Time Capsule as external HDD and backup drive

I'm looking to buy a Time Capsule; can I use it as an external hard drive for my movies, and as a backup drive to work with Time Machine? I want to have my whole iTunes library on the Time Capsule so I can store everthing there to free up space for my Mac, and still be able to use Apple TV with those movies. In addition I want to use the rest of the space to back up the rest of my Macs files with Time Machine. Is that possible?

@Joop
TC can handle TM and other backups at the same time.
The TC is much slower (and more expensive) than a "normal" external drive, because everything has to go via WiFi. Especially when you are going to place Libraries on it.
So I suggest that you acquire an exeternal backup disk.
Second:
if you want to place Libraries on the same disk as your backups/TM: when that disk goes down you do not have any backup for your Libraries (even when you partition the disk to separate between backup and libraries). Think about that. Imagine how you feel when you loose your photo library....
Third:
So all in all, I suggest to have two SEPARATE external disks.

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Time Capsule as External HD and backup in an existing wireless network

I have had some difficulty having the issue solved. I have also had an an appointment at the Apple Genius Bar to solve the issue but was unsuccessful.
I am trying to see if I can use the Time Capsule in an existing wireless network as an external hard drive and backup.
I am unable to use Time Capsule as a wireless networking device because our wireless network at home is already configured for Vonage (Voice Over IP) and our DSL is with Verizon. We had to have a specialist come to our home to set up that network and I hope to not interfere with it unless I know what I am doing.
Is the Time Capsule a device you can use to store and retrieve data? My Macbook's HD is nearly full and I want to clear up some space but would like to have easy access to the data. Is it possible to use it as a backup as I would simultaneously use it as an external HD?
I was told to put the Time Capsule in "bridge" mode to solve my networking issues. Could I use the Time Capsule in bridge mode wirelessly as an external HD to store and retrieve data and backup data without interfering with my wireless internet network? Is this only possible with ethernet?

@Joop
TC can handle TM and other backups at the same time.
The TC is much slower (and more expensive) than a "normal" external drive, because everything has to go via WiFi. Especially when you are going to place Libraries on it.
So I suggest that you acquire an exeternal backup disk.
Second:
if you want to place Libraries on the same disk as your backups/TM: when that disk goes down you do not have any backup for your Libraries (even when you partition the disk to separate between backup and libraries). Think about that. Imagine how you feel when you loose your photo library....
Third:
So all in all, I suggest to have two SEPARATE external disks.

Use Time Capsule as extern HDD and time machine?

Hi, I own a Time Cap. 1 Gb and use it for Time Machine, but I also want to use it as en extra Harddisk.. But I don' t get a harddisk icon on my desktop.. Så how do I get acess to it?
Thanks
Lasse

open Airport Utility (assuming you run a Mac not Windows)
two scenarios; select Finder preferences under General and check box "show connected servers on desktop"
1) your local network use GO function, found top file menu then select "connect to server" you'll see a blank window type afp://your router ip address should be number such as 10.0.1.1
2) using the internet because you are not near your local network, open Airport Utility write down your internet tab ip address example such as 68.43.46.123
Also using Airport Utility under Disks/File Sharing check box "enable file sharing" and "share disk over wan port." When using afp command such as first scenario use your internet ip address
Personally I have used this afp internet connection when I was in Pittsburgh, Pa over the past holidays to get a few of my files off my TC network in Detroit, Mi.

Can I use Time Capsule as external storage and not for Time Machine?

Can I use Time Capsule as external storage and not for Time Machine?
I want to just use it like a USB drive but wirelessly and so other people in my suite can use it wirelessly to get the files I put on there. Let me know if you need me to explain some more

Will the Time Capsule come with directions on how to set it up as external storage rather then time machine.
Yes, AirPort Utility will walk you through the setup.
Because when I watched the video on it it says that time machine is automatically recognized
You have to turn Time Machine "On" for each Mac separately. By default, it is "Off". Leave it off if you do not want to use Time Machine. If by some chance Time Machine is "On", then turn it "Off"

Time capsule + 1TB external HD and 2 macbookpros

How do I go about setting up Time Capsule for 2 notebooks? I have a printer attached to the USB port and have gotten a 1 TB HD and a powered USB hub. I'd like to put a 200 gb notebook on the Time Capsule and a 500 gb notebook on the 1 TB external drive. Presently, I've been running the small notebook on the TC but have just migrated the data on the HD to the 500 gb notebook. Can you suggest steps on how to go about this?

LannyRLevenson wrote:
I was running TC on the original 200 GB notebook
To avoid confusion, try to distinguish between Time Capsule (an Apple combination AirPort router and backup drive) and Time Machine (backup software).
but haven't used it with the external HD or the new 500 GB notebook. Should both notebooks be running (attached with ethernet cable) when I go to configure the TC to share the attached notebook over the network?
An initial Time Machine backup can run faster if it is run over an Ethernet cable rather than over Wi-Fi. I'm not sure what you mean by "share the attached notebook over the network". What is it about the "notebook" that you want to share and to what do you want to share it?
Where do I find "sparsebundle" file?
It should be on the network drive where Time Machine has been writing its backups. (Time Machine backups written to a locally-attached drive are named differently.)

Confused - Using Time Capsule as External HD and Using TC With Time Machine

Hello,
I've been using my Time Capsule for about a month now and I am very pleased. I have only been using it as an external hard drive as I wasn't really worried about backing EVERYTHING up. Yesterday my macbook's internal drive messed up and after reinstalling all my apps I've decided that running Time Machine would be a good idea.
So, I currently have 120 GBs of stuff on my 500 GB Time Capsule. Can I simply create a folder on the Time Capsule and set Time Machine to make backups to that folder? Also, is there a way I can limit how much space Time Machine will take up without partitioning the drive?
Thanks in advance,
Josh.

time machine will make a sparse bundle in your TC - so no need to make a folder.
"Also, is there a way I can limit how much space Time Machine will take up without partitioning the drive? "
no, you can not limit the space, and you can not partition the TC drive unless you physically take it out of the box, put it in a firewire enclosure, partition, than put it all back.
for this reason, i use superduper for my backups.

Time Capsule can't function as backup drive?

My main work computer's logic board fried yesterday. (Under AppleCare, so shouldn't be the end of the world, just a pain). I have it set for continuous hourly backups to a 1TB Time Capsule. So I should have all my files accessible.
I'm working on another computer now, that uses Time Capsule as a router, but doesn't back up to it. I need to pull some files off the Time Capsule in order to continue working. Is this possible? Calling Apple Support indicated that it was not, but then why tout this thing as a backup drive?? What's the point of having backups if you can't access them from anywhere but the computer that they were backed up from?
I'm desperate here. Any help would be hugely appreciated.

Below are two ways in which to get a file from the Time Machine backup.
When Time Machine does a backup it creates a 'sparsebundle' image file on the backup disk. This file is named after the computer so to locate and identify it easily. All you need to do is mount the 'sparsebundle' (by mouse double click or other method) from any computer that has access to the backup disk. When mounted it should show on the desktop or in a Finder window (depending on your Finder preferences).
Once mounted you can manually browse the disk by opening this newly mounted disk (named after your computer - example: backup of yourcomputer). When you open it, there should be a folder inside named 'Backups.backupdb' and inside are all the contents of the backup - just find what you need and copy and paste. Or once mounted, right mouse click (or hold 'control' and mouse click) on the Time Machine icon in the dock and select 'browse other disks' (or click the icon in the menu bar - upper right of screen - and when the menu comes out press and hold the 'option' or 'alt' key to bring up the 'browse other disks' choice). And it should now show the 'backup of yourcomputer' available to browse. You will now enter the Time Machine as normal. To retrieve a file - locate the file you want and then click the action (or gear like) icon and select the 'restore to' option and choose a location to put the file.

New Time Capsule: Assign DHCP address and backup to USB disk?

Hi all,
I am setting up a new Time Capsule and have two questions:
- I am successfully backing up my MacBook Pro to the internal TC disk. I like loooong backup histories, so I would like to backup my iMac to a separate Time Machine disk attached to the TC via USB. I have googled and not found anyone saying it can be done. I have attached a USB disk and tried to configure TimeMachine to see it, but it is invisible. Is this even possible?
- I want to assign a specific IP address to a Linux server (Ubuntu Jaunty) on the internal network of the Time Capsule. I can get a "random" DHCP address assigned, but I cannot get a specific one assigned. I have tried to create DHCP Reservations for the Linux box using both its MAC address as well as the DHCP client ID (preferred). No matter what, I still get the random DHCP address. On the linux box, I have made sure to set the Client ID as well as removing the old leases file. Any hints?
Thanks in advance for any help on either front!

...so I would like to backup my iMac to a separate Time Machine disk attached to the TC via USB.
That is not possible with Time Machine.
Time Machine will backup any files residing on your Mac or residing on any disk connected via USB or FireWire directly to your Mac.
Time Machine will NOT backup files residing on a network drive like the USB drive connected to a Time Capsule.
I want to assign a specific IP address to a Linux server (Ubuntu Jaunty) on the internal network of the Time Capsule.
The default settings of the Time Capsule use the addresses 10.0.1.2 to 10.0.1.200 for DHCP clients. If you want this server to have a fixed IP address, simply configure the server to have a manual IP address in the range 10.0.1.201 to 10.0.1.254.

HT1349 very slow external HDD and usb drive connected to Apple Extreme Router

Hello
So I got a western digital USB drive (500gig) and western digital Live 2TB.
I bought a new Apple Extreme router and connected them both.
USB drive and external hdd (WD Live 2TB) very slow when connected to Apple Extreme Router, using Lion 10.7 and updated both firmware for router, western digital and Airport Utility.
Slow means, it takes half an hour to copy 200 Mb of file to the WD Live 2TB, and its connected to my router with a gigabit ethernet cable!
Is someone else having the same problem, I thought even over usb I should get around 2-5mb range.
I am using Macbook Pro and 802.11n with Lion 10.7.2
Please Help

The USB WD 500 gig is connected to the Airport Extreme using a non-powered USB 2.0 hub, only two things a HP printer and the 500 gig is connected through it. I already formatted it to MAC OS Extended Journalled. ANd I think the speed didnt change.
For the WD 2TB Live I didnt format it to anything, started using it out of the box. I just updated its firmware. I was having the same speed even when I directly connected it to my Mac Book Pro using ethernet gigabit cable.
This WD 2TB Live doesnt have any USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 connectors, just the ethernet cable. I wasnt planning to carry it around. Just wanted to use it as a good ol NAS. So then I saw the fix somewhere and connected to this drive via AFP, afp://MyBookLive._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Public and it become suddenly very fast. Just like how it should be, I easily copied 20 gigs in around 20-25 minutes. (This was dirctly connected to my computer)
So then I thought my problem is solved and disconnected my WD Live and connected it back to the Apple Router again, and the speed became very slow again. Now both the USB 500 gig and this 2TB Live are slow.
Time machine is also very slow.
Thing is I also have a linux and windows machine(in repair, but should be up soon), Since apple is the newest computer I have, I want to make it work on this first. I dont want to use the MACosx journaled on the 2TB right now. Besides formatting the USB 500 gig to this format didnt help with my speed. So the problem can be elsewhere.
- I will try to get a powered USB hub as woodmeister50 suggested.
- I dont know how to connect via iCloud as cigame suggested
Please let me know if you guys have any suggestions. I have tested and returned enough routers in past few weeks. I really want it to work on this combination LionOSX + Airport Extreme + WD Live.
Thanks

Time capsule as external HDD

I bought a 3TB Time Capsule to free up audio and video files from my macbook.
Can I see what is inside my TC from my computer? Is there a way I can drag and drop into the time capsule or is it only for the time maching to back up to?
I hope Im asking the questions correctly. My first apple product....and i love it!!

   They recommend you do the 1st initial backup with an ethenet cable because the initial backup will be the longest since it backs up the whole system and doing it wirelessly will take a long time so your better off doing the initial (1st) backup with ethernet since it will be a lot faster then you can go wireless because all backups after that are only incremental meaning only changed files will be backed up and these won't take long at all.
   However since my Mac is new and I don't have a lot of stuff on there, (just some iTunes songs) I did the initial backup over wireless and my initial backup only took only about 20-30 minutes. That's fine if you've hardly got anything on there like me.
   But if you've got a lot of data on there it may take hours or even overnight is why it's suggested that you do the first backup with ethernet and then you can go wireless after that for following incremental backups. For me I didn't really have to go ethernet because I've hardly had anything on there.

Time Capsule as back-up and netwrk drive

I just got an iMac and a Time Capsule and I'm having the same problem.
I want to use the TC as a back-up device and a network drive at the same time.
The back-up function is working fine with Time Machine, but I can't save anything else to the TC separately.
I can't drag and drop anything there.
I can't create a new folder on the drive.
I can't select it as a save location either.
There must be some setting that I'm not finding.
Can anyone help?

Hello, what happens when you try to drag and drop a file to the drive? Are you actually mounting the drive?
Double click 'Macintosh HD' on your desktop to open a finder window
In the left-hand pane there should be a 'Shared' section with your TC drive listed underneath
Double click the TC drive in Shared
Another 'folder' should appear in the right hand pane as the drive mounts, double click this as well
When it's mounted correctly the drive should appear on the desktop and will be available. If you still have problems please can you post exactly what you're doing along with any messages.
Hope this helps.

Time Capsule with external HDD as fileserver and backup

We have two mac minis running Leopard.
Today, we have an old Windows 2000 machine that acts as a file server over the network.
All files are stored on the PC.
Now, we have bought a TC. Sure it's one thing to automatically backup the mac minis, but I also want to connect an external USB hard drive (1 TB) to the TC and store all files on that disk.
Then I want Time Machine not only to backup the Mac minis, but the content on the external disk as well.
From what it looks like, this seems doable. We do not have any Macs or PC that has 802.11n capacity, so the TC will be hooked up on Ethernet via cable.
Are there any issues on what disk can be used?

There will be no problem with this, however the speed seems to be better with the internal drive. I am not sure why though.
On a wired connection I got 13MB/s, thats > 100 mbps write speed to the internal drive, but only about 9 MB/s to the USB drive. On wireless it wouldn't matter, as you can't get 9MB/s speed anyway.
I have a 500GB TC and a Lacie 500GB USB hdd.

I am planning on using my time capsule as a network and essentially an external hard drive - not just back up, is this ok?

I am planning on using my time capsule as a network and essentially an external hard drive - not just back up, is this ok?

Most users should use the Time Capsule for backups. This assumes that "original" copies of your data are on the computer and backups of this data are stored on the Time Capsule.
If either the Time Capsule or the hard drive on your computer fails, there are at least copies of your important data on the other drive.
If you are asking if you can place "original" files on the Time Capsule, do you have a plan to backup those files?
If the Time Capsule drive has a problem....and your only copy of your important data is on the Time Capsule....you will lose everything.
If you are asking if this is OK, the answer for most folks would be "no".
Can you clarify if this is what you are asking?

How to backup MacBook Pro without AirPort Time Capsule or External hard drive

How to backup MacBook Pro without AirPort Time Capsule or External hard drive

This is crude but if you need a work around, just plug the USB drive directly into the iMac.. copy the files to it.. then plug it into the TC.
You also do not need to use the TC as an intermediary between your iMac and MBP.. just turn on sharing in the computer.. so you can directly copy files from one to the other.. Macs have public access directory preconfigured for each user account.
As far as mounting the TC..
In finder use Go, Connect to server.. and type.
AFP://TCname or TCipaddress
Where TCname is the actual name of the TC.. I strongly recommend you follow SMB network rules.. ie if your TC has a name like
Fred Blog's Time Capsule 2445566.
It is too long.. it has spaces and it has non-alphanumeric characters.
Shorten it to FredTC
No spaces no characters that are NOT alphanumeric.
TCIPaddress is simply the standard IP.
You can also use CIFS://TCname which according to the article forces the connection back to SMB1 rather than SMB2 which as usual is broken.
But I would definitely use AFP if possible. I cannot understand the decision to move to SMB as standard.

Can i use time capsule for external h drive and also for time machine?

Can i use time capsule for external h drive and also for time machine?

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.

Time Capsule as external HDD and backup drive

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