Can a Time Capsule hard drive store external memory besides backups (eg. HD Video, iTunes library, ETC.)

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Can a Time Capsule hard drive store external memory besides backups (eg. HD Video, iTunes library, ETC.)

I'm going to get a MacBook Pro soon, and I'm going to get the 256GB Flash Storage, but I will need extra memory, mostly because I edit a lot of HD video. I may store my iTunes library, but I'm not sure on that one (I currently have almost no songs, and my 254 GB hard drive is almost full on my PC! I do not plan to transfer all of my files, though, but in then long run, I will need more memory.)

I know that time capsule has 1 TB of memory, and it is marked as an external hard drive, and I know it's meant to store backups of your computer, but can it store things other than backups, and serve as a full external hard drive (Like a giant USB flashdrive), and store thing like HD Video, music, and any other sort of file?

I just need an external hard drive, and time capsule seems like a good option, but I need to know if it's for backups exclusively, or if you can store anything on it (Again, like a giant USB flashdrive!).

Thank you for reading, and I look forward to seeing the replys!

--Wubadub

Posted on Dec 2, 2012 5:53 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 2, 2012 3:47 PM in response to wubadub

Ok.. the TC can be used as network hard drive.. you can put all your files on it.

BUT.. please think carefully about this.

The Time Capsule is designed for Time Machine as backup target.. principally for wireless laptops.

If you use large files remotely.. and by wireless .. they will take forever to load.. the TC is slow but wireless is even slower.

It is not a giant USB.. but you can buy a cheap USB drive now that we have USB3 on MBP latest version?? it is fast and cheap and a local drive.

Time Capsule has no raid.. no backup.. no protection against failure of the disk or the device or accidental deletion or corruption. That makes it unsuitable as a file store.

Apple do not sell a file store..

You can buy a true NAS.. Synology or QNAP.. Netgear also make some good ones.

Or you can get a Mac Mini and run it as file store.. with or without a server version OS.

Anything that offers you proper backup and fast file transfer.. which the TC fails to do.

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Answer 2

Dec 4, 2012 11:15 AM in response to wubadub

I also use TC as NAS and as TM Backup.

The TM backups my two iMacs, and the TC provides files to both macs, like films, music etc.
So to be safe, I use another Harddisk, I connect it to the TC and I backup also these files from the NAS to the Harddisk. I use iBackup for this task, once a week.

And I think I found a way to limit the size of the sparsebundle on the TC. Because normally it will grow and grow and you won't have space for other things on the TC.

Watch the tutorial, if you like to know how:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTaNMkmQUEk

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