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Time Capsule backup every hour slows network considerably?

I have two iMacs and am considering Time Capsule for a backup solution. I understand that backups occur every hour on the hour (with no other scheduling alternatives available?). Is this true?

Moreover, these frequent backups are being reported by some as a major disruption and slowing down of their wireless network. Have others found this to be true? Any feedback would be appreciated.

24" iMac Core 2 Duo 2.8 GHz Extreme 20" iMac G5 2.0 GHz, Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on May 12, 2008 9:35 PM

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Posted on May 12, 2008 10:12 PM

The backups are hourly, but not necessarily on the hour, and the size of the hourly backups depends heavily on exactly how each Mac is used, and whether TM is backing up entourage databases or disk images for virtual machines like Parallels or Fusion.

So - it might not be a problem at all for two macs, and it depends on how they're being used. If they're Macs like mine, that make hourly backups of a few megabytes - it wouldn't be very disruptive at all. If it's a larger group of macs, with a large hourly backup, it could easily saturate the network bandwidth, especially using wireless.
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May 12, 2008 10:12 PM in response to WildBill

The backups are hourly, but not necessarily on the hour, and the size of the hourly backups depends heavily on exactly how each Mac is used, and whether TM is backing up entourage databases or disk images for virtual machines like Parallels or Fusion.

So - it might not be a problem at all for two macs, and it depends on how they're being used. If they're Macs like mine, that make hourly backups of a few megabytes - it wouldn't be very disruptive at all. If it's a larger group of macs, with a large hourly backup, it could easily saturate the network bandwidth, especially using wireless.

May 13, 2008 8:17 AM in response to WildBill

I don't have a TC myself, but all reports are that the initial backup is a lot quicker using the fastest possible Ethernet connection. Makes sense.

If you used a separate wireless network for the TC, you'd need to be manually switching wireless networks, which eliminates the big advantage of Time Machine - automatic backups without any user involvement.

May 15, 2008 9:47 AM in response to tele_player

Thanks, again, tele-player.

Yes, of course, being on a separate network would be counter-productive!

I'd love to hear from folks who have bought one of these. I think the network slowdown every hour or so is a big minus, even if it's only for five minutes or so (as some haver reported). Other issues involve their printers being kicked off the network, etc.

Perhaps, TC, with its current problems, just isn't quite ready for prime time? I like the idea of a wireless ext hd being able to back up multiple computers, but not at the expense of hourly internet slowdowns and disconnected printers.

Anyone else have a more positive experience? I'd like to be convinced!

May 15, 2008 9:58 AM in response to WildBill

I would first confirm that TC is actually the culprit in slowing down your network. Like a previous poster said, my hourly backups are typically quite small. You should confirm that large database files are not being backed up (Entourage and virtualization disk images are the common ones).

So, when the network slowdown occurs, check the computers to see which is doing a TM backup. In the Time Machine System Preference pane, it will report the size of the in-progress backup. If it's a large backup every hour, you may want to ask why. Is someone video editing throughout the day, etc.

I run two computers (with TM) on my network, and they almost never backup at the same time each hour. The probability of it happening all the time, day after day, is not really high. This leads me to believe that, if TM is the culprit, it could be a single computer on the network, otherwise the issue would occur more frequently than on the hour.

Wireless is supceptable to RF interference as well.

May 15, 2008 10:07 AM in response to Dave Z

Dave, thanks for your reply.

It's not entirely clear if you're actually using TC; you mention running TM on your network? Did you mean TC +in tandem+ with TM? If you ARE using TC, are you using it wirelessly or is it plugged into one of your computers?

I wonder how TM does hooked up to a generic ext hd vs. using it with a wireless TC? That would be useful info.

I am glad to hear that smaller backups do not seem to significantly slow down your network. But I'd still like to know if you are using TC wirelessly?

Thanks again.

May 15, 2008 10:15 AM in response to WildBill

WildBill wrote:
Dave, thanks for your reply.

It's not entirely clear if you're actually using TC; you mention running TM on your network? Did you mean TC +in tandem+ with TM? If you ARE using TC, are you using it wirelessly or is it plugged into one of your computers?

I wonder how TM does hooked up to a generic ext hd vs. using it with a wireless TC? That would be useful info.

I am glad to hear that smaller backups do not seem to significantly slow down your network. But I'd still like to know if you are using TC wirelessly?

Thanks again.


Sorry for not mentioning that. I have a MacBook Pro and a 250GB ext. HD connected through a powered USB hub that I backup to. File sharing is on and other Macs connect to my machine for their TM backups. I am not using TC--although the principle is the same, not that principle means much in this context. Most of the time, systems in my house use a 100Mb Ethernet connection. Although wireless has never been a problem either.

I understand my configuration is slightly different, the troubleshooting should still be sound.

If it makes you feel better, there are other posts of TC performance issues on the forums here. Hopefully you'll be able to resolve the issue soon.

May 15, 2008 10:34 AM in response to Dave Z

Dave,

Thanks for clarifying your setup! That's interesting: TM, in your case, is backing up (your other Macs) wirelessly via file sharing and you aren't noticing any network interruptions/slow downs.

You would think that TC would be (as you say, in "principle") a similar configuration to the wireless file sharing backups you've been doing. But others have noted network slowdowns, printers booted off their wireless networks, etc.

It's a tough call. I would feel ok about getting a 1T ext HD and using TM to back up my computers to it using file sharing as you are doing.

Thanks for your input. It's helpful to know that TM will work via file sharing.

I guess the other plus for just getting a generic ext. HD is that I can make a bootable clone- something you can't do with TC.

May 16, 2008 7:43 AM in response to WildBill

WildBill,

I just recently bought a 500 gig TC, and I really like it. I have a VoIP phone, printer, and one computer on my network, so bandwidth is never really a big problem for me. That being said, my first backup, about 64 gig big, took close to 24 hours wirelessly. It did slow down my network noticeably. The subsequent hourly backups are unnoticeable. MacWorld (I think) did a pretty good review on the TC in various configs. I suggest you look it up for more info. It also provides some good tips for setting up a well-oiled wireless network. Some of it might be obvious, but I wasn't too savvy on this kind of stuff. Anyways, there is my two cents worth. Good luck.

Tim

May 16, 2008 12:17 PM in response to TJDowling

TJ,

Thank you for your two cents worth! I was hoping to get someone who actually has TC to post. I'm glad to hear that your hourly backups have not significantly slowed down your network. Im wondering if you're running TC on an 802.11g or an 802.11n network?

You mentioned MacWorld. Are you referring to Glenn Fleishman's review, +Building a Better Backup Device+? He mentions recent firmware (TC?) updates, Airport driver, and Time Machine updates that have apparently improved performance and ironed out some of the intial glitches.

He does seem to think that TC is ideally suited to a home network that HASN'T yet been upgraded to an 802.11n wireless network.

Thanks again for posting!

Bill

Message was edited by: WildBill

May 16, 2008 2:51 PM in response to WildBill

WildBill,

No problem. Hope it helped. I think I lied about the MacWorld article. I'm pretty sure it's actually an Apple Insider review. Just type in a search for Time Capsule on their homepage. As for my setup, I'm running a n-only network. Not sure why he thinks TC is better for a non-n network, but he's probably smarter than I am. I would think that the more bandwidth available, the better. You also have the option of a gigabit hookup if you computer supports that. I think Apple Insider has the actual numbers for you on that discussion.

Here's some more food for thought for you. To expand on what I like about TC and TM: TM is totally hands off. All I see, if I see it, is the little whiling dirvish on the menu bar that tells me TM is doing it's thing. On a negative side, hourly updates seem a little excessive. It would be nice to control that option. My usage doesn't really warrant the need for hourly updates. Also, and perhaps what gives me the most piece of mind is that TC and TM are Apple products that are fully integrated into Leopard. I'm sure there are other products out there that are equally as good or better for backups, but who better to back up an Apple computer than Apple? I'm sure there is a logical fallacy in there somewhere, but there you have it. Good luck.

Tim

May 16, 2008 5:29 PM in response to TJDowling

Tim,

I'll try and find that Apple Insider article.

+On a negative side, hourly updates seem a little excessive. It would be nice to control that option. My usage doesn't really warrant the need for hourly updates.+

Yes, Fleishman in Macworld agrees with you. He thinks that because TM doesn't let you specify when or how often to perform backups, it could "overwhelm" a network with a number of 802.11g devices (not your problem given that you're on an 802.11n network). Nevertheless, he thinks Apple could add an Advanced button to TM allowing for backups when the network isn't busy, etc.

Thanks for giving me more incentives for getting TC.

tele_player has it right: Those running on a 800.11g network will like the idea of getting a device that functions both as a faster AEBS and an ext HD.

May 16, 2008 5:37 PM in response to tele_player

tele_player,

Given my 800.11g network (comprised of an older AEBS and an AX), I'm assuming TC will also have to run at that speed?

The only way to upgrade it would be to retire both my AEBS and my AX, and set up my network with TC as my AEBS, right? I'm wondering if I would need an AX with this setup? Doesn't the upgraded network (besides being faster) also extend the range of the signal?

Jul 9, 2008 3:41 PM in response to WildBill

WildBill,

I have a 500GB TC, and I have to unfortunately report that my wireless system slows down pretty significantly during the hourly backups. I have a Macbook 2GHz Core 2 Duo w/ 2GB RAM, and my network includes the TC, an Airport Express, and two printers--one on each of the two routers.

Today I was attempting to troubleshoot my network and reset the passwords when disaster struck. Time Machine wouldn't mount the TC harddrive (no error message, just nothing!), and I discovered another thread that said that the sparsebundle file names can become corrupted, and the posters there recommended renaming the sparsebundle and removing the bad apostrophes. I did that, and (yay!), Time Machine was able to mount TC. But (boo!), my TC was BLANK and about 6 weeks worth of TC backups bit the dust.

Long story short--it's buggy, and it seems to be slowing down my connection speeds. An trying to "troubleshoot" ended up shooting me in the foot.

Time Capsule backup every hour slows network considerably?

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