My Time Capsule seems to be backing up erratically not using the one per hour and then one per day for days before today. Would consider replacing it with another network accessible drive. No need for media or any other function just backup and need at least 2TB, prefer. What's the best and easiest option to work with Time Machine?
iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.15
The best, fastest, most reliable and easiest way to back up is connect a USB drive directly to your Mac. It also happens to be the least expensive as well.
Replacing the Time Capsule will be a challenge since the product was unique. It was the only product ever offered by any manufacturer that combined a WiFi router and a hard drive in one single package.
The closest that you will come to a Time Capsule would be a two piece solution........a Synology router or one of the upper end Asus routers that support Time Machine backups to a separate hard drive connected to the USB port on the product.
Now, if you don't really need a router, a good solution would be a Network Attached Storage device, or NAS for short. The NAS will connect to your network WiFi router using an Ethernet cable, but network devices will be able to back up to the NAS over WiFi. Synology seems to be the most often mentioned and recommended NAS product on the forums, but there may be other choices as well.
Unfortunately, the NAS would very likely be the most expensive solution.
The best, fastest, most reliable and easiest way to back up is connect a USB drive directly to your Mac. It also happens to be the least expensive as well.
Replacing the Time Capsule will be a challenge since the product was unique. It was the only product ever offered by any manufacturer that combined a WiFi router and a hard drive in one single package.
The closest that you will come to a Time Capsule would be a two piece solution........a Synology router or one of the upper end Asus routers that support Time Machine backups to a separate hard drive connected to the USB port on the product.
Now, if you don't really need a router, a good solution would be a Network Attached Storage device, or NAS for short. The NAS will connect to your network WiFi router using an Ethernet cable, but network devices will be able to back up to the NAS over WiFi. Synology seems to be the most often mentioned and recommended NAS product on the forums, but there may be other choices as well.
Unfortunately, the NAS would very likely be the most expensive solution.
Does not seem to do as advertised deleting older backups to make room for newer ones
Time Machine will usually work OK if the Time Capsule is full and the new backup is a small incremental backup. But, Apple never told us that if the new backup is just a bit larger than normal, then Time Machine cannot delete enough data from the existing backup file to make room for the new backup.
About to get Samsung 2TB SSD and hook up direct via USB.
That should work very well and an SSD is certainly a better choice than a normal spinning disk. Unfortunately, the SSD will not back up any faster than a spinning disk since Time Machine backs up on the slow side of things.
Should I choose encryption?
Your call on that.
Does it cause unneccessary trouble?
No, other than backups will take about twice as long using encryption. The problem that most users have with encryption is that they forget the encryption password and cannot get into the disk later without the password. If you decide to go with encryption, be sure to write down the encryption password and keep it in a safe place.
If you are having problems with only 1 Mac backing up to the Time Capsule, then the issue is likely a software fault, likely with the Mac
If you are having problems with all of your Macs backing up the Time Capsule, then the issue is likely with the Time Capsule.
If you have only 1 Mac backing up, then that makes things more complicated to diagnose. Post back if this is the case and you want to dig deeper into the issue.
Finally, if the Time Capsule is 7-8 years old or older, it really is time to think about replacing the product.
Thanks so much! I guess other question is whether it is Time Capsule's problem or a problem with the time machine software on the Mac. Any way to tell the difference before I abandon the old time capsule??
It's probably older than that and I have had to wipe it a few times esp when it gets near full. Does not seem to do as advertised deleting older backups to make room for newer ones. About to get Samsung 2TB SSD and hook up direct via USB. Should I choose encryption? Does it cause unneccessary trouble?
Need to replace Time Capsule for Time Machine Backups -- Best Option?
