Confused - AirDisk & Time Machine OK?

[micvog]

Is AirDisk officially supported as a Time Machine backup?

I had assumed it was (it just worked when I was setting things up) but I stumbled on a post on another website saying it wasn't supported by Apple. I did a search on the forums here and, as best as I can tell, using recent hardware with all of the appropriate updates, it "should" work. However, given that it is my backup, I am not comfortable with "should".

My specific setup is a base mid-2011 21.5" iMac, running Mountain Lion, connected via ethernet to an Airport Extreme base station (5th gen). Connected to the Airport Extreme's USB port is a 1TB Seagate Backup Plus portable drive that has been formatted HFS+ Journaled.

Previously I was using a Western Digital MyBook 640GB external USB2.0 hard drive connected to my iMac. It died (after only 2 years) and I replaced it with the portable Seagate listed above. I could always connect the portable drive directly to the iMac but (1) it would use my last open USB port and I would prefer not to clutter my desk with a hub and (2) the router is in another room and therefore so is the external hard drive which means it is not cluttering up my work area. Yes, I have issues with clutter.

Thanks.

 

[Weaselboy]

Using a USB drive attached to an Airport Extreme like you described is not supported by Apple. As a matter of fact, in the Lion and Mountain Lion help files they explicitly say not to do it.

If you want official Apple support you will need to get a Time Capsule.

You will get posters here telling you it works for them, but for many others it seems to work erratically. Bottom line is it is not officially supported.

 

[micvog]

Using a USB drive attached to an Airport Extreme like you described is not supported by Apple. As a matter of fact, in the Lion and Mountain Lion help files they explicitly say not to do it.

If you want official Apple support you will need to get a Time Capsule.

You will get posters here telling you it works for them, but for many others it seems to work erratically. Bottom line is it is not officially supported.

Thanks Weaselboy. I really wanted this to work and I was looking for something explicit. As you noted, the Mountain Lion help files state:

Time Machine can’t back up to an iPod, an external disk connected to an AirPort Extreme, or a disk formatted for Windows.

I don't like it but that seems to settle it. Thanks.