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timmillwood

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 7, 2006
955
1
I am looking to get a Lacie d2 Triple interface external hard drive.

do you know if i can hook up 2 computers (iMac and MBP) one on Firewire 400 and one on Firewire 800 at the same time?

Do you know the cheapest place to get one in uk?

I think i might be able to get away with a 160gb, but half tempted to pay that little bit extra for a 250 gb

Bit of background
I backup my powermac on an 80gb drive, i now have a iMac and MBP, i want to backup both (around 80gb each) so 160gb will be enough, but 250gb will allow for future use.

I want to have the iMac and MBP connected at the same time so i can get automator back them up each night onto the drive.

I know i could use a network drive but that would be a little slow unless i got a gigabit ethernet hard drive which i guess is expensive, thats why i wanna do the MBP with firewire 800 and the iMac with firewire 400.
 

hodgjy

macrumors 6502
Apr 15, 2005
422
0
From what I understand, you cannot hook up two computers to the same ext. disk with firewire or usb at the same time. I think this has to do with both the communication chipset and the os's freaking out. You can, however, get a disk that has an ethernet connection on the back (Western Digital Makes one, as I'm sure others do, too) and put the drive on your network if you have a router.
 

SMM

macrumors 65816
Sep 22, 2006
1,334
0
Tiger Mountain - WA State
I am looking to get a Lacie d2 Triple interface external hard drive.

do you know if i can hook up 2 computers (iMac and MBP) one on Firewire 400 and one on Firewire 800 at the same time?

Do you know the cheapest place to get one in uk?

I think i might be able to get away with a 160gb, but half tempted to pay that little bit extra for a 250 gb

Bit of background
I backup my powermac on an 80gb drive, i now have a iMac and MBP, i want to backup both (around 80gb each) so 160gb will be enough, but 250gb will allow for future use.

I want to have the iMac and MBP connected at the same time so i can get automator back them up each night onto the drive.

I know i could use a network drive but that would be a little slow unless i got a gigabit ethernet hard drive which i guess is expensive, thats why i wanna do the MBP with firewire 800 and the iMac with firewire 400.

Hodgjy is correct. You cannot use multiple interfaces concurrently. If you want to go cheap, get a 5-8 port gigabyte switch/router/firewall which acts as a DHCP server. You can get them for ~$145. You can even go cheaper by dropping the firewall/DHCP (you will have to use static IP's). Connect the LaCie to either computer and mount the shared volume on the 2nd computer. The downside is that the connected computer must be on. Here is my set-up.

http://att.macrumors.com/images/attach/gif.gif
 

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timmillwood

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 7, 2006
955
1
ok, thanks.

After all i ordered the Mybook Pro because it was a little cheaper.

I currently have the computers connected via a crossover ethernet cable, so i will keep using that.
 
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