Apple Network Backup Solution?

[MasterBSOD]

Hi folks. I was looking at the Apple Time Capsules, but I already have a Buffalo Router loaded with DD-WRT. I have to keep DD-WRT for various reasons.

Is there an Apple backup solution that doesn't include a router, so that I can use Time Machine on each Mac (iMacs, Macbooks etc) on the network?

 

[skorpien]

Synology makes NAS enclosures that support Time Machine backups. The most popular one around these forums is the DS211j. There are other NAS units that support Time Machine as well. I think those would be your best bet.

 

[MasterBSOD]

Synology makes NAS enclosures that support Time Machine backups. The most popular one around these forums is the DS211j. There are other NAS units that support Time Machine as well. I think those would be your best bet.

I didn't know something like that would support Time machine backups. Does it have to be formatted to HFS+?

 

[sk1wbw]

I was just about to ask this same question. Hooked up an iomega cloud NAS device today but can't seem to get the Timemachine backup to work. My MacBook sees the correct Timemachine device on the NAS drive, but refuses to work.

 

[blueroom]

Synology and QNAP NAS's use the EXT4 filesystem (Linux). The Time Machine works great and I've got our families Mac backing up to it. Needed it for a restore / upgrade to Lion and it worked flawlessly.

 

[blevins321]

I didn't know something like that would support Time machine backups. Does it have to be formatted to HFS+?

NAS's usually have their own format that they use. Synology specifically uses EXT4, which is a Linux-based file system. To the computers connected to it, though, it's just a NAS in general; file system doesn't matter. Time Machine can connect to it and create what's called a sparsebundle (file system in a box) and use that volume to run its backups.

http://www.amazon.com/Synology-Disk...s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1319548892&sr=1-2is a 1-bay Synology unit, which would be good if it was just Time Machine on it. I'd suggest at least a 2-bay, though. If one of the drives inside were to fail in a 2-bay, the other would take over until you can replace the failed drive.

I wrote a review about the DS411j a few months ago. (Their 4-bay unit). The software/firmware has the same capabilities, though.

 

[MasterBSOD]

NAS's usually have their own format that they use. Synology specifically uses EXT4, which is a Linux-based file system. To the computers connected to it, though, it's just a NAS in general; file system doesn't matter. Time Machine can connect to it and create what's called a sparsebundle (file system in a box) and use that volume to run its backups.

http://www.amazon.com/Synology-Disk...s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1319548892&sr=1-2is a 1-bay Synology unit, which would be good if it was just Time Machine on it. I'd suggest at least a 2-bay, though. If one of the drives inside were to fail in a 2-bay, the other would take over until you can replace the failed drive.

I wrote a review about the DS411j a few months ago. (Their 4-bay unit). The software/firmware has the same capabilities, though.

Gotcha, I understand NAS and know ext4 (I'm an IT guy) I just didn't know that Time Machine would allow a backup to a non-Apple device.

Was Time Machine ever prohibited from backing up to a non Apple device? What are the constraints? Support for AFP? Theoretically, would it be possible for Time machine to back up onto something like an NTFS server, via AFP?


I'm checking out eBay for a DS110j - I'm on a budget these days so I have to look for the best deal. I'm not really looking for RAID-1 or above support at this point; mainly just a big ass drive to dump huge files and backups when needed.

 

[blevins321]

Was Time Machine ever prohibited from backing up to a non Apple device? What are the constraints? Support for AFP? Theoretically, would it be possible for Time machine to back up onto something like an NTFS server, via AFP?

They don't technically allow it. Synology (and others) have just replicated the protocols necessary for Time Machine to connect and think that the drive is a Time Capsule. This causes issues around OS release time (new OS not compatible), but so far Synology has released at least a new beta firmware within 2 weeks of release.

 

[MasterBSOD]

They don't technically allow it. Synology (and others) have just replicated the protocols necessary for Time Machine to connect and think that the drive is a Time Capsule. This causes issues around OS release time (new OS not compatible), but so far Synology has released at least a new beta firmware within 2 weeks of release.

So I better get one of these things before Apple starts suing.

 

[khollister]

QNAP is good about keeping up with OS releases as well. I have a QNAP 569 Pro II (a 6-bay device), but I do not use it for Time Machine myself. Very solid hardware and software, and usually a little higher performance than an equivalent Synology, but also a little more expensive. Synology & QNAP are pretty much the leading workgroup/small enterprise class NAS vendors. Both are very Mac friendly.

I am running RAID 5 on my QNAP and get about 100 MBs write & 130 MBs read over AFP without jumbo frames (wired gigabit ethernet).

Highly recommended.

 

[occamsrazor]

I also use a QNAP (TS-239 Pro II) for Time Machine backups. Works fine. With the QNAPs you can format the disks as HFS+, but you do not need to - the Time Machine backup functionality works with the disks formatted as EXT3 or EXT4 too.

 

[PsyOpWarlord]

I needed a larger Time Machine backup drive and went with the Synology DS211j fitted with 2x 3TB drives (6TB total) and its working great. I use this to backup my iMac and external firewire 6TB G-Tech/G-Raid drive.