AirPort Extreme 6th gen Time Machine Question

[Gtiguy]

Hello Everyone. First time poster here.

I have a new 6th gen AirPort Extreme and I've connected an external hard drive for time machine backups. From what I can tell this is now supported with the newest AirPort Extreme.

My question is will I be able to run a backup over the network then plug the drive directly into my laptop via usb to do a restore? Or will I need to do any restore also over network?

Also will I be able to use the same drive and sometimes plug it into my laptop for a time machine backup or will it always need to backup over the network?

Thanks.

 

[Altemose]

Hello Everyone. First time poster here.

I have a new 6th gen AirPort Extreme and I've connected an external hard drive for time machine backups. From what I can tell this is now supported with the newest AirPort Extreme.

My question is will I be able to run a backup over the network then plug the drive directly into my laptop via usb to do a restore? Or will I need to do any restore also over network?

Also will I be able to use the same drive and sometimes plug it into my laptop for a time machine backup or will it always need to backup over the network?

Thanks.

When Time Machine is used over the network, it create a sparse bundle for your Mac you are backing up. This is a different file type than if you did a directly connected (via USB, FireWire, or Thunderbolt) backup. In summary, all backups and restores must be done over the network. However, you can choose whether to use Ethernet or Wi-Fi to restore and backup and change anytime you want.

 

[Weaselboy]

My question is will I be able to run a backup over the network then plug the drive directly into my laptop via usb to do a restore? Or will I need to do any restore also over network?

Like Altemose mentioned, local vs. networked uses a different format so you can't swap them back and forth easily. But if you have a big restore and don't want to do it over a slow network, there is a process you can use to pull the backup file out of the sparse bundle image and use it for a local USB restore.

Both methods backup the data to a file called Backups.backupdb. The networked method just puts that file inside a sparse bundle image. So what you could do to restore is attach the drive to the Mac by USB then double click the sparse bundle to open it, and then option key drag the Backups.backupdb from inside to copy it to either another disk or to the root of the same disk assuming you have the space. Once that is done it would behave like a locally attached Time Machine backup. This would make the restore far faster than a network restore.

 

[Gtiguy]

Thanks for the information. That was exactly what I wanted to know and very helpful.

 

[MUrhino]

Hi all, so just to be clear...the new Airport Extremes w/ 802.11ac wifi do support time machine using a USB HD? I currently have the old versions of a Time Capsule and an Extreme (for extension and wifi support to my TV), but would like to consolidate to one new time capsule or airport extreme w/ USB HD if Time Machine is supported. Streaming to my Apple TV (mainly w/ Pandora) drops out frequently, even w/ BT turned off and an internet speed of 25-50 mb/s.

I know some threads have said that the new AEs don't support Time Machine, so just looking for clarification here. Thanks!

 

[Weaselboy]

Hi all, so just to be clear...the new Airport Extremes w/ 802.11ac wifi do support time machine using a USB HD? I currently have the old versions of a Time Capsule and an Extreme (for extension and wifi support to my TV), but would like to consolidate to one new time capsule or airport extreme w/ USB HD if Time Machine is supported. Streaming to my Apple TV (mainly w/ Pandora) drops out frequently, even w/ BT turned off and an internet speed of 25-50 mb/s.



I know some threads have said that the new AEs don't support Time Machine, so just looking for clarification here. Thanks!

They most certainly do. It is even specifically mentioned in the manual.

 

[Altemose]

Hi all, so just to be clear...the new Airport Extremes w/ 802.11ac wifi do support time machine using a USB HD? I currently have the old versions of a Time Capsule and an Extreme (for extension and wifi support to my TV), but would like to consolidate to one new time capsule or airport extreme w/ USB HD if Time Machine is supported. Streaming to my Apple TV (mainly w/ Pandora) drops out frequently, even w/ BT turned off and an internet speed of 25-50 mb/s.

I know some threads have said that the new AEs don't support Time Machine, so just looking for clarification here. Thanks!

The new AirPort Extremes support Time Machines.

 

[MUrhino]

Awesome, thanks!

 

[Alrescha]

In summary, all backups and restores must be done over the network.

Has something changed?

I have not done this recently, but 'back in the day' it was a thing to start your backup remotely (letting Time Machine set things up) and then plugging in the drive locally for the initial backup. Once the first backup was done you would move the drive back to whatever your network device was, as the incrementals could be handled over the network.

A.

 

[Altemose]

Has something changed?



I have not done this recently, but 'back in the day' it was a thing to start your backup remotely (letting Time Machine set things up) and then plugging in the drive locally for the initial backup. Once the first backup was done you would move the drive back to whatever your network device was, as the incrementals could be handled over the network.



A.

I have never heard that before but as I understand it, you can't freely switch.

 

[Weaselboy]

Has something changed?

I have not done this recently, but 'back in the day' it was a thing to start your backup remotely (letting Time Machine set things up) and then plugging in the drive locally for the initial backup. Once the first backup was done you would move the drive back to whatever your network device was, as the incrementals could be handled over the network.

A.

I'm wondering if you could start the networked TM backup, then after a short time stop the backup. That would give you a small Backups.backupdb file inside the machine_name.sparsebundle file on the disk. Then perhaps one could attach the disk via USB and double click the machine_name.sparsebundle file to mount it then point the TM destination to this new volume and backup?

I have never tried this, but in theory it would work. Is this what you did?

 

[ColdCase]

I believe that is one of the procedures mentioned in:

http://pondini.org/TM/Home.html

Dunno how current the info is.