Time Capsule Alternative (NAS--> Half for Time Machine/Half for External storage)

[LFCYNWA]

Are there any alternatives for time machine?

I want something (at least 4 TB) that can be partitioned into half for time machine, and the other for external storage. Being able to access it over the internet would be a bonus...

I read somewhere that I can use the WD Live Duo (6tb) + an airport extreme, but does anyone have experience with this and partioning it for the above usage?

I also read about Synology but is there a model that is affordable that can do the above?

 

[MH01]

It will depend on your budget.

The synology ones can do it, and they are about $250+ Though synology are some of the best.

Also check out the Netgear Readynas, they are a cheaper aleternative

 

[Robertsmania]

Is there no free or open source solution? I would love to use the Linux box I already have but simple smb shares and nfs don't work...

 

[ryane67]

I just ran across these two if you've got network share space:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1221879?start=0&tstart=0
http://blog.arogan.com/2010/10/time-machine-over-samba-shares.html

Are they too old? I've been looking at a way to do something similar to my home server (3TB available) when I get my rMBP which will be my first mac.. I don't really want to purchase an unnecessary external drive when I can back up to what I already have.

 

[gr8whtd0pe]

I dd this for awhile with an old pc running windows. I just had to format a partition of the hd with the mac.

http://code.stephenmorley.org/articles/time-machine-on-a-network-drive/

 

[xzolian]

I just ran across these two if you've got network share space:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1221879?start=0&tstart=0
http://blog.arogan.com/2010/10/time-machine-over-samba-shares.html

Are they too old? I've been looking at a way to do something similar to my home server (3TB available) when I get my rMBP which will be my first mac.. I don't really want to purchase an unnecessary external drive when I can back up to what I already have.

Where you able to get Time Machine working with a Windows share when using Mountain Lion?

 

[thespazz]

I use a ubuntu server with a 2tb hdd that I use as a pseudo time capsule. works really well.

 

[Benbikeman]

Just plug a 2Tb external drive into your Time Capsule

 

[No-Me]

I just sold my timecapsule and switched to a synology DS212+.
Never been more happy with network storage, where the timecapsule was really slow (over ethernet) the synology is really fast, even through wireless it's faster than the timecapsule was over ethernet.

 

[Nicklaus]

I have a partitioned HD attached to my airport extreme. I now use a Seagate before a WD. I have nothing but problems, tried 3 different airports as well. It works sometimes most of the time it has errors and I have to restart both. When it does work its soooooo slow!!! I am sure others experiences vary but thats been mine.

 

[ryane67]

Where you able to get Time Machine working with a Windows share when using Mountain Lion?

Yep it worked pretty well, I wouldn't recommend it if you are on and off your home network a lot though.

My backup image corrupted because I had power nap on and it was in the middle of a backup when I drove away.. The NTFS filesystem & SMB protocol do not have the protection built in like AFP and macOS extended do so it might corrupt more easily.

Edit: I moved away from this config because I wanted to maintain using power nap, plus I ended up with an airport extreme so I just popped a drive into an enclosure and hooked it up to the airport. I've got it partitioned just like you're saying and it works like a charm.

 

[phyrexia]

Is there no free or open source solution? I would love to use the Linux box I already have but simple smb shares and nfs don't work...

www.freenas.org will do what you want. that said, i looove my synology ds411, which can do what you want to do.

 

[hafr]

Is there no free or open source solution? I would love to use the Linux box I already have but simple smb shares and nfs don't work...

FreeNAS and NAS***** are two alternatives, they both do AFP shares which is what you're after.

I used to run FreeNAS on an old Acer Aspire One, and it's actually really simple. There are plenty of detailed guides out there for how to set it up. Although I never got Transmission to work in FreeNAS 8... Not that I put in more than an hour trying to get it to work though

Edit: the other alternative is NAS 4 Free in one word, apparently it's not okay to write (four)free together here...

 

[Benbikeman]

I have a partitioned HD attached to my airport extreme. I now use a Seagate before a WD. I have nothing but problems, tried 3 different airports as well. It works sometimes most of the time it has errors and I have to restart both. When it does work its soooooo slow!!! I am sure others experiences vary but thats been mine.

I have a 2Tb WD drive plugged into my Time Capsule. The whole TC drive is used for Time Machine, and the 2Tb drive acts as a wireless file-server.

The only issue I have is I haven't found a way to persuade the drive to auto-mount on reconnection, so I have to use the Finder's Go->Connect to server when I return home.

 

[seeharrison]

I have a Drobo FS and it supports Time Capsule emulation. I've got a 1TB Time Capsule share and a 3TB network data share. It's been up an running for 2 years and I haven't had any problems.

 

[whsbuss]

Been using a WD mybook live for more than 6 months. Time machine backups done wirelessly for my MBP w/o any problems. Also like their iPhone/iPad apps for remote file access and their WD2Go for remote PC/Mac file access.