How can I add a Time Capsule 3TB to a network with an older Time Capsule 2TB?

Question

I have a 2010 Macbook Pro with 500 GB HD and a 2013 Macbook Pro with 1TB HD. I am using Mavericks and will migrate to OS X Yosemite when it becomes available. I tried backing both up with my older Time Capsule with 2 TB of space but it isn't enough. So, today I bought the new Time Capsule 3 TB to add on to my network. I want to use both TCs in order to have 5 TB for backup.
I have a Brother printer and my Comcast Cable Modem connected to the old Time Capsule. I also have an Apple TV with 1080p HD that uses the internet wirelessly through the old Time Capsule.
My first question is what should connect to what and in what order? Should the new TC connect directly to the old TC and if so, with what cable?
My 2nd question is: Can I move several 100 GB of old data that I rarely use onto the 3TB TC so that I could access the data from either computer whenever I need it, without having the data on either computer?
Thank you.

Answer 1

This is a pretty easy setup.
Basically just plug the new TC WAN port into the old TC LAN port.
Run the airport utility on the computer and it should recognise that the new TC is plugged into another one.. and setup bridge mode and create a wireless network.. if not you can jump in and edit it at the end of the setup.
You could also swap things around with the new TC as the main router.. and the old one as the secondary.. but people are experiencing some issues with WAN connection to some cable modems.. so you need to be prepared if you have issues to go back to the original setup.
You will use an ethernet patch cable to connect them. I recommend if you have them in the same area place them at least a couple of meters apart.. so buy a 2-3M patch cable at least.. (8-9ft). Even better would be to install the new TC closer to the clients that will use it.. to improve wireless in dark corners of your house.. but all that can come later.
My 2nd question is: Can I move several 100 GB of old data that I rarely use onto the 3TB TC so that I could access the data from either computer whenever I need it, without having the data on either computer?
This is a lot harder question.. not in how to do it.. it is simple.. copy and paste files onto the new TC.. that is not the issue..
The problem is backup of the files that no longer exist on the computers. Ironically the TC is problematic for one major reason.. it cannot back itself up.. nor can Time Machine (TM) backup network drives. Even though TM uses the TC to store the backup it cannot actually work to backup the TC. The problems are not insurmountable.. you can use a third party backup.. eg CCC but it will be extremely slow. A better strategy if one of your computers is a desktop is to install an external drive and share it to the network. The data rate will be hugely better.. and TM can backup as per normal.