Time Capsule estimated size accuracy

Hello,
I recently ran out of space on my MBP and needed to quickly offload a 25 GB folder onto something else so I could continue using my Mac. The only thing I had available was my Time Capsule at the time, and I copied everything to the "Time Machine Backups" drive (at the root-most level, same with backups.backupb) which is the drive that mounts when you double click the spare bundle. My 1TB Time Capsule showed a decrease in available capacity of 25GB, from 850GB to 825GB.
I then had second thoughts and considered this may not be the best place to put the folder, and instead dragged it inside the "Data" folder, the same level as where the sparsebundle is. Since when dragging items Finder copies them, I wasn't surprised to see the available capacity again reduced by 25GB (now 800GB) as I essentially have a double of the 25GB folder. I then deleted the original folder that I made but the available capacity never returned to the expected 825GB.
1) Why is this, and how do I regain the mystery 25GB?
2) Is there a better method to using my Time Capsule as a file server? Should I be putting files in a specific spot, or not in a specific spot (ie in a sparsebundle)?
Thanks!
SM

Sam M. wrote:
I copied everything to the "Time Machine Backups" drive (at the root-most level, same with backups.backupb)
Did you put it inside the sparse bundle? If so, you've run across one of the oddities of sparse bundles -- they grow as you add things to them, but don't shrink automatically when you delete things.
But you can "compact" it manually. See the pink box in #12 of the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum.
2) Is there a better method to using my Time Capsule as a file server? Should I be putting files in a specific spot, or not in a specific spot (ie in a sparsebundle)?
As William says, your best bet is to connect a USB drive to avoid conflicts with Time Machine.
There is a fairly cumbersome workaround to "reserve" space on the internal HD. See #Q3 in the Using TIME MACHINE with a TIME CAPSULE *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.

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