External HD question

[camardelle]

I guess this is a combination hardware/software question also regarding Time Capsule and my Airport Extreme and my external hd so I put it here in the peripherals section.

I picked up a usb hard drive kit from macsales a week or two back and hooked it up to my iMac without issue and am using it as my backup drive through Time Capsule. I just picked up an Airport Extreme from ebay which arrived yesterday and was set up in a matter of minutes. My plan was to always set up the drive as a network drive for back up for my iMac and my MBP. Is it too late to do that? Is it even possible to back up two different computers to the same external HD?

Being new to this stuff, I'm just sort of trying to figure it all out and will likely replace the 500g drive I'm using with something bigger if I can backup both systems to the same drive. I don't work on anything major at these computers and am really just concerned about pictures and music primarily. More importantly I'd just like to have a working knowledge about the hardware and how it interacts with the software. Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[camardelle]

Just hooked up the external drive to the usb port of the airport extreme. What should I do next. I can't seem to locate it and thought it would pop up as "discovered" somewhere on my iMac. Any suggestions?


EDIT: I just went into Time Machine from my iMac and it found the drive on my airport extreme. Next step is to check it out on the mbp. Thanks.

 

[WRP]

Yes it is possible. I have 6 drives and 3 computers backing up to a single RAID but not wirelessly

 

[camardelle]

Update!

Found the drive from my mbp and am currently doing a backup as I type. How did I find it you may ask? With Finder of course. LOL

I'm learning a ton doing all this stuff. Next step is to save a couple bucks and buy a one or two terabyte drive and set up time capsule on both computers to back up to the new network drive.

I'm really enjoying the whole new experience of using Apple computers. There's lots more to learn. I'm having a ball.

 

[camardelle]

Last update!

Went to Best Buy and picked up a 1.5tb external drive ($99) and got it mounted into the network earlier this evening. I'm backing up both systems even as I speak. I told my wife it was her valentines day present.

I mean, after all, I sprung for the extra terrebyte. LOL

 

[NitroZip]

I have an Airport extreme and would like to share a hard drive through it. I formatted it for MAC, but when I hook it up to the Airport, only my windows machine can see it. My Macbook Pro can't. I've tried everything, no change. If I plug it directly into the MBP, it works no problem. What am I missing?

 

[camardelle]

Mine did the same thing till I located it through Finder. Try that and them see if your system will pick it up.

 

[camardelle]

Lost it???

Today, both my macs lost their time machine connections. I figured my cheap 1.5t drive went south on me so I replaced it with a 500g drive I'd used before but I can't seem to locate the drive on my network. My airport extreme seems to be functioning properly.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[Oldmanmac]

I'm following this thread....

Seems my knowledge (lack of) is second only to the "iffiness" of my Wi-Fi-nesss. Particularly with 10.7. I came into this arena under Lion, and problems didn't seem as prolific for people under SL.

 

[camardelle]

I'm sure someone else has had this happen. Any thoughts from the group here on what to do? I really need to set up time machine again but it can't find my external drives!!!!

 

[danetello]

Went to Best Buy and picked up a 1.5tb external drive ($99) and got it mounted into the network earlier this evening. I'm backing up both systems even as I speak. I told my wife it was her valentines day present.

I mean, after all, I sprung for the extra terrebyte. LOL

Image

Pretty good price