What if any is the advantage in having Time Capsule over other types of external HD for your Mac? I know it can be used as a router, but it can't replace the router you use for the Internet as far as I know i.e. the one usually supplied by your ISP. I know you can use it like a NAS drive, but again there are many NAS drives out there that are much cheaper. Am I missing something?
Advantage of Time Capsule - if there is one?
- Thread starter Faustus
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The main advantage is you plug it in, and it just works. With a NAS you require at least a little bit of setup; the extra cost might be worth it for some to take away that element, but you get a lot less in terms of features. Of course, compared to an external drive, the Time Capsule is on your network.
As for replacing the router supplied by your ISP, like any other router, yes it can. It's a case of setting it up correctly (and in the case of ADSL, having a separate modem, or running it alongside your ISP router).
As for replacing the router supplied by your ISP, like any other router, yes it can. It's a case of setting it up correctly (and in the case of ADSL, having a separate modem, or running it alongside your ISP router).
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As a non Mac user ... I would say
Go for a small 1 - 2 bay NAS that supports Time Machine if you want a more flexible solution. Especially if you have a household with other OS's present or requirements for streaming/access for other devices.
Go for a small 1 - 2 bay NAS that supports Time Machine if you want a more flexible solution. Especially if you have a household with other OS's present or requirements for streaming/access for other devices.
I use a time capsule as my router to replace the terrible BT infinity Home hub. It's great in comparison, went with the time capsule over the standard airport extreme because of the convenience of setting that up wirelessly with a few Macs for backup.
The time capsule disk can be used as a regular SMB share so you could configure backup of other OSs to backup to it.
The time capsule disk can be used as a regular SMB share so you could configure backup of other OSs to backup to it.
I would agree with Essexraptor's solution. If you are capable of setting up something more complex, or can follow instructions with ease, the NAS box route works just as well, costs the same money, and offers you more. That isn't to knock the Time Machine however, for a simple backup device, it is still great.
I would agree with the NAS route which is why I was querying Time Capsule. I think LaCie do a similar product to Time Capsule as well. There again there are a plethora of NAS products out there so I can see why TC may appear attractive i.e. a tried and tested product as opposed to a product that may not have much provenance.
QwaF, do you not have to use a modem alongside TC?
QwaF, do you not have to use a modem alongside TC?
If it's an ADSL connection, then yes, you will have to use a modem. Completely depends on the connection type.
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Synology and QNAP have Time Machine capabilities that are a doodle to setup via a GUI interface. If you can run and find your way around a Mac .....it would be easy peasy
Before looking into buying a more expensive NAS how about checking to see if your router has a USB designed for external HDDs. A lot of ISP routers (e.g. BT for starters) have the ability to turn a standard external HDD into a NAS.
yeah, but I have to use a modem along side any router I use, including the bt home hub.
Sky give you a USB port on their poxy Netgear router - I did smile at that suggestion. Every time the microwave oven is switched on it knocks out the wifi on from the router. It is the router not he MW.
I think it's more the fact that it's a consumer device. Double drives would make it expensive. It isnt for use in an environment where there will be ultra critical data being stored on it.
In a home environment it's perfectly fine, you can have it fail, get the hard disk replaced and just set it back up on the network, in a home environment you're unlikely to be running that many PCs where the chances of them both failing at the same time are high.
I don't think it has anything to do with aesthetics. It's to do with knowing that Apple makes consumer products, even Apple don't want to price something *too high*.
In a home environment it's perfectly fine, you can have it fail, get the hard disk replaced and just set it back up on the network, in a home environment you're unlikely to be running that many PCs where the chances of them both failing at the same time are high.
I don't think it has anything to do with aesthetics. It's to do with knowing that Apple makes consumer products, even Apple don't want to price something *too high*.
The only issue I have with TimeCapsule with TimeMachine is that it uses Sparse Bundles for the disk storage.
If you use TimeMachine on a local drive you get a directly accessible file system, like this:
Using a TimeCapsule, you don't - you get this:
You get one issue with that sparse bundle, you can't mount it, and all your backups disappear. Screw up the TimeMachine database on a local drive and you can still get at your data.
I just don't like sparse bundles, had problems with them in the past, enough to unsettle my nerves when using them for a backup solution.
If you use TimeMachine on a local drive you get a directly accessible file system, like this:
Using a TimeCapsule, you don't - you get this:
You get one issue with that sparse bundle, you can't mount it, and all your backups disappear. Screw up the TimeMachine database on a local drive and you can still get at your data.
I just don't like sparse bundles, had problems with them in the past, enough to unsettle my nerves when using them for a backup solution.
The only issue I have with TimeCapsule with TimeMachine is that it uses Sparse Bundles for the disk storage.
If you use TimeMachine on a local drive you get a directly accessible file system, like this:
Using a TimeCapsule, you don't - you get this:
You get one issue with that sparse bundle, you can't mount it, and all your backups disappear. Screw up the TimeMachine database on a local drive and you can still get at your data.
I just don't like sparse bundles, had problems with them in the past, enough to unsettle my nerves when using them for a backup solution.
Oh how strange, I never realised that. After reading your post I clicked the external USB HD I use for my TM backups and clicking into a backup reveals a file structure just like the internal Mac HD. Why then does TC use a different method for TM backups?