Airport Extreme and Time Machine over Ethernet?

[Catman77]

Hi folks. This is my first post.

Just got a new MacBook Pro, and I want to back it up wirelessly using Time Machine over my Airport Extreme Network. I've been doing this, in the past, with a smaller hard drive connected to the USB port on the AEBS, but need to upgrade to a bigger hard drive.

Is there any speed benefit from getting a hard drive with ethernet capability, and attaching it right into the ethernet port on the AEBS, and if so can I back up with Time Machine wirelessly using this configuration?

My AEBS is the first gen of the 'n' version that came out, but is gigabit ethernet, if that matters.

Many Thanks.

 

[spinnerlys]

As the wireless speed is the bottleneck of the whole configuration, a USB HDD will work just fine.

Have you taken a look at any of the other similar threads via MRoogle?

 

[Catman77]

Thanks. Didn't know about MRoogle. So are you suggesting that any speed increase from using Ethernet would be negligible - and not worth it compared to the increased cost compared to a usb 2.0 drive?

I did a search but struggled to find the answer to this.

Thanks.

 

[skorpien]

It's not actually the wireless speed that's the bottleneck for USB attached HDDs but rather the USB controller that's in place in the AEBS. I do not have any numbers that I can reference, but I have read that a huge speed increase can be achieved by attaching a USB HDD to a computer and sharing it over the network over attaching the same USB HDD directly to the AEBS. I'm willing to bet that an Ethernet NAS connected to the AEBS will have a much higher transfer rate than a USB HDD.

 

[spinnerlys]

It's not actually the wireless speed that's the bottleneck for USB attached HDDs but rather the USB controller that's in place in the AEBS. I do not have any numbers that I can reference, but I have read that a huge speed increase can be achieved by attaching a USB HDD to a computer and sharing it over the network over attaching the same USB HDD directly to the AEBS. I'm willing to bet that an Ethernet NAS connected to the AEBS will have a much higher transfer rate than a USB HDD.

I think that too.

But if the OP wants to do it wirelessly, the maximum speed is 6 - 8MB/s anyway, less than Ethernet with its 11 - 12 MB/s or the USB attached to the AEBS (with 10 - 12 MB/s over the AEBS, or with 30MB/s connected to a Mac), or Gigabit Ethernet with its up to 70MB/s.

So USB should suffice, unless the OP wants to get wired in the next year or so, than the NAS with Gigabit port would be a better choice.

 

[Catman77]

Thanks spinnerlys, that's just the answer I was looking for!!

Many thanks.

 

[Catman77]

Any Ideas?

Right. So I went out and bought a USB drive (Iomega Prestige 1.5TB). But after following the instructions and reformatting it for Mac, and connecting it into the AEBS, it wouldn't mount. (It mounted fine on my MBP in order to be reformatted). I should mention that I have an old LaCie 320gb d2 that mounts just fine and which can do Time Machine without any probs - it just happens to be too small for my needs.

Since then, I did a bit of searching and discovered that others have had the same issue with that drive. So, I guess my question is does anyone know of a current, good USB drive that DOES work with the AEBS (or at least what I should be looking for in a drive), or should I just start looking at the ethernet options?

Thanks.