can time capsule be used as an external h d?

AFAIK, yes, you can.

The Time Capsule was designed for your backups.......not "original" or "master" files and especially not "working" libraries.

The fact that you can do something......try to use the Time Capsule like a normal hard drive.......does not mean to imply that it would be a smart thing to do.

There are always some significant downsides when users try to get the Time Capsule to so something that it was not designed to do. If you can provide some details about how you plan to use the Time Capsule as a regular drive, we can likely give you a better idea about whether it would be an OK idea, or a bad idea to try to use it that way.

Hello everyone!

I have a similar question: I want to use my time capsule for backups with time machine and to store some files for which I don't have space on my macbook. It's mainly photos and audiobooks that take up a lot of space. I would like to store them on my time capsule so that I can occasionally access them without having to connect an external hard drive via usb. Since the files wouldn't be stored on my macbook, I want to store them on another external hard drive (in addition to the time capsule), too. Can I connect an external hd to the tc, store the files on my tc and let it back them up on the external hd? Or would I have to put the files on the external hd and back it up via time machine on my tc instead?

What would you recommend?

Thank you very much in advance for your help!

I kind of disagree with this.

At its heart the Time Capsule implements an AFP server. The fact that Time Machine running on your client mounts this server and creates a sparse bundle backup is independent of that fact - ostensibly, what I'm saying is that the Time Machine is doing exactly what the OP wants (a place to store files on the network) and it's only the client-side Time Machine software that makes it any different.

The fact that the Time Machine volume can be setup as a shared network drive tells me Apple are OK with this too.

It's mainly photos and audiobooks that take up a lot of space.

As Bob stated above.. if you are talking about iphoto (or photos) library that would be a very bad idea. If they are raw files from your camera.. then storing them on the TC is ok.. as long as you copy it to the Mac to edit.. and then copy it back again for storage.. do not operate live files over the network.. especially wireless.. it has a nasty tendency to drop the connection and corrupt the file.

Audiobooks again depends on the format.. standard files are fine.. your whole iTunes library is questionable.

Since the files wouldn't be stored on my macbook, I want to store them on another external hard drive (in addition to the time capsule), too.

Glad to see you are at least thinking about backups.

Can I connect an external hd to the tc, store the files on my tc and let it back them up on the external hd? Or would I have to put the files on the external hd and back it up via time machine on my tc instead?

The TC has no brains.. it is not a NAS and was never designed as one.. and the biggest missing feature is the total inability to back itself up.

Nor can Time Machine backup network drives.

That means you either plug the USB drive into the Mac occasionally so you can do a manual backup.. not a good idea.

Or you buy a 3rd party backup software like Carbon Copy Cloner.. it will be able to backup files on the TC to a USB drive plugged into the TC.. with the following proviso.. do this over wireless.. and you will die of old age to complete large backups.. every file must be copied TC--Laptop.. Laptop--TC.. TC--USB drive.. over wireless this is how to achieve slowness.. doing it by ethernet will be 10x faster but do not read FAST.. just before you die of old age.

The fact that the Time Machine volume can be setup as a shared network drive tells me Apple are OK with this too.

Apple specifically state not to put iphoto on network drives.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS5168 Although mostly about FAT32 it adds network drives.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1198

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.

Apple have not come out and said much about photos.. except that it is intended for using on icloud or locally.

🙂 Thanks a lot for your help!

It's raw files from my camera that I just need to store somewhere and I am not planning on streaming my iTunes library from the time capsule neither 😉

I am definitely going to check out Carbon Copy Cloner (they even have discounts for students). If I understand correctly, I could also put the files on my external hd and take the hd off the list of excluded drives in time machine so that it gets backed up on my tc while it's plugged into my macbook, right?

I could also put the files on my external hd and take the hd off the list of excluded drives in time machine so that it gets backed up on my tc while it's plugged into my macbook, right?

Yes, that is correct.. but I recommend CCC as a better way to keep your TM backed up boot drive separate.. TM can be messy when you connect and disconnect a disk all the time.. and since the files on the external drive are not changing a lot.. I would tend to use CCC .. TM is great for the main boot drive to recover working files.. but even then using CCC with USB drive to create a bootable clone .. on the first partition.. and then use the rest of the drive for your offloaded files.. works really well.. the fact that you have a proper clone of your boot drive that is bootable itself makes testing a backup a 5min job.

Yes, that makes sense... definitely another big plus for CCC! Thank you!