up 20GB. Pretty heavy OS.

----
From one of the starter links for Mac User I saw the link to "Disk Inventory X".
Downloaded it and I could see my disk usage.

[aussieinrome]

If you've got or get a Time Capsule then the remote network drive is a feature that is available after setup.

[wordnow]

After the weekend trying to access my Time Capsule remotely, I have had no luck. I have followed the directions given exactly and reviewed them multiple times. Everything looks good. I am using a dynamic DNS service. When I try to connect as directed using the Finder, it times out and does not connect. I am able to ping the Time Capsule remotely (by typing ping 'dynamicDNSaddress' or literal address). Has anyone had similar problems and fixed them or any ideas on what to do next?

[aussieinrome]

Originally Posted by wordnow

After the weekend trying to access my Time Capsule remotely, I have had no luck. I have followed the directions given exactly and reviewed them multiple times. Everything looks good. I am using a dynamic DNS service. When I try to connect as directed using the Finder, it times out and does not connect. I am able to ping the Time Capsule remotely (by typing ping 'dynamicDNSaddress' or literal address). Has anyone had similar problems and fixed them or any ideas on what to do next?

I'm a first time Mac user - the Air is my first mac, so I've got no experience with os X whatsoever. Anyhoot, I had some problems getting my Time Capsule set up the first time too. Now it's setup it runs really well, To backup 22GB took 3 hours, amazing!

Anyway, I found that using the default settings didn't work for me - I mean regarding the Wifi setup part. If you select the option that's for maximum compatibility it's a nightmare, I setup my Time Capsule to the new fast Wifi standard (I'm no tech-head) and it worked well the first time. I found that I had to also turn off my DSL modem to re-boot it too.

I don't know if what I wrote helps but give it a go.

[wordnow]

Originally Posted by aussieinrome

I'm a first time Mac user - the Air is my first mac, so I've got no experience with os X whatsoever. Anyhoot, I had some problems getting my Time Capsule set up the first time too. Now it's setup it runs really well, To backup 22GB took 3 hours, amazing!

Anyway, I found that using the default settings didn't work for me - I mean regarding the Wifi setup part. If you select the option that's for maximum compatibility it's a nightmare, I setup my Time Capsule to the new fast Wifi standard (I'm no tech-head) and it worked well the first time. I found that I had to also turn off my DSL modem to re-boot it too.

I don't know if what I wrote helps but give it a go.

Are you able to access your Time Capsule away from home remotely? If so, did you follow the directions given on this post exactly or did you modify some of it? I'm able to connect at home fine, its just trying to connect remotely that I can't do.

[i0Nic]

How about if you don't have a home server but you have an external hard drive connected to a wireless router, can this still be done?

Reason is, I have a macbook and I want to get a macbook air. I will be getting rid of the macbook and have the idea of connecting my external hard drive to the airport extreme base station (or getting a time capsule). Basically I want to run the external with all my media, documents etc and be able to access it all over wifi on a MBA.

I'm not very technical and it gets a bit confusing, any help would be appreciated.

[aussieinrome]

Originally Posted by wordnow

Are you able to access your Time Capsule away from home remotely? If so, did you follow the directions given on this post exactly or did you modify some of it? I'm able to connect at home fine, its just trying to connect remotely that I can't do.

I didn't setup my Time Capsule for remote access.

[twist2b]

I am planning on getting a Macbook Air, and my parents plan on getting an iMac. So we would get the 1 TB Time Capsule. I am hoping that will help with the low drive space. The drive is were I would grab music, movies, and other not frequently used data. Itunes does a fine job of just grabbing music on a drive, even for a PC. Also Time Capsule is wireless, so that would make the often played music on a seperate drive NOT an issue.

[bcegi]

Any ideas. I just ran through the guide again. For whatever reason, I still cannot get this to work. Is it possible that Comcast is blocking me from getting in. Anyone using Comcast have success connecting to the time capsule through the outside.

I tried setting up for a Dynamic DNS this weekend, but I am skeptical since several of the forums that I googled stated that the time capsule does not support dynamic dns.

Unfortunately, I am to determined to give up but realize that I need the help to resolve this. Theoretically, Apple products are more or less plug and play.

Or is it not working due to a faulty Time Capsule.

[clayj]

Originally Posted by bcegi

Any ideas. I just ran through the guide again. For whatever reason, I still cannot get this to work. Is it possible that Comcast is blocking me from getting in. Anyone using Comcast have success connecting to the time capsule through the outside.

I tried setting up for a Dynamic DNS this weekend, but I am skeptical since several of the forums that I googled stated that the time capsule does not support dynamic dns.

Unfortunately, I am to determined to give up but realize that I need the help to resolve this. Theoretically, Apple products are more or less plug and play.

Or is it not working due to a faulty Time Capsule.

I seriously doubt that Comcast is interfering with this process... the potential stumbling blocks are:

1. You MUST know what your correct external IP is. Go to http://checkip.dyndns.com/ to find this out. When you are using Finder to connect to your home system, this is the IP address you will use.

2. You MUST know what your Time Capsule's internal IP is. This is obtained using step 2 in the steps in the Guide.

3. You MUST create a valid port mapping for the Time Capsule. External IP [a.b.c.d], port [e] should be mapped to internal IP address [f.g.h.i], port 548. If you don't set this up correctly, it will not work.

The instructions I wrote should work properly if they are followed properly from beginning to end... I wrote down exactly what I did, in the order I did it. If you skip any steps, I can't guarantee that you will end up with a working configuration. I recommend that you print out the Guide entry and then follow it from top to bottom, checking stuff off as you go.

[Terwal]

Clayj,

I finally got myself to set up my MBA and Time Capsule to be able to connect to it remotely.

I have followed the exact steps of your Guide but get the following error when I try to update my Time Capsule:

"The DHCP range you have entered conflicts with the WAN IP address of your Apple Wireless device".

Any idea what could be wrong ?

Thanks a lot,

Walter