External drive and time capsule?

With 2TB of space, can I use this time capsule as a time machine and also make folders of photos, music, etc.? I don't have a 2TB drive on my iMac so looking to maximize my storage.
Thanks!

lynnfromaustin wrote:
Just partitioned it into 2 1TB drives.
How'd you do that? The internal drive of a Time Capsule is supposed to be difficult to partition unless you remove it and put it in an enclosure.

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External drive and time capsule/time machine

Just purchased external hard drive and moved iPhoto library and iMovie clips to external hard drive. Have been using time capsule/time machine to back up computer. Added new external hard drive to time machine backup, but backups seem to hang up when preparing files for external drive. What is going on? Still running Snow Leopard, on iMac.

Hello, vascocaco.
If I understand correctly, you're wondering if you can use your Time Capsule's internal hard disk both for Time Machine backups and as an ordinary drive. Is this your question?
You can, but Time Machine backups may take longer.
To do it, you should partition your Time Capsule's hard disk to create one volume for the backups and one for other files.

Here's a very basic question about 2 TB external drives and Time Machine.

Here's a very basic question about 2 TB external drives and Time Machine.
Ihave a Mac Pro with a .75 TB and 1 TB drive. It also has a 1 TB 2ndinternal drive. My current external drive is too small so I'll begetting a 1.5 TB or 2 TB drive.
Obviouslythe new larger 2 TB drive will backup everything on the Mac Prointernal drive with Time Machine. But there will be 1 TB of space leftover going to waste.
ShouldI partition the external drive so that the TM portion will be 1 TB andthe use the remaining extra partition for additional file backups withCarbon Copy?
Thanks for any insights.
I tried searching around on the new Apple discussion forum, but I find it much harder to use than the old forum I used to use.

The problem with terabyte drives is that that a 3 TB is about as big as you can get without going into RAID territory. Ideally, a Time Machine drive should be 3 times as large as all the drives you are backing up. So, if you have 2.75 TB of internal storage, you should have 8 TB of Time Machine space.
Of course, that is "should". If your TB drives are mostly empty, then you can get away with something 3 times the size of your used disk space. Just remember that you are pushing it. Linc is right about Time Machine needing space to work.
It is unlikely that you have regular churn on 2.75 TB of disk. I suggest identifying which drives and folders have the most activity and excluding those drives and directories that don't change much. It would be better to archive the data that doesn't change often and keep it out of Time Machine. Then you may be able to get away with a 2 TB Time Machine drive.

Question about 2 TB external drives and Time Machine.

Here's a very basic question about 2 TB external drives and Time Machine.
I have a Mac Pro with a .75 TB and 1 TB drive. It also has a 1 TB 2nd internal drive. My current external drive is too small so I'll be getting a 1.5 TB or 2 TB drive.
Obviously the new larger 2 TB drive will backup everything on the Mac Pro internal drive with Time Machine. But there will be 1 TB of space left over going to waste.
Should I partition the external drive so that the TM portion will be 1 TB and the use the remaining extra partition for additional file backups with Carbon Copy?
Thanks for any insights.
I tried searching around on the new Apple discussion forum, but I find it much harder to use than the old forum I used to use.

John,
I'm not sure why you posted in the iMac forum so I'm going to attempt to get you to the correct spot. I would recommend reposting in the Time Machine Forum, this is part of the OS X forums (Leopard or Snow Leopard) because you are using Snow Leopard (your profile indicates you are) please click Apple Support Communities and type Snow Leopard. Then you can narrow the search down by clicking Refine this List.
Roger

Use external drive for Time Capsule backups AND file storage?

I have an external drive formatted by my MBP. I'm using it to store my iTunes music library and iPhoto pics. Can I use the drive for Time Capsule backups as well?

Yes, but that is not recommended. Storage and backup should be kept separate to reduce the chances of a disk failure. This is especially important because you cannot even partition a Time Capsule drive. Go get a separate drive for your storage needs. Get another drive for a second backup and use a different method of backup than Time Machine

External Hard Drives and Time Capsule Backup Setup Opinions

Bottom line up front:
If you had two 1.5 Terrabyte Western Digital MyBook drives and an AirPort 1.5 TB Time Capsule, and you wanted duplicate backups of time machine (automated) as well as additional storage space for Movies and Photo's...
How would you use these three devices to accomplish this?
Also, these two drives are eSata, FireWire (400?) and USB 2.0 cabable.
Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks in advance for your replies!
Commentary below:
After having lost 14,000 pictures from a Terrabyte drive from iOmega crashing, it's time to get serious about my data backup.
I currently have the 1.5 TerraByte Time Capsule on my network humming along nicely. (or so it appears)
I'm nearing the usable space of my iMac's hard drive.
Also, I'd like to have an 'additional' backup of my Time Machine. Is this possible? i.e. two backups at two different times on two different disks?
What would this group recommend as a way to set them up?
i.e. formating? Journaling? No Journaling? Partitions for the iMovie and iPhoto libraries?

hwilke01 wrote:
Hi there- thanks for taking the time to read an respond. I have 320 Gigs of data on my iMac hard drive that I want to backup.
then you have plenty of space to do backups and then some. back up via TM to the Time capsule. make a separate clone backup to one of the externals. you can partition it if you like. don't back up just imovie and iphoto to that drive. back up everything. this way you'll have double backups of everything. i suggest you use superduper or CCCloner for the secondary backups. that will give you a bootable clone as your second backup. make sure that the external drive is formatted properly. the partition scheme should be GUID and the format mac os extended journaled. to format a drive you open disk utility. select the whole external drive (model, not name) and click on the partition tab. set the number of partitions to 1 (or whatever), click on options and set the partition scheme to GUID. set the format to mac os extended journaled (that's the default) and click "apply".
I'd also like to have a separate partioned backup of my iPhoto and iMovie databases. Is there a preferred way of doing this?
Thanks again

Using Apple TV with external hard-drive and Time Capsule

I am trying to figure out the best way to stream movies stored on an external hard-drive.
At the moment, I have my hard-drive connected to my time capsule via USB, and am streaming them through iTunes and Apple TV. However, for this to work, I have to have my laptop on.
Is there a way to have the movies stored on my local network, or on my time capsule, so that I can just watch them without my MacBook having to be on?
I've spent a bit of time researching this on Google, but haven't been able to come up with a good solution, so I'd be grateful if anyone has any cool suggestions.
Thank you.

There isn't a solution, the Apple TV will only read your iTunes library if iTunes is running and will only play content through iTunes.

Can two Macbook Pro's share the same Itunes folder(all media in Ituens) on an external drive (like Time Capsule)? How and what issues may arise?

Hey, I have two macbook pros (250 gb). They are both running out of space. My first thought was to share an iphoto library off of Dropbox or our Time Capsule. But, I heard that if one file gets corrupted (interenet cuts out, for example) then the whole library gets corrupted. Well, we're full again and now I am wondering if I could move our Itunes folders to our Time Capsule, sync/sort them both so there won't be any duplicates and then use this as a shared itunes library. So first, is this possible? Both computers share the same itunes account.
Second, if I do, and I purchase a song, show, whatever, does it automatically be added to the itunes library on our Time Capsule and then it is available for both computers to access? Or do I need to "import" it on both?
Third, does the "file corruption" issue listed above pertain to itunes?
I saw a discussion about this but it was form 2008. I am sure things have changed a bit since then.
Thanks for the help!
jbh

No.

External hard drive and time capsule

hi all - I have my new TC set up and my external HDD connected to it. The TC is working for backups and wireless. However, the external HDD is not showing up in the finder window. Any ideas on how I can get access to it?

I am going nuts trying to get this to work.
I have a MyBook 1TB Home Edition.
I have tried the following:
1. Formatted it as suggested and every other way available in DiskUtility. I even tried the different partition settings.
2. Updated the firmware on both the MyBook and TC.
3. Booting the TC with the drive attached and without it attached.
4. Setup AirPort Utility to have TC share drives.
5. Reset all setting on the TC.
My MacBook reads the external hard drive and TC just fine.
My AppleTV reads the MyBook just fine.
I can not figure out why my TC will not read my hard drive.
Can anybody help? Do I have a bad TC? Everything else on it works great.

Time Machine won't back up external drive to Time Capsule

I recently got a Time Capsule, and successfully set it up to back up my iMac's primary drive, but for some reason Time Machine won't back up my external drive to the Time Capsule.
I removed the external drive from the exclusion list in System Preferences > Time Machine > Options, and from what I've read this should be sufficient to make Time Machine back up the drive.
The external drive is connected to my iMac via Thunderbolt > Thunderbolt-to-Firewire adaptor > Firewire 800 input, and the Time Capsule is connected via Ethernet to my LAN.
Since I'm using Ethernet, I've disabled Wi-Fi on the Time Capusule by going to AirPort Utility > My Time Capsule > Edit > Wireless > Network Mode > Off.
The reason I believe the external drive is not being backed up is because when I click the Time Machine icon in the upper-right status bar and choose "Enter Time Machine", none of the folders on external drive show any older versions.
Furthermore, when I click Finder > Time Machine Backups > Backups.backupdb, I can see only one sub-folder which has the name of my iMac's primary drive. I can't see any equivalent folder for my external drive.
Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

I don't see anything you have done wrong.. perhaps it does backup in a different way.
Load the widget.. A1 here... http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
That will allow you to track the log of TM to see what it is doing.
I would also try rebooting the computer.. exclude the drive again.. reboot.. and remove the exclusion.
You should be able to check the actual settings of TM in plist file.
And you can do a full reset of TM as well.. See A4. Check what is in the file. Pondini lists the location for you.
Nothing surprises me with Mountain Lion ...!!

Backing up an external drive to Time Capsule

I have an external 1 TB Toshiba drive filled with my iTunes library. I'd like to have it back up to my Time Capsule like my previous, smaller external drive. Every time I go to Time Machine Preferences and remove it from the "Exclude these items from backups" list it seems like it will back up like I want it to. Then, when the backup gets going, I notice it isn't being included. When I go back to the "Exclude these items from backups" list again the external drive has reappeared like I never removed it. The drive didn't come formatted for Mac. Would that have something to do with it? It works fine with the iTunes library. Thank you.

The drive didn't come formatted for Mac. Would that have something to do with it? It works fine with the iTunes library.
That likely has everything to do with it. Time Machine insists on a drive that is formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Your Mac will work with other drive formats. Time Machine will not.
Temporarily, connect the drive directly to the USB port on your Mac.
Open Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility
Click on the drive in the left panel to highlight it
Look at the information in the bottom of the window to see the drive format
What is it?

Recognizing Time machine files after moving external drive to time capsule

I have a LaCie external hard drive that contains my time machine backups, and would like to attach it to my time capsule (in the basement) to free up desk and usb space. When I attach it to the capsule the drive is recognized, but it does not recognize the backup files. As it stands if I select the drive from time machine it will start to back up all over again using only the remaining space on the drive.
My options are to reformat the drive and start over, losing my previous backups, or I can find a way for time machine to recognize the existing files on that drive. Does anybody know a way to do this?
Any advice would be appreciated:)

Network backups are in a different format than local backups. The network backups are contained in a disk image. Although it's theoretically possible to copy the existing backup folder to that image, I wouldn't give much for your chances of success.
A much better plan would be to keep the drive as it is, continuing to use it for local backups at least intermittently, and start a new backup on another drive. You need more than one backup to be safe anyway.

So you CAN or CANNOT use external drive with Time Capsule...

I was posting earlier and was told you CAN'T plug an external HDD into a Time Capsule and have it be recognized (some said you had to plug it into a USB hug first.)
Then I find this - http://www.brighthub.com/computing/mac-platform/articles/48709.aspx
Then before posting this I find others that say you CAN. So what's the deal? Can I or can I not plug in a USB external HDD and have access to it?

The link that you posted is a bit out of date, but the information in the article is correct.
You can connect an external USB drive to a Time Capsule (or AirPort Extreme) if the following conditions are met:
The drive is formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Most store bought drives are pre-formatted for Windows in a format called NTFS which will not work the Time Capsule. You have to use Disk Utility on your Mac to re-format the drive to work correctly with the Time Capsule.
Use a powered USB hub as the USB port on the Time Capsule is a bit under powered and it will not supply enough current for some drives. As a general rule....use a powered USB hub....even if the hard drive has its own power supply.
At times, I have had 3 drives from differerent manufactures all hooked up simultaneously into a powered USB hub which in turns connects to the USB port on the Time Capsule. No problems at all.
There are never any guarantees, but if you follow the guidelines, chances are good that your drive will work just fine.

Restore External Drive From Time Capsule

For reasons that I won't bore you with, I needed to perform a complete restore of of my MacBook Pro. My Time Capsule has been backing up the 'Pro's HD and a single external HD. Folowwing the instructions (boot from Snow Leopard install disk, run updates and select migrate from Time Machine, everything worked out perfectly, plus I have a clean system. However, the external drive was not restored. It's where my music and photos are stored (although I do have off DVD back-ups as a fall back plan). I cannot enter Time Machine. I get the message that "Your Time Machine backup disk can't be found. I can see it in the finder sidebar Shared>"name" Time Machine>Frank MacBook Pro 00264....sparsebundle.
Is there a method to get my Time Machine Back ups back. I'm guessing the problem is related to the newly installed OS. Thanks in advance for any help.

Start with a "full reset" of Time Machine, per #A4 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
If that doesn't work, try the +*Browse ...+* option, per #E2 there.
The full system restore, starting with your Install disc, only restores volumes with OSX mounted.
To restore a data-only volume, use the normal "Star Wars" display. See #15 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions, especially the notes below the second screen sample.
If the original drive is no longer connected, you'll need the procedure in #E3 of Troubleshooting to locate the backups, and restore to an alternate location (the replacement drive -- even if it has the same name as the original, OSX knows it's a different one).

External Harddrive and Time Capsule

Hi All,
I am getting a G-Drive Mini from G-Technology for my MacBook Pro. My questions are:
1) Can I use an external drive for a Time Machine Backup along with using it for downloading torrent material. (When I first plug in the drive, the Mac will prompt me to use it for a Time Machine Backup I believe);
2) If I decide to use it for Time Machine Backup will I have problems with other formats that I would like to use it with. Really to use this expensive type of drive just for Time Machine is not maximizing the usage though. (Would buy a Time Capsule if I had too for backup material).
Hope this makes sense for answering. Tks in advance for any help in this matter.

1) Why would I need a boot drive if I have a copy of the OS system I have purchased or have the computer backed up on a drive already?
I really only used the example of having another OS installed on the TM drive to illustrate that you can really do whatever you want with the drive, in addition to it being a TM backup drive. You don't need to have any OS installed on the TM drive, but you can if you want/need to for some reason. Most people wouldn't; it was just an example.
2) What do you suggest is a good size drive for TM backups?
Well, at least the size of the drive in your MBP, plus whatever files you may want to store on it, plus about 50% for extra space. So, if (like me) you have a 250GB drive in your MBP, and want to store 100GB of additional files, then you should probably get a 500GB external drive. But, drives are cheap nowadays, and space tends to get cheaper the more you buy. You can get a 1.5TB to 2.0TB (1500GB or 2000GB) drive for probably less than $200 USD. That would provide you more than enough space to expand into in the future, I would think. That said, just get what you need plus a little extra.
Down the road I will definitely be purchasing a Time Capsule device (What do you suggest is a good producer and size to get?)
Time Capsule is a product that only Apple makes. It combines an external drive with a wireless router. That allows you to backup your Mac wirelessly. It also has a USB port for attaching a printer or additional storage to the network. There are currently 1TB and 2TB models. Time Capsule is a great option, because as long as you are logged onto your home wireless network, you're backed up, wirelessly! It doesn't get much easier or automatic than that.
--Travis

External drive and time capsule?

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