I've got a 4th gen Airport Extreme (A1354) (MC340LL/A).
Currently I'm using a 2TB Western Digital USB2 hard drive connected externally.
I'd like to add a larger capacity hard drive so that I can back up more computers. What's the maximum HD size and configuration I can add to this Airport?
Thanks!
Seth
For now, the nearest available information may not be fully suggestive of
the possible largest or unofficially supported external HDD it may use...
Since a similar-spec Time Capsule has the option for either a 2TB or 3TB
internal HDD as part of that configuration, the safe bet suggests 3TB.
There may be an issue with larger drives and multiple computers using
one large drive, since I'd seen some mention of a few user problems when
two or more Macs were sharing Time Machine storage on one larger HDD.
And someone may know of the information about a software utility that may
be able to help keep track of the files or organize them, in such a situation.
In passing, some weeks ago, I'd read about such a utility to help alleviate an
issue that may result from two or more Macs with Time Machine files on the
same backup hard disk drive. But did not keep the link nor retain those details.
If you did get a larger external hard disk drive of sufficient spin rate RPM
and cache size, then it may be a simple matter to format it with partitions
so extra space may be in reserve or any capacity unable to work with
the total configuration could be used for general storage, apart from TM.
Hopefully there is a good drive available for that application.
I'd inquire of OWC as they have some examples of hardware.
Good luck & happy computing! 🙂
Thanks. Currently I have several Macs all backing up to the 2TB Western Digital drive with no issues (and no partitions). I'd like to double to 4tb or even a 5tb drive. Short of purchasing and trying it would be great to know if others have been successful moving a drive of that size.
You can use 4TB.. going over that size is for the moment more expensive per TB than buying 2x 4TB..
I have run 4TB Touro with TC and the airport should be the same. You do need 7.6.1 or 7.6.4 firmware (but the later is more problematic).
You do need to be careful as not all USB work and some USB2 will not handle disks over 2TB.. so there are some hassles in there.
Max Hard Drive Size for Airport Extreme 4th Generation (A1354)?
