I want to share an external hard drive with my Imac and Ibook

[Wildgift]

I have a G5 Imac and a G4 ibook. i want to use time machine, and have one external hard drive connect to both.

I could get an external with more than one input (ie, usb and firewire)--does that work? Could i use a usb hub to connect the 2 computers to the HD, and set up different partitions?

And what of NAS? i do not want to set up a whole network (we already have one at my office, and i want this to be independent)

I have looked for the answer, and seen contradictory replies.

thanks!

 

[BlueRevolution]

I could get an external with more than one input (ie, usb and firewire)--does that work?

I believe the norm is for the FireWire connection to override the USB. If both are connected, only the computer with the FireWire connection will be able to see the drive. If that computer is off, the USB computer will see it.

Could i use a usb hub to connect the 2 computers to the HD, and set up different partitions?

No, the USB protocol only allows one computer to be connected at a time.

And what of NAS? i do not want to set up a whole network (we already have one at my office, and i want this to be independent)

This is probably the way to go. Easiest would be to connect the drive to your iMac and share it on a wireless network.