Can I use the time capsule internal hard drive for file storage?

Can I configure the Time Capsule internal HD to function as a network file server as well as handling time machine backups?
Can the internal HD be partitioned?

This is asked several times a day.. obviously people are struggling with their latest SSD being too small.
The TC is not suitable for network file server.. but many people having no choice press it into service as such.
It cannot be partitioned. It was and is and ever shall be a backup device for Time Machine.
Major issues.
1. No backup.. no way Time Machine can backup a network drive. No place to backup to.. So all your files will be at risk. And you will need to buy a third party like CCC to do backup.
2. The TC cannot be partitioned and mixing TM backups and data is not great.
3. The drive is slow to spin up and quick to spin down.. there is no controls.
4. iPhoto in particular can easily corrupt its entire library with wireless networking causing a disconnection to one photo. Even if you do this;;; do not move your photo library... you have been warned!!
5. iTunes will constantly lose connection to the library. The disk is too slow to respond.. itunes on the computer will constantly spit out errors. Even in the midst of streaming the TC can spin down the disk due to caching. 
6. Do not use any live files on the TC no matter what else you do.. if you edit files in whatever program the file must be on the local hard disk.
7. The only suitable location for most libraries is a computer. You can plug in an external hard disk.
Read pondini for some work arounds.
Q3 here. http://pondini.org/TM/Time_Capsule.html

Similar Messages

  • I have a Time Capsule with 2tb of storage, and an I-Mac with 500Gb. (which is at capacity) Can I use the Time Capsule to store data in addition to backing up the hard drive?

    I have a Time Capsule with 2tb of storage, and an I-Mac with 500Gb. (which is at capacity) Can I use the Time Capsule to store data from my hard drive that I want to access later in addition to backing up the hard drive?

    Can I use the Time Capsule to store data from my hard drive that I want to access later in addition to backing up the hard drive?
    Yes, but if you move the "original" data on your iMac to the Time Capsule....then the "original" data is now on the Time Capsule disk. 
    When...not if...the Time Capsule disk has a problem, you have no backups for this data.
    Perhaps a much safer plan might be to add an external hard drive attached directly to your iMac. Then, move the data to that drive from the iMac.
    Now, Time Machine will back up both your iMac and the external hard drive so you have "originals" on one drive and backups on another. Would that plan work for you?

  • 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.
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    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.

  • Can i use the time capsule 2tb as a internet provider without having internet access?

    Can i use the time capsule 2tb as a internet provider without having internet access?

    Nope, the time capsule is a router, but it will still need access to the outside world (Internet) by way of a modem.

  • Can i format my time capsule's hard drive from fat32 to exFAT

    can i format my time capsule's hard drive from fat32 to exFAT. and why shd mac make a harddrive fat32 knowing final cut will not recorgnise it

    The internal hard drive in a Time Capsule is formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and can't be changed to another format without taking it out of the case.
    Unlike non-network drives, it'll appear to Windows as being FAT32 out of the box but isn't subject to the 4GB file size restriction.
    (68112)

  • Can I use the time capsule as backup and hard disk at the same time?

    Hi.
    I want to buy a time capsule.
    I wondered, if I can use the time capsule as backup (over time machine) and as a hard disk at the same time?
    If I buy the 2TB time capsule, I wanted to use 1TB for the backup and 1TB for hard disk.
    Is this possible?
    Best wishes
    Sophie

    It is not recommended.. the problem being anything stored on the TC only is not backed up and cannot be backed up by the TC itself or Time Machine. So what are you going to do about back.. the TC can and do die suddenly.. and the cost of recovery can be huge.
    See Q3 here for the semi-right way to do it if you must.
    http://pondini.org/TM/Time_Capsule.html
    You can plug a USB drive into the TC and use that for files.. but note, its speed is poor.. fine for wireless as wireless is even slower but you will really notice it if you expect the drive to be as fast as the internal.. it will be a fraction of the internal drive speed. 1/2 write and 1/3 read aprox.
    See http://www.anandtech.com/show/4577/airport-extreme-5th-gen-and-time-capsule-4th- gen-review-faster-wifi-/7

  • Can you use the Time Capsule as a wireless drive to share music on multiple computers

    Does anyone know whether you can use the time capsule almost as a nextwork drive of sorts (i.e. to share Music etc amongst a few computers)?

    The TC is a dumb hard drive inside an apple extreme router.. with a couple of knobs on.
    It has no media servers.. and very little flexibility.. indeed it serves files.. AFP or SMB.. and that my friend is that.
    So if you want a media server in the network..then a mini is a better proposition. At some point, with sales of ssd laptops soaring and space on these devices at a premium, Apple is long overdue on a revamp of the TC.. it is really either time to drop it or to create something a lot more powerful.. the mini might be a cheap computer but it is not really a file server.. having so little internal disk space and lacking external connectors unless you are rich enough to buy thunderbolt.

  • Can I use the Time Capsule strictly for system backup and continue to use my Airport Extreme for all my wireless needs

    I want to use the Apple Time Capsule as an external drive and continue to use my Airport Extreme for all my wireless needs. Can I do that? The reason I ask is that my Time Machine utility cannot find the TIme Capsule - it only shows me the Airport Extreme, even when I "Rescan". SO I am unable to use the Time Capsule.

    You will need to connect an Ethernet cable from one of the LAN <-> ports on the AirPort Extreme to the WAN "O" port on the Time Capsule.
    Perform a "hard reset" on the Time Capsule by holding in the reset button for 9-10 seconds, then give it another minute to restart to a slow, blinking amber light.
    Open AirPort Utility, select the Time Capsule, and click Manual Setup
    Click the Time Capsule tab located below the row of icons to assign a name to the Time Capsule, a device password, and adjust Time Zone settings.
    Next, click the Wireless tab located to the right of the Time Capsule tab
    Change the setting for Wireless Mode to Off
    Click the Internet icon, then click the Internet Connection tab
    Connect Using = Ethernet
    Connection Sharing = Off (Bridge Mode)
    Click Update at the lower right to save the settings and allow 30 seconds for the Time Capsule to restart to a green light.
    You are all set

  • Can I use the Time Capsule as a media server

    As many, I have hundreds of CDs.  I was hoping I could store all of my music on the time capsule as well as movies I have purchased and pictures, and use it as a media server.  I've heard yes and no in other forums.  Any ideas?

    The Time Capsule is a dumb hard drive with no brains. It is not a media server and will not ever be one.
    If you want to put your music and movies on the Time Capsule, you can do so, just like you could place them on any external hard drive.
    But, you will need to have a DLNA server running somewhere else on your network to be able to do anything with the data on the Time Capsule.
    Best to use the Time Capsule as it was designed and intended.....for backups....not any active or everyday files.
    Speaking of backups, if you place your music and movie files on the Time Capsule.....how will you then back up those files to another hard drive?

  • Can I use the Time Capsule as a storage device for my Ipad?

    I want to get an Ipad for my wife because all she does is surf the net, email, and photoshop pictures. Can I get an IPAD and a Time Capsule and use the Time Capsule as like a shared drive to push pictures from the Ipad to the Time Capsule?
    I do not want to store the pictures on the Ipad

    It is difficult unless you tell us what format the movies are in and what player you are using?
    iTunes library will not really work. The TC is not a Media Player or Media related in any way at all.
    But if you store movies in one of many different formats that are available and use a player on the ipad that can read and play those files, it can work.
    So we cannot help you without info.. what source are the movies from? What format are they in? What player are you using?
    How flexible are you?
    Can anyone recommend what I need
    In the apple world with itunes you need a computer (Mac or Windows) running iTunes with a disk available to it big enough to hold your library. And some sort of router to connect the ipad and the computer in the network.
    Apple intends you to use itunes in homeshare.
    iOS: Setting up Home Sharing on your iOS device - Apple Support

  • Can I use the time capsule connected to my linksys wireless hub

    I just bought the Time Capsule to use as storage and use my printer remotely. I already have at home a Linksys wireless hub, can I use both, the Time Capsule, and the Linksys ? With the Capsule connected to the Linksys.

    I just bought the Time Capsule to use as storage and use my printer remotely. I already have at home a Linksys wireless hub
    So, you want to use the Time Capsule only as a backup device and continue to use the Linksys router for your wireless network, is that correct?
    If yes, are you able to connect the Time Capsule to the Linksys router using an Ethernet cable?

  • How can I use the Time Capsule in only 802.11b/g?

    I think I am getting interferences on my 5GHz phone from the time capsule, which I have running in 802.11n mode with b/g compatitibility. I assume if the Time Capsule was running in 802.11b/g mode I would not get the intereferences?
    The Airport utility does not seem to have a setting to use the Time Capsule in 802.11b/g only. Is there a way to accomplish this?
    Message was edited by: Karl R.

    Duane wrote:
    Then the Time Capsule's 5 GHz network should not interfere with the phone since it operates a long way from the phone's frequency.
    Not necessarily. In the US 802.11n channels appear to go up to at least 5.805 GHz, if I interpret this chart
    http://www.networkdictionary.com/Wireless/Wi-Fi-Wireless-LAN-Frequency.php
    correctly.
    It would seem that the best way to avoid interference with 5.8 GHz cordless phones is to avoid channels above 153.

  • Can i use the time capsule also as shared harddrive?

    I want to use the time capsule for both backup and shared harddrive is this possible? I do want to store music and films

    Using the TC for both will also cause conficts.  See #Q3 in Using Time Machine with a Time Capsule for an explanation and some possible workarounds.

  • Can I use my Time Capsule as a backup disk and storage?

    Can I use my Time Capsule as a backup disk and put files from my other USB external hard drive on it, using the TC as an external as well?

    Actually, there is a way to limit the amount of space Time Machine uses for backup so that it won't eat up all your disk space...for example, I have mine set to only use 65GB, and then it starts to overwrite older backups...Google it for more info. To begin with, I deleted my Sparse Disk Image Bundle from Time Capsule, and used Disk Utility to create a Sparse Disk Image Bundle (turn off backups first!!!) with a capacity of 65GB in HFS Journaled, Case Sensitive...The Image must be named as follows "Full Computer Name_Ethernet MAC Address" (The ethernet MAC address is used even if you plan to solely use wifi for backups). for example, my Sparse Disk Image Bundle name is "Ahmad Atiya's MacBook Pro_00254b9d8f72.sparsebundle" Move this image to your time capsule's main directory (if you didn't create it there to begin with). Go to your Time Machine preferences, turn it on, and set it to use your Time Capsule. It should start using the image you created. If you click "get info" on the disk image, it'll show a capacity of whatever you created.

  • Can I use the Time Capsule as an storage drive? Can I create folders and save files on it as with a external hard drive?

    I want to know if I can use my Time Capsule as a storage hard drive instead of only use it to back up my Mac

    Bravenewcharles wrote:
    Ok, so while I edit my files in my Mac that will occupy some space on its hard drive that will be backed up in the TC. Does that mean that I will occupy two hard drives on the same stuff?
    Exactly.  That's kinda the definition of a backup.  When (not if) something awful happens, like your Mac being lost or stolen, or the HD failing or getting corrupted, or you accidentally change or delete some stuff, you have a backup you can recover.
    What will happen when my Mac's hard drive is completely full?
    Don't let it.  Delete things you don't need.  If you can't delete enough, as Neil says, get an external HD for the "overflow" that won't fit, then let Time Machine back up both your Mac and the external.  See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #32 for more info.
    Message was edited by: Pondini

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