Time Capsule sharing Time Machine responsibilities with Ext HD?

Hi LRicci,

You can use your Time Capsule to backup multiple computers using the Time Machine application.

http://www.apple.com/timecapsule/backup.html

These articles from our website should get you started:

Backing up with Time Capsule for the first time

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1175

If you need additional assistance with backing up your iMac, please contact us and a Technical Advisor assist.

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Hope this information helps ...

- Judy

LRicci wrote:

. . .

Set it up to backup the second iMac (2013), and was offered a choice to allow both to share the responsibility of copying files. Does this sound right? The two drives are showing up, but I find no mention of this option in the manual. If this is true, are there any downsides to having backups split between two HDs? Seems it is better redundancy, but wonder if there are any gotcha's I should know about.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean. If you mean that when you clicked Select Backup Disk, you saw multiple possible destinations like this:

That's just showing all the possible destinations OSX can find at the moment, so you can pick the one you want.

However, effective with Mountain Lion, Time Machine does allow you to select more than one destination. If you do, TM will alternate between (available) destinations. See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #34 for details, instructions, and considerations.

I have the Air Capsule attached to the router, which it asked for during setup. I assume I can remove that cable, but the manual doesn't mention at what point that can be done. I'll leave it until the backup for iMac 2 is finished, but is it alright to just unplug it afterwards?

If you mean the cable from a router to the Time Capsule, that depends on your setup. A Time Capsule includes a wireless router. Most folks simply plug their Time Capsule into their modem, and let the TC provide the wireless network. In that case, the connection between modem and TC must be by Ethernet cable.

But you can use a separate wireless router, so the TC is just a "node" on the network. In that case, you need to set the Time Capsule up in "Bridge mode" so it doesn't also try to provide a wireless network. And the connection between the router and TC can be via Ethernet or wireless (although wireless will be much slower).

If I unplug the Time Capsule, it turns it off. Does Time Machine need to be set up again after I relocate the Time Capsule it and plug it in again?

No.

LRicci wrote:

. . .

Unfortunately you alerted me to a question I can't answer. Did I set it up as a node or a network? it looks like I need to do some investigation on how I set up Time Capsule.

Unless you have a separate wireless router, or a combination modem and wireless router, the TC is supplying the network (that's the default when setting it up, too -- you have to specifically select Bridge Mode via Airport Utility).

Your TC should have come with a small Setup Guide booklet. If it's a recent one, here's a PDF: http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/time_capsule_4th_gen_setup.pdf

The diagram on page 16 shows the usual setup, where the TC is supplying the network. If that's your setup, the TC must remain connected to the modem via an Ethernet cable.

As long as you have WIFI on, though, the TC does not have to be connected to your Mac via Ethernet cable after the initial setup.

Message was edited by: Pondini

LRicci wrote:

I couldn't figure out where to find the network vs. node setup, and didn't find it in the Setup Guide. Just got off the phone with Apple Support.

I've never understood why it's not mentioned there . . . it does get complicated, but there ought to be at least a link to a support article.

My setup is not supported by Apple, but serves the specific reason I bought the Air Capsule.

What setup is that?

A robbery nearby cleaned out every Apple product, but they overlooked the Time Capsule that was apart from the computers, so the victims were able to resurrect everything. I bought the Time Capsule to backup the computers from a safe distance, without being next to any of them.

Eeek! Good plan! 🙂

So my setup will work, unless the internet connection goes down and takes TC with it.

Losing the connection to the Internet shouldn't affect the wireless network or backups, unless you're doing something rather unusual.