Using Time Capsule as an external drive (media server)

I know the answer is out there somewhere but I've been googling longer than it would take some one in here to answer my newbie question
I'm making a total switch from PC to Mac. So I'll be getting a Macbook Pro and a Time Capsule for back up.
Since my girlfriend is getting a Macbook too, it would be nice to share movies and picture via the TC.
Will it just show as an extra drive in the Finder?
Will my Mac automatically connect to the drive when I connect to the internet(TC)
I will be bringing my Mac in and out of the apartment, so it would be nice if it just did as much as possible by itself.
Am I understanding it correctly that it will work as wireless router when connected to the internet modem?
Is there anything I should be aware of?

Nerdfield wrote:
I'm making a total switch from PC to Mac.
welcome to the bright side of computing
So I'll be getting ... a Time Capsule for back up ... it would be nice to share movies and picture via the TC.
you might want to consider using the TC for backups only and rather put the shared content on an USB drive connected to the TCs USB port.
take the time to browse through [this_|http://web.me.com/pondini/TimeMachine/FAQ.html] user tip.
Will it just show as an extra drive in the Finder?
yes, you can access the TCs drive (and the USB drive connected to the TC) via the finder. it will look like this
the folder data represents the TCs drive while the other folder is a USB drive connected to it. click on either folder and the drive will mount on the desktop.
Will my Mac automatically connect to the drive when I connect to the internet(TC)
once everything is set up, your Macs will connect to the wireless network created by the TC automatically.
Am I understanding it correctly that it will work as wireless router when connected to the internet modem?
correct.
Is there anything I should be aware of?
check out above user tip.
JGG

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Can I use Time Capsule as an external drive to store iTunes files, photos and to back-up my MacBook Air?

I need an external drive to back-up my MacBook Air. In addition, my iTunes library of music, TV shows & movies is pretty enormous and I'd like to move it from my MacBook to an external drive to free up space on the laptop.
I will need to access my iTunes library from my Apple TV and the MacBook. I also have an iPad which will need to sync with the external drive.
I would prefer the external drive to be wireless as I am very rarely docked when at home.
Is the Time Capsule the right piece of kit for the job?
Thanks.

Is the Time Capsule the right piece of kit for the job?
Not really, no.
TC is a dumb as board hard disk in an airport extreme router. It has no media servers.. no backup.. it is slow and designed for TM target for laptops. The major one here is lack of backup. Any files you put on the TC can and will be lost at some point.. and to backup you need to have a computer connected to it with an external hard disk.. and a 3rd party backup because TM is too dumb to back up network drives.
TC is designed to spin up slow and spin down quickly at the end of backup. You will have issues when you stream media from it.
ATV needs to connect to itunes server.. not the library. You will still need a computer running. Same for lots of things.. since apple designed their system to be dependent on itunes.
The best idea is a media computer.. a mac mini is ideal. Don't need the latest greatest.. but an actual mac running itunes. Unfortunately it doesn't have large internal drives.. so it is still a bit kludgy in needing a fast external drive.. but at least you have automatic backups.

How do I use Time Capsule as an external hard drive?

How do I use Time Capsule as an external hard drive? I want to remove photos & music from my laptop and store them in Time Capsule only.

lyperez wrote:
How do I use Time Capsule as an external hard drive? I want to remove photos & music from my laptop and store them in Time Capsule only.
Apple has specific instructions on moving libraries.
eg itunes.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
You simply follow those instructions..
TC is a network drive.. nothing more.
To move individual files, just copy and paste to a new directory.. not inside a TM sparsebundle please.
BUT.. TC only worries me.. deeply.
It is relatively easy to corrupt a library when you copy to it.. library as a whole is then corrupted and will need to be restored from backup.. wops.. no backup. You are putting at risk all your files.. don't do it.. make sure you backup..
And here is the rub.. TC cannot back itself up.. TM cannot backup network drives.
And where are you going to backup.. to... an external drive on the computer.. in that case, that is where the library should be and the TC used as normal.. ie backup target for TM.
Please read Pondini on how to do it properly though.
Q3 http://pondini.org/TM/Time_Capsule.html

Using AirPort Time Capsule as an external drive with access to files by guest account

Is it possible to use my AirPort Time Capsule as an external drive with access to files by a guest account?
I would like to store a large number of folders containg photographs on my AirPort Time Capsule and allow anyone with a password to access the photographs - at the time of viewing the Time Capsule would be connected to the internet but I wouldn't want users to actually access anything other than the files on the Time Capsule - is this possible? if so any help in configuring it would be really helpful.

No it is not possible.. Guest is just that.. a guest that is allowed permission to access the internet but none of the local files.
To give a person access to the TC they must have password to access your normal network..
From there it is up to you how you do this.. people cannot actually access files on your computers unless you give them share and password permissions for that.. you can even setup accounts on the TC although I recommend against it.. if you want shared photos anyway. All security on a TC is illusion.. merely pressing the reset and it is all blown away.. so if you are concerned about security don't put stuff on the TC people should not access.. or like your TM backups ensure they are encrypted.
A person can then access you TC and the photos.. but what else on the network??

Can i use time capsule as a external hard drive

can i use time capsule as a external hard drive

Not plugged in by USB if that is what you were thinking.
You can store files on the TC but you should NOT.
Store files on the TC.
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.
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. It was and is and ever shall be a backup device for Time Machine.
3. The drive is slow to spin up and quick to spin down.. there is no control. In fact the TC is so lacking in controls for even the router side.. that you cannot do more than the most basic of setups.
The following are controls on the hard disk side.
Reformat it. You can name the share. You can do a full archive of the whole disk. This will go at a speed of aprox. 30-50GB/Hr so calculate how long an archive of a full 2TB will take.
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!!
Even apple btw say don’t do it.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS5168 Although mostly about FAT32 it adds network drives.
5. iTunes can constantly lose connection to the library. The disk is 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

Is their another way like to use my time capsule as an external drive not using time machine?thanks

is their another way like to use my time capsule as an external drive not using time machine?thanks

You do not have to use Time Machine.. but the TC is hardly suitable for a NAS.. it has no means to back itself up and is relatively slow. Still that is up to you..
CCC or Superduper are good backup softwares .. and there are a number of others.

How to use Time Machine with an external drive?

Hi…I’m new to this, I hope someone can help me=)
I’m trying to back up my Macbook Pro 10.6.8 using Time Machine with an external drive Seagate Backplus Slim. I’ve tried several solutions that I’ve found through different forums but still wouldn’t work.
Every time I opened Time Machine, it has this appearance:
Then when I click “Select backup Disk”, it goes on like this:
And after I click “Set Up Time Capsule”, it has this:
It keeps saying that it couldn’t find AirPort wireless, even though I have good WIFI connection.
Anyone know what I should do? Please help….Thanks everyone

Ayuphie ~ In your Time Machine Preferences panel, slide the OFF-ON switch to the ON position:

Can I use Time Capsule as an external HD? In this case to edit movies in FinalCut.

Can I use Time Capsule as an external HD? In this case to edit movies in FinalCut.

Yes, but it depends on the setup if you should or not.. not everything you can do you should do.
Are you connected by ethernet?
If you use wireless this can be super slow.. and also subject to corruption of the file.
You cannot use USB to connect.
If you are using a desktop computer, then an external drive is cheap, fast and reliable.
TM can also backup your work.
Using the TC as external drive.. Time Machine (TM) no longer has the ability to backup your work.. it can use TC as a target only.
How is the TC now setup? Did you want to setup in complete isolation to existing networking? If so how are you going to get network connection to internet etc. ??

Can i use time capsule as another hard drive?

Can I use time capsule as another hard drive?

You can, but it was not really designed for that purpose. Access to files will be quite a bit slower than a drive that is directly attached to your computer.
The Time Capsule's main function is as a back up device using the Time Machine application.
If you are using it already for Time Machine, it is generally not a good idea to mix Time Machine backups and regular files on the same drive as there will be struggle for space when the drive starts to fill up.

Can i use time capsule as a external hard

can i use time capsule as a external hard

Yes, if you intend to use it to store back up files that you will leave alone.
But, you should not try to place "active" files on the Time Capsule.....things like an iPhoto Library, iTunes Library, Movies, Music or other files that you will be using actively on a regular basis.
Apple designed the Time Capsule for your backups. If you use it that way, things will be OK.

Can I use time capsule as an external harddisk?

Can I use time capsule as an external harddisk? I mean does my mac see it as an wireless harddisk unit that I can put photos, documents, etc without using back up function?

of course! that's what it is and what it's for!

HT201250 How to backup the Time Capsule to an external drive using Time Machine?

Most of my data is on my Time Capsule since the hard drive on my iMac is too small for my music/movies/pictures and also so multiple devices can wirelessly access the data. I want to back up the files from my iMac and the Time Capsule on an external hard drive using the Time Machine. However, it seems that the Time Machine ignores the Time Capsule as a data source. How can I get this to work?

No, I don't believe this solves your problem.
TIme Machine can be used with a Time Capsule as a backup solution from connected macs and their drives but not from network drives, NAS or Time Capsules.
Thus, if you store files for LAN access on a TC internal drive, and want to back them to the USB/external drive attached to that TC, you cannot use Time Machine to do so.
Time Machine has not way of backing up ANY Time Capsule or NAS or WInPC or other networked drive, as far as I can tell. You will have to use some other backup software.
This is exactly what I bought the TC for myself (tried to use the internal drive on the TC as a NAS for my LAN, storing my music and photos and documents and bought a LaCie 2TB USB3 extneral drive to connect to the TC and hoped to be able to use Time Machine to backup the internal drive to the LaCie drive....but this does not work, as TM cannot backup from a network drive or TC device.

How To Use Time Capsule As An External Hard Drive?

I backup my computer onto the time capsule using time machine.
After that I want to have more space on my computer (becasue my hard drive is almost full) (I still want to have my local snapshots and daily backups) so I want to delete some of my files but I still want them on my time capsule and I know after I back my computer the files will be deleted so I go to finder/my time capsule (under shared)/data/my macbook pro/ then I go to my destop and see; 1: time machine backups 2: data... I go to data and create a new file that will contain everything that I wanted deleted off my macbook so the when the next backup comes, I will still have (in data on time capsule) my time machine backups and my deleted things... will this work? why or why not? I heard people saying that you have to choose the time capsule between a external hard drive or with time machine... but will this attempt work with both>???

It will work but shouldn't be done, as the Time Capsule's internal drive may fail at any time. Anything you want to keep shouldn't be on only one drive.
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Is possible to use Time Capsule as a external hard drive for my MA ?

Hi,
I wondering to know if i can use the time capsule as a external hard drive for my MACBOOK AIR i mean i dont want a backup i just want to be connected when i'm at home and transfer the data to the time capsule or simply uses data from there.
Thanks!

Yes, you can.
(60321)

Can I use time capsule as an external disk only (not as a wireless router)

how can I use my time capsule as an external disk only. I have had problems with time capsule as a wifi router.

Sure.. but it is still a network drive and must use wireless or ethernet.. the best way is plugged into the main router in bridge mode.. but you can use it in secondary network.. although the setup is more complicated.
It is also less good than a simple external drive.. which is cheaper, faster and more reliable. Consider if the TC doesn't suit your needs get rid of it and opt for simple external drive.

Using Time Capsule as an external drive (media server)

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