Time Capsule Questions

[johnsmith153]

I think I am looking at a Time Capsule.

(1) I want to have a shared hard drive space on my network for access by 2 iMacs and one PC. Which would be quicker access, a USB Flash Drive (connected to the Time Capsule's USB port) or using part of the TC's hard drive (partitioned in advance of course)? How much quicker would this be than the other option?

(2) I'm still not sure if I'm going with TC or Airport Extreme, so if question 1 tells me that using TC for backups is better, then is using USB Flash any good (which is what I'll have to do with Airport Extreme of course), or is it too slow due to it being through USB on the network?

(2) Do I need a NAS with the TC to use my USB Flash Drive? I thought not as I thought the TC was sort of a NAS, but I hear people still talking about the two together.

(3) Does the TC slow down the Mac at all when it's backing up? When is the backing up conducted? Can it back up whilst a Mac is sleeping?

(4) I hear issues with 5ghz / n mode. Is this ture? What is the solution? Basicsally I currently use a g router. All devices are g or n, except one which is b only, but I can connect that wired if need be.

Thanks a lot!

 

[johnsmith153]

Any idea on these q's?

Sorry to push.

 

[neteng101]

Why would you want to use a USB flash drive (you're referring to a USB memory stick)? USB flash drives will unlike have enough storage for a proper backup. You can use a USB hard drive (not flash drive) with an Airport Extreme, but this is slower than using a Time Capsule.

The Time Capsule comes with a hard disk built-in, so there is no need to attach a separate drive. Set up Time Machine to do the backups on the Mac, and you'll have to figure out a program in Windows you want to do backups with for the PC. There will be some slowdowns when backups run, but for Time Machine, only the 1st backup takes a while, the subsequent ones are pretty quick. The Macs must be powered on for this to occur (sleep will not work).

There are no problems with N wireless and 5GHz, as long as your adapter supports those you can use them. The Time Capsule also works on 2.4GHz for compatibility with older devices.

 

[johnsmith153]

Thanks for the help.

The idea was to use a USB memory stick to share files with the PC and Mac, which is obviously what I'd need to do if I go for Airport Extreme.

I would always use the in-built HDD if doing backups (if going for the TC of course).

The question was: is it quicker to use the HDD of the TC (partitioned of course) to share files between PC and Mac, or would it be better to use the Flash memory of the memory stick (via USB)?

Files to share between PC and Mac would be < 1GB.

The only q I think I really need reasurrance on is no. 3. Can I just plug things in the USB (esp memory stick) or do I need a NAS with this. Or is this a NAS in itslef?

 

[bruinsrme]

I just moved from an extreme to a new TC.
started moving all my digital content to the TC and mappingitunes and computers to the TC.
great gadget.
Worth the extra $120 to have the network storage in one unit, to me at least

 

[neteng101]

The only q I think I really need reasurrance on is no. 3. Can I just plug things in the USB (esp memory stick) or do I need a NAS with this. Or is this a NAS in itslef?

Its a NAS by itself, so you don't need to attach anything via USB to share files. You can copy files from the PC or Macs to the Time Capsule, and retrieve it too. No need to partition, you get a partition to store everything in out of the box.

You could do the USB stick on the Airport Extreme, but it won't be very fast, still not bad if you really needed only a small amount of storage to move files around. But the Time Capsule sounds like the all-in-one solution you are looking for.