Time Capsule - Useable as Network Hardrive for Master Libary and Device Syncing?

[Maxamillious]

I'm planning on purchasing my first Apple computer next month and would like to have a network hard-drive capable of storing a master copy of my iTunes Media Library that my Mac could update it's iTunes Library from, and possibly an Apple TV. Basically, I would like a network hard-drive that serves the same purpose as the MobileMe "cloud" keeping all my computers and devices in sync (without push is fine).

Would I be able to disable the auto-backup feature on Time Capsule and use it for this purpose? Additionally, would I be able to set certain folders on my Mac(s) to "sync" with my network hard-drive Time Capsule so that when, for example, I saved my Photoshop project on my iMac it would automatically be on my Macbook Air so I could continue working from another computer?

And lastly, if this network hard-drive Time Capsule were the 500G model and I additionally purchased the 1T model to use as an automatic backup device (not a network hard-drive), could I use the 1T model to backup my Mac's and the 500G Time Capsule I've utilized as a network hard-drive?

Thanks for your help!

 

[TEG]

You can use the TC's Hard Drive as a Network Drive. You can also use the USB port on it to add more drives.

You can currently use any drive, connected to your computer to use for your Time Machine backups.

I do not believe however, that you can sync data between machines, at least not without extra software. It would be easier to just do the work on a thumbdrive.

TEG

 

[waw74]

The backup is not a feature of the time capsule, it's part of OS X. You can backup to a USB hard drive that you've just plugged into the mac.
the Time capsule is basically just a network attached hard drive (with a couple other features thrown in) that you can use as that external drive.

as far as copying automatically you can look at folder actions, (info here) to copy to a network location (time capsule drive ) when files in a particular folder are changed.

as far as syncing to the Air, if the air is always powered on you could have the iMac copy the file there too with the folder action, or if the Air is not on all the time, you could write a 1 line BASH script on the air that would sync a folder on the air with the Time capsule (the command you're looking for is called "rsync", just google) you would just have to run the script on the Air while you're still at home before you started working
although you would then have to manually sync back to the time capsule and then to the iMac once you are back home.

also, since it looks like you haven't purchased yet, do some research to make sure the Air will be powerful enough and have enough screen real estate for your photoshop needs. (and also look at the 15" MB pro, heaver yes, but better than a lighter machine that doesn't fit what you need) I don't know how much you will be doing, but just something to think about.