External hard drive advice

[raygunpunx]

Totally newbie here so be gentle.

I have a mac book air and I am looking to purchase 2 external hard drives. 1 for backup and the other for storage and then a new router that has a USB port. I would also like to be able to access my storage hard drive over the internet.

Are these items ok and will it allow me to do the things I mentioned.

Seagate Backup Plus 500 GB - This will be my storage drive
Seagate Backup plus 1TB - This will be my backup
Airport Extreme - This will be my router

 

[iJustinCabral]

I use a 2TB time capsule for my back up.

Other than that I'd say everything you want to get is great, but I'd go with Time Capsule just cause its over wifi and I never have to worry about it.

IMO i'd get a bigger storage HDD, maybe a 1TB USB 3.0. They're really cheap now a days.

 

[raygunpunx]

Does Time Capsule give better speed then airport extreme or are they basically the same?

 

[iJustinCabral]

I dont use Airport Extreme but they're both on 802.11n so if you mean router speed I guess they're the same.

 

[Limecraft]

I have two G-Drives(one regular (3TB) and one mobile (1TB)). I have used both with an Airport Extreme over usb and it works fine. However, the speed is not great so you shouldn't use it for anything else than backup and media storage.

Also, I have on some occasions experienced dropouts, so the Time Capsule might be more stable, but I do not have one so it is difficult for me to judge.

When it comes to drives G-Technology makes Mac friendly and good-performing drives. They cost a small premium, but my experience is that it is worth it because of their awesome build quality and performance.

 

[FestusGandhi]

My Advice

If it were up to me, I would skip the AirPort Extreme and get the TimeCapsule, which is really just an AirPort Extreme with 2 TB of storage set up for backups.

If you're going to get external storage (and don't all of us MB Air users need it!) I would go with a 2 TB external USB3. You may think you will never need more than 1 TB, but trust me you will sooner than you know it. The price difference between 1TB and 2TB is virtually insignificant, so go with a drive you can grow with for a few years.

Backup up your external 2 TB and your MB Air both onto the Time Capsule and you're done!

 

[manodoro]

- 1TB 2,5" USB3.0, for DATA (Documents, Music, Pictures)
- 160 GB 2,5" USB2.0 for TIMEMACHINE
- 2 x 2TB Synology 211j NAS for MOVIES and Backup all DATA
- 32GB Cruzer Fit, which is always connected and holds Documents and Music

 

[seared.ahi]

Time Capsule isn't portable though. I would really opt for something portable if you are a student or use your computer for work.