Time Machine with an Unsupported NAS - Good idea?

[DustinT]

Hi all,

I'm curious how many of you have tried using an unsupported NAS with your Mac's Time Machine backups? With a little time on Google its easy enough to figure out how to do it but it raises the question of whether its a good idea or not.

Perhaps you can vote on your feelings on this matter. I'm sure its a topic many people are interested in.

 

[DustinT]

Would this be more reliable than using a ATM?

 

[techpr]

What do you mean by Unsupported?

You can use Time Machine on any brand external hard disk connected to the Mac via USB, Firewire, Thunderbolt (now).

 

[DustinT]

What do you mean by Unsupported?

You can use Time Machine on any brand external hard disk connected to the Mac via USB, Firewire, Thunderbolt (now).

Yes, you are correct. This thread is about NAS devices, Network Attached Storage. So, connecting to a remove hard drive over a network is what I'm asking about.

I've got it working right now on my MacBook Pro and I'm wondering how good of an idea this is.

 

[Oats]

I was making the same decision a few months ago. I decided to try an "unsupported" NAS. Unsupported by Apple, but thankfully the NAS company claimed that the NAS did support Time Machine. Took some hours to get everything set up right, on the phone with tech support a bit, and did my share of googling. Once working, though, it has worked pretty well. If you're interested, here is a short blog about my experience with this solution.
http://www.zoesoft.com/linkstation-mini-and-time-machine-os-x/

 

[techpr]

Yes, you are correct. This thread is about NAS devices, Network Attached Storage. So, connecting to a remove hard drive over a network is what I'm asking about.

I've got it working right now on my MacBook Pro and I'm wondering how good of an idea this is.

As long the NAS mount and works like a physically connected USB etc Disk yes it will work. Drobo FS is one example.

 

[DustinT]

As long the NAS mount and works like a physically connected USB etc Disk yes it will work. Drobo FS is one example.

I saw a few posts about Drobo but I'm not familiar with it. Are you using it successfully?

 

[DustinT]

I was making the same decision a few months ago. I decided to try an "unsupported" NAS. Unsupported by Apple, but thankfully the NAS company claimed that the NAS did support Time Machine. Took some hours to get everything set up right, on the phone with tech support a bit, and did my share of googling. Once working, though, it has worked pretty well. If you're interested, here is a short blog about my experience with this solution.
http://www.zoesoft.com/linkstation-mini-and-time-machine-os-x/

I'm using a Buffalo ls-wtgl. It does not claim to have Time Machine support but I was able to get it running easily enough. I too had the dreaded error 45 but following the guides out there resulted in a quick solution to the issue. The performance over the wireless network seems quick enough. Its easily a few gigs an hour which will be fine for normal usage.

I suppose if I did more graphics editing I'd wish for a faster collection but I mainly write and thats a very quick backup.

 

[techpr]

I saw a few posts about Drobo but I'm not familiar with it. Are you using it successfully?

Not the FS model, I have the 4 bay FW model for 3 years with great success. Soon I will upgrade to the FS model.

Anyway, I don't use my Drobo for Time Machine, my Time Machine is running on a separate single 1TB USB Disk and the Drobo via Firewire 800 is backing up using ChronoSync with automatic schedule every 6 or 12 hours.

 

[DustinT]

If I need to recover the operating system how hard would it be to mount the backups?

 

[DustinT]

so, is this a pretty rare thing to do?