Want to backup a Seagate Wireless Plus to my Time Capsule via Time Machine

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Want to backup a Seagate Wireless Plus to my Time Capsule via Time Machine

Hi,

I currently have my macbook and an external drive with movies backed up via time machine to a Time Capsule. I want to replace the storage device with a Seagate wireless plus in order to both store and stream data with other platforms in the house. I still want to regularily back up this wireless storage device to Time Capsule as a safety net. Can I do this wirelessly or does the new Seagate drive need to be physically connected to my Mac or to the USB port on the TC? I don't want it to be part of the TC, I just want it to be a disk available for back up to the TC.

Time Capsule & Seagate Wireless Plu

Posted on Sep 3, 2014 2:26 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 3, 2014 2:50 PM in response to Kapuhonu01

Time Machine is totally restricted to backup of local drives. It cannot backup the Seagate even if you plugged it in as TM also cannot backup a drive in any format except HFS+.

Plugging the Seagate into the TC won't work. You cannot access the TC via its USB..

I am not sure of all the ins and outs of the seagate wireless.. but it might not really be the best product to do this.

A WD MyCloud as a NAS plugged into the TC to get wireless connectivity strike me as a better option.. but you haven't said what kind of things you intend to do. My ways to skin the cat.. as they say.

The seagate should have some backup built into it.

Or you can use Carbon Copy Cloner from a Mac.. it is much more flexible than TM and can backup network drives to another network location.. but I would not do it that way. I would certainly be using built in backup to keep the load off the network.

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Answer 2

Kapuhonu01 Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 3, 2014 3:19 PM in response to LaPastenague

Thank you for the consideration and thoughts.

I too am not certain that I am going about putting together the best system...

I want to use things I currently have which is basically the Time Machine. I use it as my router and as my back up for my MACBook and a USB hard drive.

I do not use my time machine for really anything else and all back up to the machine via my MacBook is wireless at this point mainly because of lack of wired drops.

My goal is to back up my data including my music, photos and movies. I have a lot of the media on my USB hard drive right now. I like the idea of having a wireless portable drive (like Seagate) where I can access for file download or upload from multiple devices while in range of the unit's wifi. I would plan on connecting it to my MAC Book for any really large file transfers to the portable drive. If I kept it as a USB drive then no doubt I could just back up as I've been doing, but here is the issue.

My laptop goes to sleep or I disconnect and forget to unmount the drive - I am wanting to get away from having something tethered to my laptop..other than power at times.

I also like the idea of being able to take the wireless portable drive wtih me so I can edit photos or view photos from my other laptop on the road.

If I go with a NAS drive - I can connect that to the TC for connectivity, but then how to incorporate the data on that NAS drive onto the TC as part of the backup. From what you say - the disk has to be considered a local drive so that means I need to have whatever I use plugged into my laptop. Maybe I should move on from TC and get some other server device? Losing the movies won't be the end, but losing the photos and home videos would be:(

I appreciate your further thoughs given hopefully more insight into my intended use.

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Answer 3

Sep 3, 2014 6:34 PM in response to Kapuhonu01

Have a long hard think about this.

Reading the review of the seagate, the problems with using a wireless device like this are great..

This device is trying to be a network device.. that is the only way you can connect to wireless.. but at the same time, provide some access to the internet.

Wireless on your computers/idevices cannot connect to two wireless AP's at the same time.. That makes the Seagate useless.

Read the review. http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/review/seagate/wireless_plus_1tb_hard_drive/457705 /

What it is apparently doing is providing a link to your main wireless router.. ie the TC.. so you can have internet at the same time.. but note.. this is extremely slow.. as noted in the review.. the internet speed is really poor due to the lack of proper networking. You are using a box which is effectively a hotspot.. but is linked by wireless to your main router.. If you want a definition of how NOT to use wireless in a network this is it.

Without ethernet connection forget it. To simply have a wireless hotspot to carry around with you.. IMHO there are lower cost and superior ways.. since wireless is not of much use and will be slow.. plug a 2.5" drive directly into your computer. Or use cloud services with a 3G or 4G modem or tether to your phone. Don't forget you can carry around a pretty big store of files now in SD cards.

I also like the idea of being able to take the wireless portable drive wtih me so I can edit photos or view photos from my other laptop on the road.

So you cannot plug the USB drive into the other machine?? Wireless hotspot usage without 3G connection for on road seems to be an expense for not much gain.. but of course if you want it for this great.. just don't expect to put it into the network easily other than by USB. And for that to work I would need to study the specs more closely.. but if you cannot format it HFS+ don't bother. Using iphoto on non-HFS+ drives is not recommended.

If I go with a NAS drive - I can connect that to the TC for connectivity, but then how to incorporate the data on that NAS drive onto the TC as part of the backup.

CCC is $40 software.. it will do whatever you like.

but losing the photos and home videos would be:(

You must be very careful with iphoto library.. and videos more than likely.

iPhoto: Issues with FAT32-formatted drives

iPhoto: Sharing libraries among multiple users

This article states..

It's recommended that you store your iPhoto library on a locally mounted hard drive. Storing your iPhoto library on a network share can lead to poor performance, data corruption, or data loss.

You are playing with fire using the Seagate to edit iphoto library.. and it is important you realise the risk.

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