Time Capsule Alternative

[Ender17]

All I want is the wireless backup functionality of the Time Capsule, is there a way to set this up with my own wireless router and external hard drive? Or Windows Home Server?

I have the following

D-Link DIR-655
MacBook Pro
Workstation PC
HTPC
Windows Home Server
plenty of external drives

What are my options?

 

[smokestack]

this was one of the major questions when time capsule/time machine was announced. as of right now, i think you are unfortunately out of luck.

I too would LOVE to be able to have my time machine partition on an external HD hooked up to another computer on my network. as far as i know, nobody has made a workaround for this.

 

[brop52]

Why do it wirelessly? Just plug the thing in with firewire or usb to an external hard drive. I have my triple interface external hooked up to my iMac by F800 at all times but it's off except to backup maybe once a week. To backup I just turn it on. As for my new Aluminum MB I just plug in the USB cable to the MB and turn on the drive. I don't want Time Machine backing up all the time slowing down the network.

Obviously once you start having more than a few computers it is a pain but for now it's fine for me.

 

[cherry su]

Use Windows Home Server for your backup & storage drive. http://mswhs.com/2008/02/18/how-to-use-time-machine-with-windows-home-server/

 

[craigsharp]

FreeNAS

There's an OS called FreeNAS that allows you to make a Network Attached Storage out of an existing low end computer with as many HDD's as you want. I have mine setup with 2 500Gb HDDS wich I have in a Striped RAID and then a smaller 120gb for My time machine backup. I have the actual OS on a compactflash card connected to USB.

You will then have to read on how to allow time machine to be used over network drive, but then it's easy sailing from there.

Oh and that 1TB of space I have I have a MythTV backend server that dumps directly onto it, so my modded xbox with XBMC can watch all my tv shows.

 

[Ender17]

I'm thinking of getting one of these drives. Nice and shiny, plus I can put that FireWire 800 port to use. Can't find much info on them though. Can you use does FireWire 800 supply power?
http://freeagent.seagate.com/en-us/hard-drive/macintosh-hard-drive/Free-Agent.html

Also, how much space does Time Machine need? I'm thinking of putting one of those Intel SSDs in my MacBook, so would only have 80GB to backup, or I might keep the 320GB in there. I know it would be somewhere around the amount of data I actually have on the drive, just wondered if there was a rule of thumb to estimate. Say like space on drive being used + 20% or something.

One more thing, would there be any issue with using the external drive as both a Time Machine backup and my regular external for carrying files around?

Use Windows Home Server for your backup & storage drive. http://mswhs.com/2008/02/18/how-to-use-time-machine-with-windows-home-server/

nice idea, but support seems iffy

 

[brop52]

I'm thinking of getting one of these drives. Nice and shiny, plus I can put that FireWire 800 port to use. Can't find much info on them though. Can you use does FireWire 800 supply power?
http://freeagent.seagate.com/en-us/hard-drive/macintosh-hard-drive/Free-Agent.html

Also, how much space does Time Machine need? I'm thinking of putting one of those Intel SSDs in my MacBook, so would only have 80GB to backup, or I might keep the 320GB in there. I know it would be somewhere around the amount of data I actually have on the drive, just wondered if there was a rule of thumb to estimate. Say like space on drive being used + 20% or something.

One more thing, would there be any issue with using the external drive as both a Time Machine backup and my regular external for carrying files around?

How much space you need depends on how many files you have, how often you change them, and how often you back up. I think it's safe to say it's a good idea to have a drive larger than the one you backup. Of course it depends what you do though. If you have a lot of large video files that you are making then backing up then erasing them it can rack up quickly. (Same with games).

You can definitely partition the drive for two different things. I have one to back up my iMac, one for my MB, and one for other files.

I'd recommend OWC enclosures if you want something reliable and that looks good. Their Aluminum Mercury Elite Pros are nice and you can buy a nice drive separately with a 5 year warranty that will last a long time.

 

[Ender17]

How much space you need depends on how many files you have, how often you change them, and how often you back up. I think it's safe to say it's a good idea to have a drive larger than the one you backup. Of course it depends what you do though. If you have a lot of large video files that you are making then backing up then erasing them it can rack up quickly. (Same with games).

You can definitely partition the drive for two different things. I have one to back up my iMac, one for my MB, and one for other files.

I'd recommend OWC enclosures if you want something reliable and that looks good. Their Aluminum Mercury Elite Pros are nice and you can buy a nice drive separately with a 5 year warranty that will last a long time.

Those are some nice enclosures, but pretty expensive. I like these 2.5 ones, but the price really goes up if you want FireWire 800.
http://eshop.macsales.com/Search/Se...&N=4294967255+6586&Ntt=External+Enclosure+Kit

Those Aluminum Mercury Elite Pros are nice too, but I really don't need one of them since I've got some nice Apricorn enclosures with eSATA and I don't really need a big drive for my MacBook. This isn't my main machine, nothing important is stored on it, but as I'm learning my way around OS X and installing programs, I just want a backup so I don't have to redo all the OS and app installation and changing all my settings, etc. So I don't need much space.

 

[Ol!ver]

Unless I'm misunderstanding what you want, why not get a Time Capsule and turn off the wireless, or can you not do that ?

 

[Ender17]

Unless I'm misunderstanding what you want, why not get a Time Capsule and turn off the wireless, or can you not do that ?

Why would I do that?
The whole benefit of a Time Capsule is the wireless backup - not having to connect an external drive and do it manually.

 

[Ol!ver]

Why would I do that?
The whole benefit of a Time Capsule is the wireless backup - not having to connect an external drive and do it manually.

If you've got a wireless lan anyway, can you not connect the TC to the router via cable ? That's what I meant.

 

[Ender17]

If you've got a wireless lan anyway, can you not connect the TC to the router via cable ? That's what I meant.

Oh, I don't know. I was just looking for a cheaper alternative.
$300 for what would essentially be a 500GB external hard drive is too high.