Accessing network drive with an iPad

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Accessing network drive with an iPad

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone had a recommendation for an App (iPhone apps okay) that will allow me to copy photos from the iPad to a network drive.

I would like to use my iPad to store photos while travelling, and ideally I would like to have a second backup. I thought I could bring an Airport Express and a portable USB drive to create a remote network drive. I would then like to be able to copy photos from my iPad to that network drive.

I looked at the Apps "EZShare" and "iStorage" which seem like they might do what I need, but it was hard to tell for sure from reading their documentation. I tried "EZShare Files" (the free version), and I was able to copy photos to a storage location on the iPad and access those from my computer, but I wasn't able to copy directly to a network drive (which I did find and was able to browse). Maybe I need the "Pro" upgrade for that?

The iPad seems like a great photographers companion while travelling, but I shoot RAW and even my 64GB iPad will fill up on a longer trip. And even if it doesn't fill up, I feel much safer having as many backups of my photos as possible.

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.3), iPhone, iMac, iPod touch, iPad 3G, Apple TV

Posted on May 5, 2010 4:18 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

adsltd

Level 1

0 points

Sep 12, 2012 4:49 PM in response to Shadow99999

Hi

I have also been looking at this and thought I would share my solution in case it is of any interest...

- I use the camera connection kit to import my photos from the camera

- I then flick through the "last import" folder to get rid of any rubbish shots

- When I want to backup to remote drive I use "FTP On The Go Pro" to upload latest images.

I have an Iomega home media drive which has an FTP server feature and this seems to work well. The FTP app is not cheap but is very good and makes light work of selecting and copying all the necessary files.

Hope this helps.

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Answer 2

Dec 27, 2015 8:34 PM in response to kcisam

Filebrowser is brilliant. I have a HD connected to an Airport extreme and I can access all files on the local network with my ipad. NICE!

Thanks for the post.

Shane

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Answer 3

Jun 5, 2010 9:56 PM in response to Avatron

Dave,

I use your products every day, and love them. What the original poster wants to do is not take another computer on the road, but just an Airport Express, and some kind of storage. I think as long as that storage can be accessed via FTP or SSH, he should be fine. I use AIR Sharing HD to connect back to me FTP server at home, but I am not transferring such large files.

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Answer 4

May 5, 2010 4:41 PM in response to Shadow99999

Try drop box, it's free.

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Answer 5

May 5, 2010 6:21 PM in response to Shadow99999

This might work for you: http://www.airstash.com/

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Answer 6

Guntis

Level 1

40 points

Feb 4, 2013 11:31 PM in response to Guntis

Sorry, forgot the link:

https://itunes.apple.com/lv/app/documents-by-readdle/id364901807?mt=8

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Answer 7

Shadow99999 Author

Level 1

127 points

May 5, 2010 5:24 PM in response to top_gizmo

Thanks, but I should have been more clear. I don't want to use an internet based network drive. I want to access a drive that is on my local network. The RAW files are 25Meg each and if I take 200 photos, that is 5GB of data. I don't want to push that kind of data to a cloud service.

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Answer 8

Shadow99999 Author

Level 1

127 points

May 5, 2010 7:34 PM in response to Jim VanLeeuwen

Thanks for the pointer ... it does seem like cool technology. However, it requires storing on SD cards. I'm looking for cheap and large storage (e.g. a $99 500GB Western Digital Passport drive). I already have an Airport Express, so if I could just create a network, connect my USB drive, and then transfer files to it, I would be happy.

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Answer 9

May 5, 2010 8:02 PM in response to Shadow99999

I've been looking for such a solution, too, but at a more casual pace. I've read a couple reviews so far, and the apps that seem to be pretty good at this are Air Sharing HD and Print Central for the iPad. I've not tried either yet, but you can read more at their respective websites.

Air Sharing
http://avatron.com/apps/

Print Central
http://mobile.eurosmartz.com/products/printcentral.html

There are some reviews available, too. And don't let the "Print" name throw you - it does file sharing, too!

HTH,

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Answer 10

Jul 12, 2012 9:02 AM in response to wsuranga

HI Suranga

I'm interested to know if you have managed to transfer files FROM the iPad TO the Network Drive as your post appears to suggest. I'm new to the iPad (got an iPad 2 for my birthday) and have been trying to find a way to transfer edited photos from my iPad straight onto my Network Drive (Seagate usb drive connected to a BrightBox router). This would be the ideal solution for me as now I am an iPad convert I hate firing up the laptop and having to wait around to see if it's gonna play today! I've looked everywhere to try and find a solution but I can't find a clear answer so I'm hoping you have solved it although I'm not going to hold my breath. If you have can you let me know how you did it and what your set up is please.

Regards

RIchard

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Answer 11

Jul 13, 2012 5:54 AM in response to wsuranga

HI Suranga

That's great, thanks for all the info. Now all I need to do is find out if my drive has FTP support which is all new to me (but I'm learning). I have the Orange Brightbox router and a standard Seagate 250Mb USB drive attached so I'm thinking that they may be found wanting!. However, I can view and transfer files both ways using the laptop (Vista) to access the drive so it seemed logical (in my ignorance) that I should be able to do the same on iPad (once I had achieved a download from the drive to the iPad). Why are these things never easy?

Regards

RIchard

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Answer 12

Suriname

Level 1

0 points

Aug 1, 2012 4:20 AM in response to Shadow99999

Has anyone used the Buffalo Drive web acces with there ipad. I am trying to achive two things

.

1) access files on the Buffalo drive from the Ipad, which I can likely do via the web access function provide by buffalo and presumably use Air Share to access the Buffalo directly at home via WIFI

Correct???

2) second is to backup the Ipad onto the Buffalo drive (application and all). Not sure what to use to do this or if it is possible.

I am assuming that I can just leave the Buffalo on its own (not connect to a running PC) since the Buffalo has an ethernet port and is assined a local IP address, as is my PC when connected to the router/ADSL

Any comments on this ladies and gents, as to if this is the way to go or someone has done similiar.

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Answer 13

Gaffa

Level 1

27 points

May 5, 2010 6:31 PM in response to Jim VanLeeuwen

That is very cool. I don't have a use for it, but that's cool!

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Answer 14

Iankipub

Level 1

0 points

Jul 16, 2012 11:49 AM in response to kcisam

Cannot understand why the iPad does not have an integral file browser - eg equivalent of windows file manager or equivalents on Linus. If there is one it is not at all obvious

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Answer 15

yakapo

Level 1

0 points

Apr 24, 2013 6:15 AM in response to yakapo

Correction it's called "fileexplorer" not program files.

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