Time Machine Now Works with Airport Extreme USB Drives

[(L)]

I guess not

My question about Internet access to a hard drive on the AEBS got drowned out, and I guess the way to do it would be very hacky if at all.

I mean, I get it -- some people are paranoid about burglars, or otherwise don't want much attached to their laptops, or whatever. But in my situation, there are more merits to attaching an external hard drive directly. There's still nothing to be done if I want to use Time Machine on the move.

 

[kashmoney2006]

Backup Storage Space??

first of all, sorry if this is a bad place to ask this question, feel free to move this post to a more appropriate place if needed. i just thought i might get some good answers here.

ok so i have a question... when i use an external hard drive to back up my mac through time machine, it will keep the back ups until there is no room left on the HD, correct? what i want to know is if i can still have other files on the drive? or would i have to create a separate partition? and if i dont have to create a separate partition, is there any way to shrink the size of the backup?

what i want to do is keep files such as movies on the HD as well. So i was thinking that when the backup gets big enough, the HD will be completely full with the back up and the movies, leaving no more room to add movies. When this happens will i be able to tell time machine to delete some of the older backups to free up some room, in order add more movies? or is this not possible?

i would rather not have to repartition the HD as i would have to copy all the movies that are already on the HD to somewhere else, and then recopy them on to the new partition (an inconvenience i would rather not deal with). but if that is the only way to keep the time machine back ups under some sort of size constraints, then i have no other choice.

any help/answers are appreciated.

 

[kheller2]

"Effortless meets wireless.

With a hard disk connected to your AirPort Extreme Base Station, all the Macs in your house can use Time Machine to back up wirelessly. Simply select your AirPort Disk as the backup disk for each computer and the whole family can enjoy the benefits of Time Machine."

This is from: http://web.archive.org/web/20070710043919/www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/features/timemachine.html

Which also says: "All features referenced in the Mac OS X Leopard website are subject to change."

 

[kkat69]

I've never noticed the question mark in the MacRumors logo until I saw your avatar. Has that always been there?

LOL yah, you aren't the only one. Many people didn't notice it right off.

 

[Maynerd]

Will the airport extreme talk to the time capsule?

Here's what I'm wanting to do.

Have my wireless network run through time capsule this is in another room than my iMac.

I would then have an airport extreme with a usb hub attached to it that has multiple usb hard drives in another room and it wirelessly connects to the time capsule.

Then I'd have my iMac and other devices be able to wirelessly connect to the USB hard drives connected to my airport extreme.

Will this work?

 

[ChrisA]

first of all, sorry if this is a bad place to ask this question, feel free to move this post to a more appropriate place if needed. i just thought i might get some good answers here.

ok so i have a question... when i use an external hard drive to back up my mac through time machine, it will keep the back ups until there is no room left on the HD, correct? what i want to know is if i can still have other files on the drive? or would i have to create a separate partition? and if i dont have to create a separate partition, is there any way to shrink the size of the backup?

what i want to do is keep files such as movies on the HD as well. So i was thinking that when the backup gets big enough, the HD will be completely full with the back up and the movies, leaving no more room to add movies. When this happens will i be able to tell time machine to delete some of the older backups to free up some room, in order add more movies? or is this not possible?

i would rather not have to repartition the HD as i would have to copy all the movies that are already on the HD to somewhere else, and then recopy them on to the new partition (an inconvenience i would rather not deal with). but if that is the only way to keep the time machine back ups under some sort of size constraints, then i have no other choice.

any help/answers are appreciated.

TM keeps it backups in a folder. You can put your own folder onthe drive. No need to partition. There is no way to tell TM to do anything. You can't tellit to drop older backups it will only do this on it's own. The only way to reduce the sizze of a TM backup is to delete it totally and let it start over.

The best way to go is to buy another USB drive. Disks are selling for 20 cents per gigabyte now. While at the store buy a few more. eveyone need off-site backup.

 

[killmoms]

Will the airport extreme talk to the time capsule?

Here's what I'm wanting to do.

Have my wireless network run through time capsule this is in another room than my iMac.

I would then have an airport extreme with a usb hub attached to it that has multiple usb hard drives in another room and it wirelessly connects to the time capsule.

Then I'd have my iMac and other devices be able to wirelessly connect to the USB hard drives connected to my airport extreme.

Will this work?

Why not just connect the hard drives to the Time Capsule as well? It has a USB port that will support hard drives and printers, just like the Airport Extreme.

 

[wayne226]

time machine on networked hard drive

when i tell time machine to use the networked hard drive connected to my mac.
not to the extreme but directly to the firewire 400 port in back of my imac.
it is backing up my macbook.
has any body else tryed this.

 

[eme jota ce]

"Effortless meets wireless.

With a hard disk connected to your AirPort Extreme Base Station, all the Macs in your house can use Time Machine to back up wirelessly. Simply select your AirPort Disk as the backup disk for each computer and the whole family can enjoy the benefits of Time Machine."

This is from: http://web.archive.org/web/20070710043919/www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/features/timemachine.html

Which also says: "All features referenced in the Mac OS X Leopard website are subject to change."

Nice find on the original advertisement for this feature.

Regarding, the "All features ... subject to change" statement from Apple in the pre-release sales days, this was a BIG change.

Not all 300+ advertised features were equal.

Many posters have posted that statement on this forum as a means of diminishing the anger or frustration that many pre-purchasers felt when Apple pulled this feature. But, if Apple had suddenly dropped TimeMachine in its entirety and dropped Spaces and Boot Camp and 291 of the other 300 features that "...are subject to change" would they still say the anger or disappointment was misplaced because those 295 "features were ... subject to change?"

 

[Maynerd]

Why not just connect the hard drives to the Time Capsule as well? It has a USB port that will support hard drives and printers, just like the Airport Extreme.

My internet connection (cable) is in my living room. My computer is in another location (office) which doesn't have an internet connection. I'd much rather not have multiple hard drives sitting in my living room as that would be messy. My preference is to have the hard drives near my iMac. I could have them plugged into my iMac directly but I want the drives to be accessible even if my iMac is off.

 

[killmoms]

My internet connection (cable) is in my living room. My computer is in another location (office) which doesn't have an internet connection. I'd much rather not have multiple hard drives sitting in my living room as that would be messy. My preference is to have the hard drives near my iMac. I could have them plugged into my iMac directly but I want the drives to be accessible even if my iMac is off.

Not especially. Just buy three drives of the same type and short USB patch cables. You could have a little stack of hard drives. Heck, get some of those "sits below a Mac Mini" type drives and make a tower of components underneath the Time Capsule and you'd be golden. Then you get a clean look without having to spend $180 that you don't need to.

Or, if you already have hard drives, just buy a 25 foot USB cable to run from the Time Capsule to a more discreet location where you can store the drives.

I'd say either of those options beats adding another expensive router (as I don't think you can set the Airport Extreme to be a non-routing wireless access point) to your home network.

 

[Maynerd]

Not especially. Just buy three drives of the same type and short USB patch cables. You could have a little stack of hard drives. Heck, get some of those "sits below a Mac Mini" type drives and make a tower of components underneath the Time Capsule and you'd be golden. Then you get a clean look without having to spend $180 that you don't need to.

Or, if you already have hard drives, just buy a 25 foot USB cable to run from the Time Capsule to a more discreet location where you can store the drives.

I'd say either of those options beats adding another expensive router (as I don't think you can set the Airport Extreme to be a non-routing wireless access point) to your home network.

I understand what you are saying. The other solution just will not work for me.

The key answer I need is if the airport extreme can be a non-routing WAP and when in this mode if it will still allow me to have accessible hard drives attached to it.

 

[kkat69]

I understand what you are saying. The other solution just will not work for me.

The key answer I need is if the airport extreme can be a non-routing WAP and when in this mode if it will still allow me to have accessible hard drives attached to it.

Check the documents or google airport extreme in client mode. That's how the airport express works as just a hub for print sharing but no internet access.

Currently I'm heading out to traffic or I'd help research this. It seems you already have the hardware and just want to actually make use of all of it. Or if not your looking for another solution. Try searching on client mode.

 

[Virgil-TB2]

Time Capsule is slow as hell...yes I'd love to have my system "back up" within a 3-4 day window...

Airport Extreme and USB drive...it still sucks. I have 13,000+ itunes songs and 100+ m4v files on my external drive as well...syncing music and movies was horrible...hit and miss most of the time.

When I hook the same drive up to my iMac everything works flawlessly. Don't get me wrong, I do love my Airport Extreme but not for iTunes music or backups. I use it to share information across my home network, that's it!

Time Capsule is just another Apple marketing conspiracy that the "Apple Tree Huggers" love and that most hate.

None of what you are saying here makes much sense so it's hard to take you seriously.

- You say Time Capsule is "slow as hell" as if you have direct experience of same, but the rest of your post kind of implies that you don't even own one.

- You say that it takes multiple days to back up your stuff, but that's just a lie isn't it?

- You are talking about "back-ups" but then the majority of your post kind of implies that you are using the external HD as an iTunes repository.

- It doesn't sound as if you are even using Time Machine at all (which is what everyone else on the thread is talking about).

So WTF are you even talking about? Just sounds like a bunch of confused garbly hate-speech to me.

 

[newtonuk]

I understand what you are saying. The other solution just will not work for me.

The key answer I need is if the airport extreme can be a non-routing WAP and when in this mode if it will still allow me to have accessible hard drives attached to it.

Yes it will, that's how I'm using it.

 

[Trip.Tucker]

After the release of today's Time Machine and Airport update, several readers report that Time Machine now supports backups to USB drives connected to your Airport Extreme basestation. This configuration essentially reproduces the functionality of Apple's Time Capsule product.

Apple had originally advertised these "AirPort Disk" wireless backups as a feature for Leopard, but this feature was removed prior to its launch. Speculation had suggested that it may have been due to some unresolved security issues, but Apple has made no official statements. While there had been workarounds published, today's update appears to officially restore this feature.


Article Link

When did this ever stop working? I haven't updated the firmware on my Airport Extreme and I've been able to use the attached USB drive for TimeMachine since I first hooked it up. I'm attached via ethernet so maybe thats the difference if others are using wireless?

 

[Dimwhit]

When did this ever stop working? I haven't updated the firmware on my Airport Extreme and I've been able to use the attached USB drive for TimeMachine since I first hooked it up. I'm attached via ethernet so maybe thats the difference if others are using wireless?

I believe that's it. Wired, and your machine reads it like any other attached drive and TM will use it. It's wireless that's been the problem for a while.

 

[Maynerd]

Yes it will, that's how I'm using it.

Very cool! Any issues? How many EHDs do you have hooked up to it?

Thanks!

 

[nolanpa]

AEBS and EHD Question

MacBook C2D 2.0 (Nov 2006) Tiger 10.4.11, N compatible
XP Pro SP2 Box w/ Wireless G card
Wireless G non-Apple Router
Airport Express Wireless N

Posted this on Buying Tips Forum, and no takers so far and really trying to decide on this by tomorrow, my B-Day. If there is a link to answer these questions, could not find, and apologize ahead of time.

Currrently, have iTunes libraries shared and can stream Airtunes from the MacBook and XP box.

Have been waiting on updating to Leopard and Wireless N till 10.5.2 and the Airport Disk issue with Time Machine was ironed out. With the latest Airport update allowing wireless Time Machine backups w/AEBS, am now looking into upgrade to Leopard, adding Wireless N and an external 500 GB HD. Purpose is to store bootable backups for the MacBook, XP box, use Time Machine wirelessly for MacBook , and to stream consolidated digital media. I also see that Time Capsule cannot stream digital media, so if that is correct that would rule out Time Capsule.

From what I understand in regards to MBits/sec, an external Lacie Gigabit Ethernet EHD connected to AEBS (1000 MBits/sec) might be faster connection in “Real World” versus AEBS w/USB EHD over Wireless N (230 Mbits/sec) or Time Capsule. Or, does the fact that they are both connected to the Wireless N router make that a moot point? Sorry, confused on this point.

Just saw where Lacie said that their Network Storage solutions are not compatible with Time machine: http://www.lacie.com/us/more/?id=10050

By "Direct-Attached", sounds like that rules out Ethernet EHD altogether?

I have also looked at the Lacie D2 Quaddra and the My Book Studio Quad interface. What considerations (is it possible through partition?) are there for storing a bootable XP backup on HFS+ formatted drive?

Cheers!

 

[sleepingworker]

Just saw where Lacie said that their Network Storage solutions are not compatible with Time machine: http://www.lacie.com/us/more/?id=10050

No great loss (for me anyway) - I've had bad experiences with Lacie (as have friends of mine).

 

[nolanpa]

No great loss (for me anyway) - I've had bad experiences with Lacie (as have friends of mine).

Thx sleepingworker! Any recommendations? not real wild about a WD My Book Studio myself, so was thinking Lacie would be faster. Sounds like you have experienced reliability issues with Lacie.

 

[MN1974]

I am not doing partitions, but just used Mac OS extended and it worked. I was just getting ready to research the difference between journaled, etc.

Does it mean that I do have to format my external HD to make it work???

 

[sleepingworker]

Thx sleepingworker! Any recommendations? not real wild about a WD My Book Studio myself, so was thinking Lacie would be faster. Sounds like you have experienced reliability issues with Lacie.

I have! So has my girlfriend, my Mother, and other friends. So now I spend the big bucks and buy G-Tech (which is pictured with the AE). Beautiful, dependable (as far as any HD can be) and slightly more expensive. There are other HD's out there that I'm sure are good but I haven't used them. I now have 3 G-Tech's - my newest being a 250GB mini for travel.

 

[pup975]

But ... once done and the drive relocated to AE it won't use the initial back up and starts over ... my question is is there away to make it use the initial back up already done (how ever it was done)?

You would think that this would happen. However, when I connected my HD to the USB port and turned on Time Machine, it wanted to back up all 40 GB. There maybe a way around this, but I just decided to redo everything over.

As a follow-up, Time Machine backed up my mac without any problem via the Ethernet connection (after 15+ hours). Hourly back-ups done wirelessly also working well with no real noticeable slow down on my connection.

 

[nolanpa]

I have! So has my girlfriend, my Mother, and other friends. So now I spend the big bucks and buy G-Tech (which is pictured with the AE). Beautiful, dependable (as far as any HD can be) and slightly more expensive. There are other HD's out there that I'm sure are good but I haven't used them. I now have 3 G-Tech's - my newest being a 250GB mini for travel.

Thanks Much! back to the pricechecks it is, then!!