Time Capsule both: Time machine and file server

Hi!
We have 3 macs that has access to a Time Capsule we use just as a file server.
Now, I'll like to do backups of all the data, and I was thinking about using Time Machine in all the computers to backup in Time Capsule.
My question is, can I use Time Capsule as both? With Time Machine and also as a file server?
Thanks,
Júlia

Time Machine can be used to backup your Macs to the Time Capsule. You set this up on each Mac by opening System Preferences (gear icon) on the dock and then opening Time Machine to select the Time Capsule as the destination for backups.
Time Machine will keep separate files for each Mac on the Time Capsule and your regular files on the TC will be left alone. Ideally, Time Machine needs about twice as much space for each Mac to allow for a good history of future backups.
Backup each Mac one at a time since the first backup will copy everything from the Mac over.
Things will go 3-5 times faster if you connect the Mac to the Time Capsule using an Ethernet cable for this procedure.
Once the "master" backup is completed for each, you can switch back to wireless to backup incremental changes since these will only take a few minutes on average.
As you know, Time Machine cannot be used to backup the regular files that you already have on the Time Capsule disk. If you need to backup these files, post back for a few suggestions on applications that can handle this task.

Similar Messages

Unable to connect to Time Capsule: "Access the volumes and files locally"

I've been experiencing a problem for about two months now with no ability to connect to my Time Capsule. I have other systems in my household including being able to access from a Windows desktop and another older MacBook.
When I attempt to connect to the Time Capsule, I receive an error "The server <Capsule Name> is available on your computer. Access the volumes and files locally."
I've attempted various fixes including changing the network sharing name of my laptop and time capsule name via AirPort Utility as suggested in the following link without success:
http://positivelyglorious.com/software-media/snow-leopard-afp-access-the-volume- and-files-locally/
I've also seen that this was previously posted late last fall without any satisfactory resolution at:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10526171
And none of the troubleshooting helpful hints in the following link are applicable or resulted in any resolution of my problem:
http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html
With now two months of no backup, this is getting a bit ridiculous. I had hoped a OSX update would have helped but as of yet no glory.
I would GREATLY appreciate any help any of you might be able to provide!
Thanks,
Tim

Several volumes and folders have been shared and they are accessible within LAN. The problem is that I cannot even connect to the server, even though the connection has been established. Mac OS X always seems to think that it has already been connected and they are readily available but it's not listed under Network.
Looking at other topics, this seems to be a prevalent problem but I don't find any solution for this yet.

Time Capsule as DHCP Router and DNS server for larger network - too taxing?

Ok, let me say first that I'm no networking expert, but I have tried to learn a decent amount over the years. I haven't got quite gotten o the level of combing router event logs, though I intend to do that as my next step. My question here though is if my overall network strategy is flawed.
My setup at home is one that may be a bit more extensive than most users have:
Cable modem -> Time Capsule -> Multiple gigabit switches (business grade) -> Wired Cat5e throughout the house and 2 Airport Extremes. I don't know how many total wired and wireless clients I have, but it may be between 30 and 40 (only a few are computers with the rest being game systems, networked DVRs, audio streamers, NAS, etc)
At the moment, the Time Capsule only backs up one machine - a MBP (I have external HDDs connected directly to the desktops). I don't use the TC's HDD for anything else. Also, I have the network configured so that the TC handles DHCP addressing and NAT. The Airport Extremes are in bridge mode.
For the most part, everything works very well. Internet speeds are good, audio streaming works well, no problems with TC backups, etc. The only issue I've run into are dropouts when streaming video content on the network from one device to another (not form the internet). Basically, the stream will pause and then an error will pop up on screen saying that there was a network problem. Now, I know that the specific devices themselves may have issues of their own, but since it's happened on more than one system, I'm wondering if there is a common network culprit- expecting the Time Capsule to handle its duties especially while it is doing a backup.
Here are a few thoughts I have:
1 - From a technical standpoint, I don't know if all client to client network traffic goes through the TC. I was thinking that communication could happen between devices on the same switch without having to go up to the TC and then back down, but maybe I'm wrong. If I am wrong, that certainly is a bottleneck right there. I'm not segregating the video streamers to their own subnet on a new router to isolate the traffic. I'm also not sure if the bottleneck is impacted by static vs dynamic IP addressing. IOW, I don't know if setting the devices up with static IPs would change the flow of traffic to not have to go through the TC (just flow across the switch) or not.
2 - Long ago in a different network setup, I had allowed the wireless access points to assign IPs. However, I found that doing so sometimes created problems accessing some of those devices from a computer or device on a different subnet. As such, I switched over to having the router connected to the modem do all the IP addressing. Maybe this is a bad idea given the temporary nature that some devices will hop on and off the network.
3 - Additionally, in the interests of getting better wireless coverage over the whole house, I switched to using 2 airport extremes configured to use the same SSID (so that devices moving around the house wouldn't need to specifically change networks in order to get better signal). I guess I could let one of those 2 handle IP addressing while the other is in bridge mode (pointing to the primary Extreme vs the TC).
4 - Kind of getting back to the TC as the bottleneck, maybe it shouldn't handle network wide DHCP and NAT duties. If TC backups take network priority, such that other kinds of traffic could hiccup, then I probably need to rethink where the TC should exist in the network. Or, maybe it would be enough to just have the stream sensitive components be on their own subnet.
I know there are potentially multiple flaws in my current strategy, so any suggestions or attempts at correcting my assumptions would be helpful.
Thanks!
Jeff
Message was edited by: Rgbyhkr
Message was edited by: Rgbyhkr

Welcome to the discussions!
1 - Everything goes through the router when it is setup to handle DHCP and NAT
2 - You want your main router, the TC, to handle all DHCP and NAT functions. It will handle up to 250+ connections, so 30-40 devices won't be much of a challenge
3 - Keep both AirPort Extremes in bridge mode to allow the TC to handle the things in #2 above. If you setup an Airport Extreme to give out IP addresses, you'll create a Double NAT issue on your network...which can slow down communications between devices...the thing you are trying to avoid. If you use Xbox live or other interactive services, the online features will not function with a Double NAT on your network.
4 - You want the TC to handle all DHCP and NAT functions as in #2. I assume that you have no single run of CAT5e more than 300 feet.
5 - If you want to create separate sub nets correctly (the AirPorts won't allow you to do this as they are designed for basic home networking), you'll need to look at routers for professional and commercial use, like Cisco.
With as many devices as you have, you may be running out of bandwidth at times. If you only notice the issue during Time Machine backups, and you don't need to backup each hour, take a look at Time Machine Editor to setup backups whenever you like, maybe once a day at 2 AM when things on the network are quiet.
My suggestions are of course opinions. Hopefully you'll receive some other possibly differing views.

Use time capsule both for time machine and external disk

is there a tuto on how to configure the time capsule to be able to use it both as a time machine back-up utility and a storage external disk for music files and video files, for example?

Mixing Time Machine backups and other data on a TC's internal HD presents some conflicts. See #Q3 in Using Time Machine with a Time Capsule for an explanation and some workarounds.
Also . . . how are you planning to back up the "other" data?

My home network has an Airport Extreme w/Time Capsule as the base and then an Airport Express and a second Airport Extreme to reach different areas of the house. Is there a way to use the second Airport Extreme for file storage on this network?

My home network has an Airport Extreme w/Time Capsule as the base and then an Airport Express and a second Airport Extreme to reach different areas of the house. Is there a way to use the second Airport Extreme for file storage on this network? Network is administered through an iMac running OS X Yosemite 10.10.2. Ideally, would like for the second Airport Extreme hard drive to appear on the list of devices in the Finder window.

Ok.. gottcha
The problem is network wise.. Yosemite is about equal to tin cans and string.. pathetic.
Here is my usual set of instructions to get anything working on Yosemite.
The best way to fix problems is a full factory reset of all the AE in the network.
Factory reset universal
Power off the AE.. ie pull the power cord or power off at the wall.. wait 10sec.. hold in the reset button.. be gentle.. power on again still holding in reset.. and keep holding it in for another 10sec. You may need some help as it is hard to both hold in reset and apply power. It will show success by rapidly blinking the front led. Release the reset.. and wait a couple of min for the AE to reset and come back with factory settings. If the front LED doesn’t blink rapidly you missed it and simply try again. The reset is fairly fragile in these.. press it so you feel it just click and no more.. I have seen people bend the lever or even break it. I use a toothpick as tool.
Then redo the setup from the computer with Yosemite.
1. Use very short names.. NOT APPLE RECOMMENDED names. No spaces and pure alphanumerics.
eg AEgen5 and AEwifi for basestation and wireless respectively.
Even better if the issue is more wireless use AE24ghz and AE5ghz with fixed channels as this also seems to help stop the nonsense.
2. Use all passwords that also comply but can be a bit longer. ie 8-20 characters mixed case and numbers.. no non-alphanumerics.
3. Ensure the AE always takes the same IP address.. this is not a problem for AE which is router.. it is a problem for AE which is bridged.. you will need to set static IP in the main router by dhcp reservations or use static IP in the AE which is tricky.
4. Check your share name on the computer is not changing.. make sure it also complies with the above.. short no spaces and pure alphanumeric..
5. Make sure IPv6 is set to link-local only in the computer. For example wireless open the network preferences, wireless and advanced / TCP/IP.. and fix the IPv6. to link-local only.
6. Now mount the disk of the second AE in finder... manually.
Use Go, Connect to Server and type in the AE ip address.
SMB://10.0.1.2
Where you will replace that address with the actual address. The network resource should be discovered and then it will request the password.. type that in and make sure you tick to save it in your keychain.
There is a lot more jiggery pokery you can try but the above is a good start.. if you find it still unreliable.. don't be surprised.
Do as much as you want of the above... not all of it is necessary.. only if you want it reliable.. or as reliable as Yosemite in its current incarnation can manage.
The most important thing is point 6.. mount the disk using direct IP address and not names.. dns in Yosemite is fatally flawed.
See http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/01/why-dns-in-os-x-10-10-is-broken-and-what-yo u-can-do-to-fix-it/

Can I use Time Capsule for Time Machine and a place to put my iPhoto Library

Can I use Time Capsule for Time Machine and a place to put my iPhoto Library?

Only if you partition the Time Capsure into two partitions, one for TM and one for the iPhoto LIbrary. But you won't be able to backup that library as it will be on the same drive as the TM backups.
It's not recommended. An alternative solution is to get another EHD, move the library to it and run it from there. Then TM can backup both your boot drive and the working EHD drive.
OT

Using external HDD for Time Machine and files in one single partition ?

Hello everybody.
I've been searching for some time now and have encountered some contradictory answers, so I turn to you.
I would like to know if it's possible (one) and safe (two) to use a single partition for both Time Machine and file storage. I've read that this should be ok, since TM is actually only a single folder, which means the rest can easily be used as a standard Finder drive. Some people say however that this is not good to do so, because TM will run out of space quicker. But if the -let's say- 30Gb used for files where used by TM after a month, that would be the same, wouldn't it ? It would simply erase older backups. But is it safe to do so ? Will Time Machine not makes errors when accessing files or doing an entire system backup ? I don't won't to make a new partition really, that's why I'm asking you here, to let me know some arguments about it.
Thank you very much for your answers.

Marekova wrote:
Yet, overlooking that, you say "safe: mostly", why is that ? where's the "danger" or, what where you thinking when you said that ? Aren't these simple folder's ? Do you mean that, because during a full backup, these "stranger" files could be a problem ? It would be great if that was clarified, since I've found no indication about it elsewhere, has anyone tryed it ?
Oh, yes folks have tried it. That's why I (and many others) recommended against it.
Here's a similar thread from just the other day: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1926893 Note the responses from the top 2 "gurus" on this forum.
I probably should have asked you what you mean by "safe." If you mean, will TM delete other files on it's partition, no, it won't. If you mean, can there be problems, then yes, there can be conflicts and difficulties, as mentioned.
As to whether TM backups are simple folders, no, they aren't. They look like normal files and folders, but they actually contain what are variously called "hard links," "multi-links," and (my own personal favorite term) "ghost clones." Think of them as very fancy aliases. So they're not to be fooled with directly, by us mere mortals.
If you want more on this: http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2007/10/mac-os-x-10-5.ars/14
and/or: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/10/12/roadto_mac_os_x_leopard_timemachine.html
and, if you haven't seen it yet: http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/#tutorial=leopardtimemachine
You should also know that, for some reason, TM stores it's backups differently when it does them wirelessly. In that case, they're in a "SparseBundle," very different from the structure used for directly-attached backups.
All the more reason to put each Mac's backups in a separate partition, and if you want to store other data there also, a 3rd partition for that.
I've been using Mac since many years now, but I have no idea about backups, so excuse me if the statements appear a little childish.
Nope. Even those of us who are "older than dirt" and have used many flavors and varieties of backup systems for decades are in a whole new world with Time Machine.
And most of the folks on this forum who found themselves in deep trouble got there because they assumed things or didn't ask.

Looking for a back up drive for photos and videos that works with time machine, prefer wireless. Time capsule has poor reviews and already have BT hub

Looking for a back up drive for photos and videos that works with time machine, prefer wireless. Time capsule has poor reviews and already have BT hub that serves as a good router. 3gb or 4gb capacity preferred but 2 would suffice.

Plug a NAS into the BT Hub that does TM. Look at Synology.
You just use the wireless of the hub.
But the cheapest solution is still the TC.

Can I use Time Capsule as external storage and not for Time Machine?

Can I use Time Capsule as external storage and not for Time Machine?
I want to just use it like a USB drive but wirelessly and so other people in my suite can use it wirelessly to get the files I put on there. Let me know if you need me to explain some more

Will the Time Capsule come with directions on how to set it up as external storage rather then time machine.
Yes, AirPort Utility will walk you through the setup.
Because when I watched the video on it it says that time machine is automatically recognized
You have to turn Time Machine "On" for each Mac separately. By default, it is "Off". Leave it off if you do not want to use Time Machine. If by some chance Time Machine is "On", then turn it "Off"

Sharing a Time Capsule between Time Machine and Data Storage

I currently have a MBP with a 120 GB hard drive that is busting at the seams. I have a 500 GB time capsule which I use Time Machine on. I am going to move iphoto and itunes libraries onto an external drive and I was wondering whether I can share the Time Capsule between TM backup and being an external drive. It currently has more than 325 GB available. Appreciate any advice.

alastairandnicole wrote:
Sorry, I'm not that Mac literate. My plan was to connect the WD Book external hard drive by USB to the Time Capsule so that it will wirelessly mount. Will TM back that up automatically?
No TM will not back up network drives. as I said it has to be directly attached. if you attach the drive to the computer instead of the TC, TM will back it up.

My Airport Extreme and Time Capsule both cannot do not mount my Seagate USB external hard.

My Airport Extreme and Time Capsule both cannot do not mount my Seagate USB external hard.
I am running OS 10.7.5
Both the TC and AE are updated to 7.6.1
The Seagate drive in formatted: Journaled HFS+
I tried everything on Apple's Article: HT1331 and the basic reboots and restarts.
"Next"

It sounds like you may be confusing "mount" with "recognize".
Connect the drive to the USB port on the AirPort Extreme
Open Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities > AirPort Utility
Click on the AirPort Extreme icon, then click Edit
Click the Disks tab
Does the AirPort Extreme "recognize" your hard drive? If yes, it will be displayed in the window.
See example below of a WD 500 GB drive connected to the AirPort Extreme.
If your drive is formatted HFS+ and it does not appear here, then you will almost certainly need to use a powered USB hub with the hard drive.....even if the hard drive has its own power supply. The USB port on the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule is under powered.
Post back when the drive is "recognized" and we will next "mount" the drive.....although you likely already know how to do this.

My mac 10.8 does no have the file, com.apple.desktop. plist I wentto lIbrary, preference and look for it and it is not where in my mac. I also launch time machine and file is no where on my Mac. How do I get this file back?

My mac 10.8 does no have the file, com.apple.desktop. plist I wentto lIbrary, preference and look for it and it is not where in my mac. I also launch time machine and file is no where on my Mac. How do I get this file back?
thanks

System files are hidden by default in Finder now, search for what you want then click the little + button on the top right of the bar that appears when you do a search. A new bar comes up and click the first box (that says "Kind"), change it to "System Files". Then change the box that says "aren't included" to "are included" and your file should show up.
http://osxdaily.com/2009/02/25/show-hidden-files-in-os-x/

I like the idea of auto back-up for my new iMac, Ipad and PC Netbook, particularly if I can access all files and data stored on any device. But I have a Conceptronic router. Will Time Capsule work with this and how?

I like the idea of auto back-up for my new iMac, Ipad and PC Netbook, particularly if I can access all files and data stored on any device. But I have a Conceptronic router.
1. Will Time Capsule work with this and how?
2. Can my printer USB be plugged in and then shared between the devices?
3. Can I create a network and how?
4. What happend when a visitor logs onto my existing wireless router?
I'm new to Macs (well a returning user having started with Mac Plus!!) and not very technical. Any help / advice will be much appreciated.
Ray

The key to what you seem to want to do is to be able to get Apple's Time Capsule router to "join" the network that your Conceptronic router. I believe that works with some third-party routers, but I've never seen a list of those that work in such a configuration and I have no experience with Conceptronic equipment.
You might be better off with a Network-Attached Storage (NAS) device instead of a Time Capsule.

How do i use a time capsule as a shared drive and back it up to another time capsule using time machine ??

how do i use a time capsule as a shared drive and back it up to another time capsule using time machine ??

You cannot backup network drives with Time Machine.
You can simply setup the TC in the network.. it is a shared drive.

Time capsule first said the back up was delayed no it won't connect to my home network. my internet is working fine and so is everything else but when i try to connect to the time capsule it says to check my server and ip address help!

time capsule first said the back up was delayed, now it won't connect to my home network. my internet is working fine and so is everything else but when i try to connect to the time capsule it says to check my server and ip address and if it continues to contact system administrator.. i didnt change anything, please help!

Lion networking.. just need to reboot everything.. modem TC and the clients.. then it will work.. Sometimes just the TC is enough.. sometimes just the computer. .. Vista golden networking award.. did you turn it off and on again??

Time Capsule both: Time machine and file server

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