Has anyone tried using some of the NAS storage solutions out there as your Time Machine back up? If so, how well does it work? Reason I ask is because I'm thinking of getting one but I don't want to run into the same problem I had with mounting when I tried using an external HDD connected to my home server. I know it's not the same but I'm just asking to be safe.
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Time Machine on NAS storage
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I had one running for about 9 months or longer. When the Disk that I created on the NAS filled up, it became inaccessible and I could no longer mount it. I have heard of similar stories on xlr8yourmac.com, but I created a pretty large sparsebundle initially.
I don't know if the newer / beta firmware of my NAS addresses the issue or if it's something I did wrong, but I haven't spent any time researching it.
I don't know if the newer / beta firmware of my NAS addresses the issue or if it's something I did wrong, but I haven't spent any time researching it.
10.5.0-10.5.5 I could use a SMB share. With 10.5.6 I had to switch over to a custom netatalk build with some additional patches before it would start working again.
I know the Drobo share has a plugin for TM support including the custom netatalk for, in theory, proper AFP support.
http://code.google.com/p/backmyfruitup/
Even if you don't use a drobo share the author has a automator script for creating the initial sparse image which TM will usually bomb trying to create on anything other than Apple hardware. He even went through the trouble of making the slices bigger which tends to speed up backups.
hhmmm see that just doesnt do it for me. i would have to be ensured that it would work. not that i would be using the drobo for TM, id be using it for pure storage of my movies etc.
Trust me, there is no assurances that TM will work even with all Apple hardware. Using 3rd party hardware you are fully responsible for making it work correctly.
My father uses a TM backup and when he did a restore recently it would bomb half way through every time, the sparse image got corrupted.
it doesnt matter if its a Time Machine backup or not, it will never be assured. there are that many software/hardware errors that could occur. ONE wrongly written bit could corrupt the whole thing.
using spare-images doesnt help the situation, but they are a good idea in regards to managing disk space etcetc.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Time Capsule technically a NAS? Apple claims it works seamlessly with Time Machine.
your correct, however the question was whether or not you can add another NAS to it (via ethernet or USB im guessing) and still use it anywhere on the network.
I'm not sure why you couldn't, since the TC is also a router and that's how you would connect a NAS...but you could save a ton of money by just buying a USB drive and connecting that to the TC instead of a NAS.
one USB drive will only get you so much storage (2tb at most atm). that isnt a terrible amount of storage.. i could fill that up easily. NAS would be for:
1) high capacity storage
2) high data redundancy/backup e.g. RAIDs