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Time Capsule

A

ACiB708

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 6, 2008
123
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Hi, I'm in the market lately for Mac stuff, I renewed my whole PC setup, upgraded to en entirely mac one. I want to get a Tim Capsule (500GB'd be enough) but I have one doubt, can I use it as a normal networked HDD? I mean my brother also has a Mac so if I just want to share some file with him, can he access the T.C. via the network and grab it from there? And also, can I have my entire iTunes library there and just play it from there instead of having it stored in my Mac's HDD? I'm just asking because I remember reading somewhere that if you used an external HDD for Time Machine backup, it would be exclusively that: a backup, no hdd funcionality (like for sharing, etc), ad I searched this forums and nothing. Thanks again!:eek:
 
gazfocus said:
However, if you want to use time capsule with time machine, you will need to partition the drive first (one partition for time machine and one for your network drive).
Click to expand...

Do you even own a TC? Stop spreading false information. This is simply not true.

You can add other files to the TC drive as long as you have space. You dont have to partition. However, Time Machine will continue to backup until it has filled the hard drive.

I kept my Itunes library, pics, other files, along with two macs backups. All until my TC drive failed, and had to get it replaced after 6 months..
 
That's what scares me about the TC as a backup device. If it fails, you loose EVERYTHING.

How are you guys and gals going about mirroring your TC
 
cis4life said:
That's what scares me about the TC as a backup device. If it fails, you loose EVERYTHING.

How are you guys and gals going about mirroring your TC
Click to expand...

I don't have a TC, but i can imagine you could just plug a USB drive into the TC, and clone from the TC to the USB drive using your favorite cloning utility while both drives are mounted on your desktop. Hmm?
 
cis4life said:
That's what scares me about the TC as a backup device. If it fails, you loose EVERYTHING.

How are you guys and gals going about mirroring your TC
Click to expand...


I have a TC. You might be over-thinking this? Don't you think having 2 copies is enough... the TC (as designed to be used with TimeMachine) is the mirror of your desktop/laptop.. if the TC dies, you still have all your data ON your desktop/laptop.... What are the odds taht BOTH die at the same time?

I guess the real concern is they're both stored at the same site, if you have a house fire or a flood they can both be destroyed, for full protection I guess off-site, RAID-ed storage would be the best solution, if you're that concerned about the data on your home computer.

This isn't enterprise class data storage, it's a simple backup. Or maybe I'm not using mine right. :confused:
 
I bought Time Capsule in the summer and took it back after 1 week. I bought an Airport Extreme Base Station and hooked up my 500GB external hard drive to it. I like it a lot better because I have more control over the drive.
 
To all TC owners, how loud is your TC? Are read/write sounds noticeable or annoying? Does the HDD spin constantly or only when being accessed (every hour with standard TM backups)?

Thanks.
 
Loose vs. Lose

cis4life said:
That's what scares me about the TC as a backup device. If it fails, you loose EVERYTHING.

How are you guys and gals going about mirroring your TC
Click to expand...

You can't "loose" anything. You can "lose" everything, though.

Grammar Nazi aside, the Time Capsule is for backups. If you choose to use the TC as a data drive, then you need to consider backing up your TC... which is redundant and if you think about it too long, will cause the galaxy to collapse on itself.

-Aaron-
 
well,

I'm a computer programmer, and will be using the TC as a storage backup for my source code and project source files. I would also like to store the pictures and videos of my new born on it.

I'm think I am overthinking it and the idea of an external HD hooked into it and backedup via software would do just fine.
 
I have a 1TB TC at home and another at work. Very happy with them for central file storage, automatic backup, gigabit routing, and wifi. Like all cheap NAS systems, network transfer speed isn't stellar - dumping a 9GB video file onto the TC HD will take a while.

The work TC (which backs up 6 laptops) has a 1TB external HD hooked to the USB port to mirror it once every couple of weeks and then taken offsite (in theory).

You can reserve space on the TC by creating a disk image file, 250GB or whatever, then you can store stuff in that disk image - it appears just like another HD.

You don't have to reserve space to use the TC as a file storage area - the backup files live in their own folder in the TC and you can just create new folders next to it.
 
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