Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Alternatives to an Airport Extreme for USB Ext Drive Sharing?

V

vpr80

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 16, 2011
6
0
I've decided to offload my iTunes library from my MacBook Pro to an external usb hard drive. Since I walk around the house with the MBP, I can't keep connecting the external hard drive all the time. Also have it linked to my Apple TV 1G so it's best for the external drive to stay connected on the network.

So what's an easy/cheap way to get my USB external hard drive (WD MyBook) onto the network (wired) without dropping $180 on an Airport Extreme which I don't need?

Thanks!
 
vpr80 said:
I've decided to offload my iTunes library from my MacBook Pro to an external usb hard drive. Since I walk around the house with the MBP, I can't keep connecting the external hard drive all the time. Also have it linked to my Apple TV 1G so it's best for the external drive to stay connected on the network.

So what's an easy/cheap way to get my USB external hard drive (WD MyBook) onto the network (wired) without dropping $180 on an Airport Extreme which I don't need?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I have the Airport Extreme and the internal USB performance is very poor. With a USB3.0 Lacie drive connected to mine the write speeds are simply awful. You would be best off to attach a NAS unit like the D-Link DNS323.
 
Ok well that's good to know.

However, a basic two-drive NAS is $200 and beter ones are $300-$400. First, I just don't want to spend that much; and second, getting into that much $$$, I might as well just buy a whole desktop computer and run that as a file server.
 
vpr80 said:
Ok well that's good to know.

However, a basic two-drive NAS is $200 and beter ones are $300-$400. First, I just don't want to spend that much; and second, getting into that much $$$, I might as well just buy a whole desktop computer and run that as a file server.
Click to expand...
Well what is your budget?
 
I didn't want to get too creative or spend too much $$$ because I am not looking for anything advanced feature-wise or complicating. Just need an easy solution to create a network share out of my existing external usb drive.
 
vpr80 said:
I didn't want to get too creative or spend too much $$$ because I am not looking for anything advanced feature-wise or complicating. Just need an easy solution to create a network share out of my existing external usb drive.
Click to expand...
Well what router are you using?
 
Western Digital MyBook and Seagate Goflex both have network versions in their product line. Take a look.
 
Yeah I know about those, but I already have a WD MyBook so getting one of those means basically chucking my existing one.
 
Plenty of other routers out there with USB connectivity. I have a Netgear Wnr3500L which amazon has for $70. It does USB storage if you use the Tomato firmware. Be aware that the limiting factor is the CPU inside the router so none are really fast. My Extreme gets about the same speed serving disk as the Netgear, about 8-12mbps.
 
vpr80 said:
Yeah I know about those, but I already have a WD MyBook so getting one of those means basically chucking my existing one.
Click to expand...

That's fine but you could spend nearly the same for a worse solution trying to avoid a little duplication. What's your backup situation?
 
imahawki said:
That's fine but you could spend nearly the same for a worse solution trying to avoid a little duplication. What's your backup situation?
Click to expand...

Have yet another external hd that's 2TB for all the other stuff like TM, Pictures, etc. That one is stored in a fireproof safe.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back