Time capsule versus Lacie portable HDD storage. Which one?

Not sure what to get. I am looking at either a Lacie rugged 1tb or time capsule. I have a MBP 15 " 2010 i7 and I have mobile internet access. I want to back up my computer with a HDD the Lacie is portable and cheaper. My house is very small so I thought a portable HDD would be better. No to sure at moment any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Some folks do online backups, but as "secondary" backups only. They're quite slow, depending on your upload speed.
They're so slow that many of the services actually ship you a portable drive, so you can do your first backup to it, then ship it back so they can load it onto their servers. Then you "catch up" via the internet.
When you need to restore individual files, it's usually much faster since most internet connections have much faster download speeds. But even a relatively-fast connection will take quite a while to do a full system restore.

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Does Airport time capsule work well as a storage for large files, such as RAW Photos and HD Video?

If Airport time capsule can work as a storage device, how reliable is it? Are downloads into Airport dependent on internet speed, or on the time capsule wifi?

If Airport time capsule can work as a storage device, how reliable is it?
The Time Capsule was designed to be used for Time Machine backups, but can equally be used for storage. Like any network storage device it is relatively reliable. However, you should always have a good backup strategy for important files.
Are downloads into Airport dependent on internet speed, or on the time capsule wifi?
Data transfer rates "into" the Time Capsule are dependent on a number of factors. Which factors depend on the original source of the files. Regardless, the common factors will be the TC's internal hard drive interface and data write speeds of the drive itself.

Time capsule not working - fixing hdd with disk utility

My time capsule stopped backing up today. It couldn't connect to the airport disk. So I opened up the Time Capsule and connected the HDD to my laptop hoping that running disk utility would find some simple error and fix it. After running the verify disk utility gave me the following message -
At this point I'm definitely beyond my knowledge of what to do ... should I create an EFI partition? But, it says its for boot disks and RAIDs, neither of which applies to the Time Capsule/Airport Disk ... I think.
Any hardware guys out there that can advise me what are my next steps? Please write with the assumption I'm new to Apples and computers in general.
DCRican

should I create an EFI partition?
No, it will lead to errors in the Time Capsule if you modify its disk in any way.. do not touch the disk.. This is not an error btw.. which you did realise.. the disk is not mean't to have EFI because the TC boots from Flash not EFI.
I am a bit surprised your immediate reaction to a failure to link to the TC you assumed disk errors and then went to this extraordinary method to test it.
We do recommend a disk pull as a last resort to recover files.. or the disk is dead.. not this error.
My time capsule stopped backing up today. It couldn't connect to the airport disk.
I think you mean Time Machine. (backup software on your computer.. not related to Time Capsule other than as a target for the backup).
This is a software problem in the computer and has nothing to do with the Time Capsule.. (hardware)
It looks like you're on Yosemite.. poor blighter.. !!
It is about Apple's worst release at least for network.. just read the discussions .. many many people have issues...
When you hit a problem like this.. first google.. then ask on the discussion forum.. please don't start pulling your hardware apart.
There is no real known fix yet..
There are things to try.. but nothing so far is proving infallible which means we haven't really hit the main cause..
Start with a full factory reset.
Factory reset universal
Power off the TC.. ie pull the power cord or power off at the wall.. wait 10sec.. hold in the reset button.. be gentle.. power on again still holding in reset.. and keep holding it in for another 10sec. You may need some help as it is hard to both hold in reset and apply power. It will show success by rapidly blinking the front led. Release the reset.. and wait a couple of min for the TC to reset and come back with factory settings. If the front LED doesn’t blink rapidly you missed it and simply try again. The reset is fairly fragile in these.. press it so you feel it just click and no more.. I have seen people bend the lever or even break it. I use a toothpick as tool.
N.B. None of your files on the hard disk of the TC are deleted.. this simply clears out the router settings of the TC.
Then in airport utility setup the TC with short names.. no spaces and pure alphanumeric names (and passwords but 8-20 characters).
Good names.. TCgen4 name of the TC. TCwifi as wireless name.
If you then have issues.. please first of all make sure you can mount the TC disk in finder.. ie click TCgen4 in the left pane of finder and the disk appears on the right. Access the disk.
If that fails.. post again and we can go the next step.

How to use AirPort Time Capsule 2TB as an external storage hard drive only?

I have a new AirPort Time Capsule 3TB, now I want to use my AirPort Time Capsule 2TB as an external storage hard drive only, how do I it?
I would like to connect the AirPort Time Capsule 2TB directly to my Mac Pro. using OS X 10.7.5.
I have erase disk and reset the 2TB to factory default, after that, I cannot make it to connect to my Mac. Please help.

The 2TB Time Capsule needs to connect to your 3TB Time Capsule using a wired Ethernet connection.
Connect from a LAN <--> port on the 3 TB Time Capsule to the WAN "O" port on the 2 TB Time Capsule and configure the 2TB Time Capsule in Bridge Mode and turn off the wireless function on the device as well.
Once that is done, you can connect your Mac directly to the 2TB Time Capsule using another Ethernet cable, or your Mac can connect to the network using the normal wireless network, if you prefer.

Can I connect an external HD on the time capsule and use it as storage space ?

Hello,
I am thinking about purchasing a time capsule for backing up my data, but I also need storage space for photos and videos, can I connect an external hard drive to the time capsule and use it as storage ? If so, is there any risk of the time machine use the external hd space for backup as well and eat up all the storage ?

can I connect an external hard drive to the time capsule and use it as storage ?
Yes....for storage, as in backup files. But, not recommended for "working" image or media libraries.
If so, is there any risk of the time machine use the external hd space for backup as well and eat up all the storage ?
No, unless you intend to also use the same drive for Time Machine backups.

I want to use my airport time capsule as a network attached storage solution, is this possible or do I need to connect a separate hard drive?

I want to use my airport time capsule as a network attached storage solution, is this possible or do I need to connect it to a separate hard drive?

The Time Capsule is by default a network hard drive, but it has no "brains" of it's own. So, it cannot function as a stand alone media server if that is what you are asking.
If you are also using the Time Capsule hard drive for Time Machine backups of your Mac(s), then there may be struggle for available space on the drive since it is not possible to partition the Time Capsule drive in a traditional manner.
If space is getting tight on the Time Capsule, it might be a good idea to connect a drive to the USB port on the Time Capsule and use that drive for your network storage needs.

Can I use Time Capsule and LaCie at the same time?

Can I use Time Capsule and LaCie at the same time?

stephaniefromarlington wrote:
Before I answer your questions, let me first just say thank you so much for your amazing patience and helpfulness. Whether or not we get to the bottom of this, I am very, very grateful to you.
We will get to the bottom of it, and you're quite welcome. Don't feel you ought to know all this stuff -- none of us were born with it!
By the way, in answer to your original question, yes, you can use the Time Capsule while backups are running. There's no conflict at all.
1) Estimated size of full backup: 205.94 GB
2) My LaCie has available: 11.04 GB of 359.95 GB
That's part of the problem right there; 360 GB is a bit small to back up 206 GB. Ordinarily, a Time Machine drive should be 2-3 times the size of the data it's backing-up, so Time Machine can keep a reasonable "depth" of old backups for you.
It looks like Time Machine is trying to do a fairly large backup, and there just isn't enough room for it.
But something doesn't quite add up. Time Machine should have deleted all but your most recent backup, trying to make room for the new one. But that would mean there should only be a bit less than 206 GB on the disk, not 360.
A clue may be lurking in your logs. Use the widget in #1 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting to display the backup messages from your logs. Locate the backup in question, then copy and post all the messages here.

Your Time Capsule disk is low on storage space - error

I am getting the error "Your Time Capsule disk is low on storage space." and it now flashes amber. I use the time capsule to set up a wireless network and I can no longer access the internet from my MapBook Pro in another room, only if I am next to the Time Capsule. Help!!! Why is my time capsule low on storage space? I thought it is suppose to delete the old backups to make room for the new backups.

MacDoz wrote:
I too am getting the same low disk space issue on my Time Capsule, and have not been able to find an answer anywhere given that I thought the Time Capsule was meant to automatically delete old back-ups.
Those are two different, independent, things.
Since you can use a Time Capsule for things besides backups, there's a built-in warning (the flashing light) when it gets near full (exactly how full is not clear).
Time Machine is separate; when it doesn't have space for a new backup, it will delete the oldest backup(s) as necessary, if it can, to make room for new ones.
The handling is a bit different, though, for Leopard vs. Snow Leopard.
In Leopard, if you have the +Warn when old backups are deleted+ box checked in Time Machine Preferences > Options, it will fail with a message. All you have to do is remove the check.
In Snow Leopard, it will delete old backups as necessary, do the backup, then send a message if you have the box, now worded +Warn after old backups are deleted,+ checked.
See #C4 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting for details.

Time Capsule vs. Other Mass Storage Device

I am a Mac newby seeking advice. I recently purchased the MBA below to replace my personal PC. My previous setup was a desktop with plenty of storage to handle my needs (including iTunes) and I backed up data directly to an external hard drive (I know pretty basic).
After purchasing the MBA, I realized I do not have enough internal hard drive space to store all of my music and my current external drive is too small for all the media and backup of the MBA. Also, the point of the MBA is to be mobile. Also, I would like my Sonos music system (with an application similar to iTunes) to be able to access the music library. Lastly, I have far to many songs purchase outside of iTunes to use iTunes Match. Therefore, I started seeking wireless alternatives to store my music and backup my MBA. Although an NAS would probably be ideal, I have found out through trial and error that the basic systems do not work with a MAC and the only ones with a prayer are the more expensive ones (i.e. Synology and QNAPS). Therefore, I have decided to pursue a more simplified approach.
My Internet and TV provider is CenturyLink. Their router is very basic with only 802.11g speed and without any USB ports. The following configuration has been suggested to my by some more experienced Apple users to provide wireless data access and backup.
Requesting CenturyLink provide me with a basic modem.
Purchasing an Airport Extreme (or similar wireless n router with a USB port).
Connecting the Airport Extreme (or other wireless router) to the basic modem.
Purchasing a Time Capsule (or other mass storage device).
Partitioning it using either the specific one for the Time Capsule (or Disk Utility for other mass storage devices) to provide one volume for my media and one for backup using Time Machine.
Moving the media from my old external drive (which is catalogued with folders for each artist, subfolders for each album and the songs in the subfolders) by connecting the old mass storage device and Time Machine to my MBA and using Finder to do this (see the questions below regarding this).
Moving/cataloging the media from the Time Capsule (or other mass storage device) by dragging it into the iTunes window.
Connecting the Time Capsule (or other mass storage device) to the USB port of the Airport Extreme (or other wireless router).
Setting up Time Machine to use the volume partitioned for backups.
Possibly having to move cataloging files from my iTunes, Music folder to the external drive and pointing iTunes to the Time Capsule (or other mass storage device) through Preferences, Advanced to access the music.
Overall, I am concerned with the total cost. I just spent a lot of money, not only purchasing the MBA, but also the iPad 3 and upgrading my cell phone to the iPhone 5 (I skipped the 4). It seems that by the time I purchase an Airport Extreme and a Time Capsule, I could also have just bought a NAS like the Synology 213 with 2 X 1TB drives, connect it to the existing wireless router via ethernet connections and have a more comprehensive solution. Based upon these instructions and cost concerns (and bad experience), I have several questions related to this.
Does this configuration and these instructions make sense, including those for moving and accessing my music files through iTunes (i.e. will it work)?
Are both the Airport Extreme and Time Capsule necessary to make this work easily or can I purchase alternatives to either or each and if so, what is recommended? If they are necessary, would you recommend doing this or buying one of the aforementioned NAS's to a Mac newby?
Given the file structure for my music on the old external mass storage drive, can I simply move the folders over with the subfolders containing the musice files in them or do I have to literally enter into each subfolder, select all and move them subfolder by subfolder (i.e. album by album)?
Am I missing something totally better and easier solution?
I would be massively grateful to anyone who can provide some good answers, advice and guidance. I am about to pull my hair out!!!!
Thanks,
WinoSkiBoy

They both said about the same thing except the Apple Store business tech said to buy an Airport Extreme and just attach a partitioned external third party HDD to it.
Except that is flakey for TM backup..
http://pondini.org/TM/Airport.html
And slow as the proverbial dog.. although I guess the dog is old.
And totally inadequate as a media store or server.
Apple's pricing is pretty cunning.. I really doubt you are going to find a cheaper unit to do both wireless and TM backups than the TC. And it is a perfectly good device to do that. It is good to have in the network. And Apple sure make their products work with other apple products.. so it does work better than other similar cost products.. although you miss a lot of features that Apple predecided for you.
But I don't think anyone has the ideal solution to your problem. Apple believe in cloud. And if you have fibre internet that will work really well.. forks out your money and apple will store your stuff. But for the real world most of us do not have internet connection even a fraction of speed required. And it can be another decade before we will. We need a box that is half way between a TC and media PC, a file store and a NAS. Will Apple make one.. ?? I don't think so.. They believe in cloud..
You can make the missing link one yourself. If you are so inclined.. A HP microserver running freeNAS can do TM backups and makes an excellent media store because it can do AFP. You can put a graphics card in it and plug it into your TV. You can use it with a airport extreme. But you will need a degree in Geek.. !! The synology is a preconfigured form of that.. No Geekdom required. Synology seems to have the upper hand.. this week.
Let me make a suggestion.. Figure out if you are going to jump into the Apple way of doing stuff.. which is basically itunes on computer as a server.. and the whole network.. working as part of this.. so any media is pushed from a store in itunes.. whether local or internet.. if you want to do it that way.. getting something other than the air to run itunes is well worth it. That is what a NAS cannot do.. it cannot be a media player.
Or you do hybrid.. ie you don't use put all your media into itunes, you use a bit of this and bit of something else.. As long as that can play files.. stored on NAS or even on the TC without the itunes requirement.. It won't be as pretty. But it isn't hard to get working.. as long as you accept this isn't going to be the perfect Apple solution.

I cannot connect my external hard drives (1 WD My Passport and 1 LaCie Porsche Design). The drives were connected and worked perfect, the WD is used as a Time Capsule, the LaCie is formatted as exFAT and used for miscellaneous. They are both USB 3.0

I cannot connect my external hard drives any longer. I have one WD "My Passport" used as a Time Capsule and one LaCie Porsche Design used for all different kind of data, formatted in exFAT. They worked fine, connected direct or through an additional USB hub or also attached to a Dell monitor. The Lacie helds my iTunes Library and the iPhoto library.
After I moved the iTunes library to the external drive, from time to time the drive went into a never ending loop and I had to shut down the laptop (MacBook Air).
The last time starting again the drives were not recognized any longer. I tried to connect them to another MacBook, which didn't work.
Starting with Windows 7, the WD is also not recognized at all (perhaps because of time capsule format?) and the LaCie gives an error.
Could anybody tell me if there is a chance to get them alive again? When I connect them now, they start to heat up quite fast without anything else happening.
Thanks

Hi,
Just want to clarify, have you checked to make sure the cords are not damaged (going from hard drive to computer and or any power source )?
You have also check to make sure that usb ports are working correctly?
If you have checked these things it may be that the external drives have failed.
I would google the error message from the LaCie drive before I do anything.
There are several ways that I know of, one is to put the hard drive in the freezer for a while (make sure you wrap it air tight) if this works it is not a permenint fix. You might be able to transfer information to another source.
The other method is to plug the hard drive into a hard drive connector a product like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817707192
to do this you would have to remove the hard drive from its enclosure and still this is not a guarantee it will work.
The finally way I know is using a recovery service. This can be rather expensive, and there are no guarantees

Time Capsule vs Lacie Wireless Space vs ?

Hi folks,
I'm a new proud owner of a 11.6" Macbook Air. I'd like to migrate to it fully from my 17" Macbook Pro, but to do so, I'd like to migrate my music to a NAS, ideally one that could also perform Time Machine backups. I have a wifi-only setup at home right now, with an airport express plugged into my cable modem, and I'd like to stay wifi-only (I rent, and want to run no wires). So either a Time Capsule or the new Lacie Wireless Space (http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=11565) look to be the perfect options for me. I'd love to go with a Time Capsule, but the reported reliability issues scare me away from them.
So, my questions-
1) Has Apple improved the Time Capsule enough to where it can get a confident buy?
2) Does anyone have experience with the Lacie NAS options to recommend them?
3) Any other ideas?
This is a real head-scratcher for me, and I'd appreciate some input.
Thanks!
sam

I too am exploring the options of Space vs Time Capsule.
Just read "LaCie's unit is mostly limited by its dependence on single-band 802.11n instead of the Time Capsule's dual-band wireless support."
Read more: http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/09/16/lacie.wireless.space.merges.router .and.nas/#ixzz171BUKjy0
Also: "It’s compatible with UPnP/DLNA and iTunes, and you can stream music, movies and photos from a central location and play them on any device.
Moreover, the Wireless Space is Time Machine compatible, so Mac users can use it as a target for their automatic backups and be confident that all important files and media are safely protected."
http://www.techdaring.com/2010/09/18/lacie-wireless-space-takes-on-time-capsule- doubles-as-nas-and-wlan-router/
Regarding failures, I read about the Time Capsule failures and experienced Lacie failures (I've replaced three power supplies on my Lacie d2s, and we just had to send back for a Lacie replacement of my son's d2, less than a year old. So reliability is an issue sometimes no matter where you go. Get a good warranty. Lacie makes such solid products (and backs up there products; one power supply was out of warranty) that I've stuck with them (and my wondering has cost me; I have an Iomega Ultramax that won't wake up sometimes when it goes to sleep, though my Iomega portable eGo has been flawless).
We tried an Airport Extreme a year ago and it just works out of the box; practically no setup. But I have an Airport Express that just up and died after about 2.5 years.
I'd say they were comparably priced for what they each offer, with Apple a bit of a premium overall, and probably a bit more of a premium product to go with the price.
I'm torn. I'd save cash and go with the Lacie, but seeing I plan to use it as a portable NAS and the Time Capsule has a built in power supply it would be easier to carry.
Decisions, decisions.
Message was edited by: Dancin' Brook

How to recover time capsule file from formatted hdd?

Hi everyone!
Yesterday i accidentally formatted my external HDD which i used for time capsule backup and other files backup.
Do you know any recovering program to recover my .sparsebundle file from the time capsule? I have tried data rescue 3 and disk drill but i get tons of files with no names on it... just .mov, .xls, etc...
Any good ideas? I've tried to find in pondinis site but it doesn't recommend any recovery software with this specific function?
Many thanks for your help!!

The sparsebundle is hugely difficult to recover.. I simply would not bother. TM breaks files up when they are stored.. it creates literally millions of bits of your files and puts them back together.. once you delete the file tables the TM backup is really dead.
You should however be able to recover you files.. they are far more important and the file structure allows them to be recovered.. even if you lose the name you can open a file and identify it.

Current generation Time Capsule - lose connection to HDD in Finder but internet stays up

I have my Time Capsule hooked up to my DSL modem which I connect to wirelessly from my MBP. My internet connectivity is always up, but on a daily basis or so, the hard disk unmounts from my MBP and I have to unplug it and plug it back in so it recognizes it. The message that I get on Airport Utility is "Time Capsule was previously part of your network. Check that it is still in range of your network and is plugged into a power outlet.
I am running the most up-to-date version of OSX. What can I do to stop this?!
Thank you

Hello. My recommendation to anybody having this issue is run to your nearest Apple Store and exchange yours for a new one. Shortly after having this issue my TC HDD died and I lost all my info. The Genius told me there was nothing to be done.
I have a new TC which is working so much better then the previous one. Internet and overall connectivity seems quicker.
Please let me know if you have additional questions.

Can I use a time capsule as a itunes server to which my Atv v2 can connect to?

I have currently an Apple tv second generation, which streams video's from my Itunes computer when it's powered on. What I want to accomplish is to have all my library on a NAS somewhere and that my appletv can stream my whole library without any computer turned on. Can the time capsule do this?
Thanks,
filip

No. A Time Capsule has no media serving logic.

HT201250 Continuing backups with a time capsule or other network cloud storage device

For over a year I used an external drive for my time machine backups. I purchased an external cloud (WD MyCloud) and yesterday I started to do a backup with it.
I read a post which stated that if you keep your external drive plugged in and then chose to replace the drive with the network drive, it will copy all the history to the network drive.
This did not exactly happen with me. So now, I have all the backups from the beginning of my computer till yesterday on an external 1TB drive, and for some reason I go as far back as about a month ago on my WD MyCloud.
I cannot copy from the external disc to the MyCloud because of the format issues. The MyCloud is formatted in exFAT so that it will work both with Macs and PCs, while my external disc is formatted for Mac only (HFS, I presume).
Is there any way that I can either somehow put the history back onto the network drive time machine backup?
Thanks for your help with this.

The apple refurbished store has the Gen4 2TB for $209..
http://store.apple.com/au/product/FD032X/A/refurbished-time-capsule-2-tb
and if you are prepared to live without the warranty I see Gen4 2TB go on ebay in Australia for $150.. plus or minus. Certainly the refurbished store price sets a pretty clear upper limit.
For your situation the TC plugged into the adsl modem would still work the best. AC wireless in the latest model will do you nothing unless your MBP is brand new.. all the older ones have 450mbit on 5ghz N wireless and it works extremely well as long as you can put the TC close enough.. otherwise the 2.4ghz works fine. There is no improvement in the latest model.. same disk size.. same usb2 port.. same N wireless speed. Even range for many people is no better. Regardless of all the antennas in the latest one. Without AC wireless clients up close the two perform line ball with each other.
As long as you do the initial backup by ethernet the incremental backup are fine.
As per Bob comment.. there is no modem with USB that is going to work for this. Even on a modem that does support a USB disk, they will NOT support TM extensions.. nor will it be reliable even if it did. People quickly discover that TM is really an all Apple invention.. and locating TM backups on other devices is just bound not to be successful. Heck it is not even that reliable now with Mavericks on a TC.

Time capsule versus Lacie portable HDD storage. Which one?

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