Airport...just an External HD?

Hi
I was thinking of getting an external HD to ack up my Mac.
Is the Airport an external HD or is it more?
I'm confused as to who it all fits together...would I need to get rid of my hub and use the Airport etc?

The AirPort is a router, and you can find three: the AirPort Express, the AirPort Extreme and the AirPort Time Capsule.
The AirPort Time Capsule has got a hard drive that can be used to store files or to make backups of your files with Time Machine. However, if you only want to store files or make backups on an external drive and you do not need a router, just look for any external drive. Thunderbolt or FireWire drives are faster than USB drives

Similar Messages

  • Can i use the time capsule as just an external hard drive for music or does it have to be used soley as a backe up?? im thinking for music and photos

    Can I use the time capsule as just an external hard drive for music or does it have to be used soley as a back up?  I'm thinking for music and photos

    Nickles96 wrote:
    Hello friends.. I have a similar question, in that I would like to purchase the 2TB TC for use as a NAS device, in addition to taking advantage of the Air Port extreme.. Then I could dump my Linksys router.
    I was originally looking at a Synology NAS solution, but the TC seems like it can meet my needs.
    I have a Synology NAS as well as the Time Capsule.  If you look at the 3.2 beta program, the Synology actually attempts to replicate TC functionality in that you can use it with Time Machine on your Mac.
    I must say, Airport on the TC is definitely a nice feature!
    Nickles96 wrote:
    In addition to the obvious feature of the backup, can I indeed also use the TC as a NAS drive to access from remote locations (example from the office)?
    I'm surprised more people aren't using the TC as a dedicated NAS deviced.. I've searched high and low on forums around the web, and don't seem to see many people trying to use it as I've outlined.
    I can't see why this wouldn't fufill my needs, and take the place of a separate NAS solution (like the Synology, or iOmega, Seagate, etc....)
    Has anyone used this TC as such?
    Yes, you can do this and it's something I've been trying to do, but I'm currently having issues.  I have another thread stating I consistently get "connection failed" messages.  I'm basically storing my music/photo/video files on the TC and keeping my Mac hard drive fairly lean.  In terms of NAS functionality, the TC is very basic.  Synology/QNAP and others have a lot more features so don't rule them out.

  • Airport disconnects when external firewire drive is connected.

    Hi,
    This is a weird one. I bought an external firewire/USB2 enclosure a few days ago which I paired up with Western Digital 320GB drive. I haven't used it a lot as it's only for backups.
    Today I was having trouble connecting to my Airport Express network in Windows XP (Bootcamp). Well it was Windows so I just thought it was being flaky. Then when I rebooted into OS X I had the same problem. I thought long and hard trying to work out what was different and pretty soon realised it was the drive. I had it connected to back up the Windows partition. It seems that airport just dies the minute the drive is connected via Firewire (but not USB2).
    It's an el cheapo from ST Labs, called the S-111
    System profiler lists the following:
    Manufacturer: Prolific PL3507 Combo Device
    Model: 0x1
    GUID: 0x50770E00071002
    Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
    Connection Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
    Sub-units:
    (1394-ATAPI rev1.10) Unit:
    Unit Software Version: 0x10483
    Unit Spec ID: 0x609E
    Firmware Revision: 0x12804
    The system.log says the following:
    Sep 16 19:29:02 josh diskarbitrationd[67]: disk1s2 hfs 3D4319C6-A855-366D-AC5D-3856B6826C3E Backup /Volumes/Backup
    Sep 16 19:29:03 josh diskarbitrationd[67]: disk1s3 msdos 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 UNTITLED /Volumes/UNTITLED
    Sep 16 19:29:22 josh kernel[0]: vmnet: bridge-en1: interface en is going DOWN
    Anyone have any ideas?
    Josh

    OK. I know no one answered this one but I'm going to update this just in case anyone has a similar problem.
    Seems I jumped the gun (a little).
    I hadn't tried both firewire 400 ports on the external drive. I tried the other and the problem disappeared.
    So the lesson I've (re)learned is that you should try every possible port/cable configuration possible before seeking help.
    Josh

  • Using Airport Express for External speakers and Apple TV.  When I'm on MAC computer adn using internet sound from Internet does not go through external speakers.  Instead it comes out of Mac computer speaker.  Why?

    Using Airport Express for External speakers and Apple TV.  When I'm on MAC computer adn using internet sound from Internet does not go through external speakers.  Instead it comes out of Mac computer speaker.  Why?

    As far as I know, the Airport Express only transmits sounds via Itunes. So every other sound (internet, but also incoming mail) will be coming out of your mac instead of your external speakers.

  • Can you use TC as just an external hard drive

    Can a TC be set up as just an external hard drive?

    Yes, as long as you use ethernet or wireless.. not USB.
    Then you do have some setup issues. Because for instance if you use ethernet for network, it is much better to put the TC onto the network.. just use bridge modem.. or you can use wireless.. but it is hard to use the same service for both internet and the TC connection if they are separate.
    Beaten by Bob.. BBB.. second time this week.. (in Maxwell Smart voice).
    Good point he makes.. you can use a straight external disk at half the price. USB direct to the computer is much faster than wireless and not that much slower than ethernet. Maybe even same.

  • Airport Extreme and External Hard Drive. Backup over WAN?

    Hi
    I'm new to Mac's and just got a macbook air and a airport extreme.  I connected my external hard (toshiba) drive to the AE and my computer will recognize it, but when I try to connect to it using Time Machine my external hard drive is not recognized as a device that I can backup to over my WAN.  I'm not sure if this is possible, but I would like to be able to backup over the WAN if it is possible.  Is it possible to backup using time machine over WAN using an AE and a non apple external hard drive?

    Time Machine cannot backup to a hard drive unless it is formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled), also known as HFS+.
    You have me scratching my head about backing up through the WAN port. Normally, the WAN port would be used for a connection from a modem.....or another router.
    However, if you have the AirPort Extreme configured to connect to another router via Ethernet, and the AirPort Extreme is set to operate in Bridge Mode, then you don't have a WAN port, they are all LAN ports, so it would not matter which of the ports that you used.

  • Help With Airport Extreme and External Hard Drive

    I just purchased the Airport Extreme and I couldn't have been happier. I have attached my western digital external hard drive, but I have run into a slight problem/dilemma which I'm hoping someone who is apple savvy can help me out.
    I live in a house with a couple of other guys and so I put all of my movies and media onto the hard drive so we can stream it throughout the house, but how do I make sure that someone won't accidently delete the files (The copies on the hard drive are the only ones I have)? I have tried to right click "get info" and change the sharing & permissions properties on the folders that I don't want deleted, but it doesn't save the changes or even allow me to select another option other than Read & Write. I formated the hard drive with the disk utility before I connected it to the AirPort so I know that it has nothing to do with the format of the drive. I also tried to create different user accounts for each roomate so that they could view the files (Read Only) but I get an error message explaining that if I continue, the contents of the hard drive will not be accessible. I'm sure its something simple but I'm obviously missing it.
    Thanks!

    Airport Utility under Disks/File Sharing has guest access rights.

  • TC or Airport Extreme with External

    I am looking at buying a TC or Airport Extreme. I have an external HD that I plan connecting to whichever I get. Does anyone have an opinion either way which is better or more stable? Thanks

    +Are there any constraints in the orientation of TC that the AirPort Extreme does not have?+
    No, not really as long as you give either device plenty of airspace as they both tend to run warm to very warm. I thought mounting the AirPort Extreme might improve the signal strength a bit, but it made no measurable difference for me.
    +Is the TC significantly heavier?+
    The Extreme is under 2 pounds, the TC comes in a bit over 3 pounds.
    +Is mounting on a pegboard bad for the HD?+
    I think you may be asking if you can mount it vertically. That's not a problem and the Apple store even sells wall mounts for either device.
    +Yikes. I got bad info. I read the "unsupported" constraint was dropped a couple versions ago. I thought all the comments on this were referring to the older versions of AirPort Extreme.+
    Here's the Apple document. Nothing changed with Snow Leopard and I saw a specific Snow Leopard document about this...just can't find it at the moment. I'm sure other forum regulars will confirm as well if they see this post.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2038
    +Is there a list of file servers that Time Machine is compatible with?+
    Sorry, I don't have first hand knowledge on that and my policy is to only offer advice on things that I've done myself. That question might be worth a separate post since few people will see this question buried where it is.
    Message was edited by: Bob Timmons

  • Airport Extreme with External HD with iMovie Events. Can't see them!

    Here I go again. I just bought an Airport Extreme. I moved my External HD with iMovie Events from my MBP via FW to my Airport Extreme. I can see the partitions in Finder and the Events folder but when I open iMovie, I can't see my events in the library. Since I didn't change the names of the partitions I was hoping for seamless access. That is not the case. I can see the Disks but they have YELLOW exclamation marks on them. They don't seem to be valid. What gives. Looks like I have some more work to do.
    Any ideas. Thought this would be easier.
    --Mickey

    Although this Apple KnowledgeBase article refers to "iMovie '08", I think you'll find that it applies equally to moving the storage of movie material in iMovie '09, too..
    Here it is: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1026
    ..Also see Shane Robinson's reply in this thread:
    http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1916977&tstart=0

  • Possible to backup contents of 3TB Airport Extreme to external HD?

    I have the new 3TB Airport extreme.  Being a paranoidsort I'm not happy with having just one backup (from computers to APE), so I want a backup of my backups (from APE to an external attached by USB).
    Is there any way to make the APE backup its contents directly to a USB attached external drive?

    Is there any way to make the APE backup its contents directly to a USB attached external drive?
    Open the airport utility and check if there is an archive function on the disk page.. if archive is there .. it is for the TC.. then you can plug the USB disk into a hub with the main drive and it will backup .. but I kind of doubt it.
    You can copy from the disk to a disk hanging off a computer.. this is faster than any other method. But still will not be fast.
    But this is fundamentally the wrong way to do things.
    If the backup of the computer is corrupt .. then the backup of the backup is also corrupt.
    It is better to do a disk image with the USB drive plugged directly into whichever computer you want to backup.. disk images can be done via disk utility or another backup software like superduper or CCC. Then you are far more likely to have a solution if something breaks.
    Check Q33, 34 and particularly Q27.. here. http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html

  • AirPort extreme breaking external USB drives?

    I have a Maxtor 250GB external drive that I've had for a few years. Since I purchased the AirPort Extreme router, I've had it set up as a network drive. Although, it never worked through the AirPort Disk Utility - I have to connect to it using the 'Connect to Server' option in a Finder window.
    We just bought a 750GB MyBook Pro. I partitioned it (HFS+ and FAT32) and everything was lovely. Connected it to the router and everything seemed okay. Unplugged it from the router to use it over Firewire to do some major downloads and the disks no longer mount. I can see the disks in Disk Utility and they are available through AirPort, but not when plugged in directly via USB or Firewire. On a hunch, I tried the same with my older hard drive. It no longer works when directly connected either. So, I reformmated the new drive and started over. Again, it worked fine directly connected to either of my Macs, but once I connected it to the router, it won't connect directly again.
    It appears that the router is somehow corrupting my drives??? Any thoughts? Suggestions? I can't imagine what I could possibly be doing that is causing this.
    Thanks,
    Manda

    We just bought a 750GB MyBook Pro.
    For what it's worth, I bought one of those and had to send it back. It kept dismounting itself and giving error messages. The company just wanted to send me another one. Apple kindly obliged by replacing it with a different drive, and I haven't had any problems.

  • Airport Extreme and external HDD time capsule issues

    I'm going to try to provide as much information for you so that you can recommend a fix to the problem.
    1. I've just become an Apple owner and also purchased Airport Extreme (AE) a Belkin USB (4 port) hub and a Seagate GoFLex, 1.8T external HDD.
    2. My system:
    Model Name: MacBook Pro
    Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,2
    Processor Name: Intel Core i7
    Processor Speed: 2.2 GHz
    Number of Processors: 1
    Total Number of Cores: 4
    L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
    L3 Cache: 6 MB
    Memory: 4 GB
    Boot ROM Version: MBP81.0047.B04
    SMC Version (system): 1.69f1
    Serial Number (system): XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    Hardware UUID: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    Sudden Motion Sensor:
    State: Enabled
    3. Attached to the HUB is HP 6280 printer and the Seagate 1.8T GoFlex external HDD.
    4. I did configure the AE and my internet connect is working spot on.
    5. The AE recognizes the HP6280 printer and it works fine.
    Here's where the problem starts:
    When I open Time Machine to configure Time Capsule I cannot get the AE to add thGoFlex external HDD drive to the WiFi.
    Do I have reset the AE to default setting and start all over? Is there another way to add the GoFlex to the AE so it recognizes it; then, I can run the set up program for the time machine and have wireless capability.

    New2Guitar wrote:
    When I open Time Machine to configure Time Capsule I cannot get the AE to add thGoFlex external HDD drive to the WiFi.
    I hate to have to tell you this, but backing-up with Time Machine software via an Airport Extreme is "iffy" and +*not supported by Apple.+* See [Using Time Machine with an Airport Extreme Air Disk|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Airport.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
    By the way, a +Time Capsule+ is a wireless router, similar to an Airport Extreme, but a bit larger and with a hard drive built-in, and Time Machine backups to it are supported. In fact, that's the main thing the Time Capsule was designed for. See: http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC344LL/A/Time-Capsule-2TB?fnode=MTY1NDA0Mg&mc o=MTMzNzU2MjI

  • Airport Extreme and External USB Hard Drive

    I've got an Airport Extreme (not the dual band model) running 7.4.2 and Airport Utility running 5.4.2. Trying to use it with an external hard drive I just bought. Formatted the HD for MAC and have made several backups with the HD connected directly to the Macbook (running 10.6.2). Airport Utility will not recognize the HD under "Disk" tab. Sharing is set on, and when I plug in a regular old flash drive it works perfectly. Just wont pull up the External Hard Drive.

    I've hit almost the same problem. Upgraded the external USB drive to a new 2TB model: it works perfectly with the computer, but the Airport Extreme flashes its orange warning light and reports a 'problem with the external hard drive', recommends attaching it to the computer for repair. Drive checks out fine again when it's connected to the computer. Does the Airport Extreme support 2TB? Would it work if I partitioned the drive?

  • How to look at movies with IPAD3 using Airport express and external disk drive (USB connexion to Airport Express)

    I would like to stotre several movies on an external disk drive connected to Airport express through USB port. With my IPAD, I am able to use the WiFi network (generated by Airport) buy I don't see the disk.... how to make it happen ? Thanks. JP A

    Shoudl I use ICloud instead or another way ?
    I have not tried iCloud for this...and understand that it is mainly for your backups. These link might help:
    http://www.apple.com/icloud/get-started/
    http://www.apple.com/icloud/setup/
    Or, you could post in the iPad support area since that is really what your question is about.

  • Airport Extreme and External USB HDD

    I've seen quite a few posts on the topic but no real fixes. I have a 21.5" iMac utilizing an dual-band Airport Extreme Base Statation for networking. I also have a 1TB Toshiba USB external hard drive. Formatted for Mac OS journaled. I plug the drive into the iMac and, after displaying "this drive is not recognized by the Mac" message, it mounts and recognizes the drive and allows me to perform a time machine backup. After awhile the drive disappears and will not show up again until it is power cycled. Annoying enough...but it gets worse.
    I tried to plug the hard drive into the AEBS to allow it to be used by others in the household...it shows up in the Airport Utility, I can name it, it shows up in Finder, but when I actually try to use it....nothing. Nothing will transfer to it.
    HELP! Anyone have any ideas on this. It's been maddeningly frustrating and I actually put the problem aside for the last six months becasue I couldn't get it to work reliabily. But, I paid money for the HD and I'd like to use it for something.

    Welcome to the discussions!
    I've seen quite a few posts on the topic but no real fixes.
    Unfortunately, there really are no fixes. The answer for your issue is that Apple has not ever supported Time Machine backups to a drive at the USB port of the AirPort Extreme. You might want to refer to the Apple support documents below concerning this.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2038
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/15139.html
    If you want to use Time Machine for backups, you'll need to connect the drive directly to your computer.

Maybe you are looking for