mschilling Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 I'd like to do the TM backups using a network drive. Has anyone tried it? The boxes are getting cheap enough to use and put a couple drives in. Then using the incremental backups automatically would be a reality for laptops connected wirelessly. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/92501-using-time-machine-with-a-network-attached-storage-hd/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gujal Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 If Apple's TimeCapsule can work, then a NAS should work Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/92501-using-time-machine-with-a-network-attached-storage-hd/#findComment-662134 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mschilling Posted March 11, 2008 Author Share Posted March 11, 2008 I did some google reading on the subject. I read that TM will not see a generic NAS device without hacking the system, and they show that hack being done, although I can't locate that thread anymore. If you buy a Time Capsule from Apple for $300 for a 500GB that should work fine, but seems like overkill using it just for backup since it includes a wireless router, and I already have a spare hdd I can use. I would prefer to simply connect the NAS by ethernet directly to my existing wireless router. This looks like an emerging technology, and the market is bursting with new products to make network storage "easy". I found one NAS device, don't see the price, that looked good and seemed to endorse TM backups, but it says the NDAS technology isn't totally compatible with Leo yet, but they're working on it. http://www.newertech.com/products/ministackNAS.php Even though they say "Time Machine Ready!" on their description they go on to say, "NDAS not supported under Mac OS 10.5 "Leopard" at this time - Driver support expected sometime 1Q 2008" with a link to a site that shows a alpha driver. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/92501-using-time-machine-with-a-network-attached-storage-hd/#findComment-662722 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mschilling Posted March 18, 2008 Author Share Posted March 18, 2008 From what I read, you're better off waiting until a better Time Capsule comes out. Swappable hdd, etc., would be nice, etc. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/92501-using-time-machine-with-a-network-attached-storage-hd/#findComment-671758 Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyescribe Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 I bought an Other World Computing NDAS drive last fall to use for wireless backups under Tiger. Leopard broke the NDAS driver so I could only use it for Time Machine backups by plugging it into my Macbook and using it as a standard USB drive. (Naturally, my Macbook's hard drive crashed during after I upgraded to Leopard and I lost a week's work because I'd been lax about backing up.) However, the manufacturer of the OWC drive, Ximeta, recently posted a Leopard driver for its NDAS drives. I installed the driver and NDAS utility last night. It seems to work perfectly now over WiFi for Time Machine backups. It's been less than 24 hours, though, so I'll have to see if anything gets weird. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/92501-using-time-machine-with-a-network-attached-storage-hd/#findComment-714677 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mschilling Posted April 18, 2008 Author Share Posted April 18, 2008 Got a link to your unit? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/92501-using-time-machine-with-a-network-attached-storage-hd/#findComment-714715 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDuck Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 I can confirm NDAS TM backup success with my Blacbook running 10.5.2. I ordered the miniStack NAS enclosure, popped an ATA drive in (tight fit!) and plugged it into my wireless router. Then, in Leo: The installation CD that came with the miniStack didn't have OSX drivers on it, so I installed the drivers found here (scroll almost to the bottom of the page, under "Software" - "miniStack NAS Drivers"). Opened up the NDAS Utility, plugged in the keys from the bottom of the miniStack and registered with no fuss. Told it to mount read/write and she pops up on the desktop. TM recognizes this and asks if I want to use it to backup my computer, so I say "Yes, please." ...and it just worked. No hacking or slashing, just a hot dose of Mac convenience My one worry is that the drivers warn that no more than one Mac can have write access to the network drive at the same time without risking data corruption. I'll be trying to plan around that when my wife gets her Macbook in.... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/92501-using-time-machine-with-a-network-attached-storage-hd/#findComment-736351 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mschilling Posted May 5, 2008 Author Share Posted May 5, 2008 Wow, that sounds like an infomercial, good stuff! Looks like they got their Leo driver written like they promised. Looks like you cannot share more than one hard disk at a time with it, and the hdd has to be IDE. Nice that it works. How was the speed? Does the drive sleep while the unit is connected, but not in use, like overnight? I've noticed that my external usb hdd will only sleep if my laptop is on, and will keep spinning and using power after turning the laptop off. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/92501-using-time-machine-with-a-network-attached-storage-hd/#findComment-736498 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDuck Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Heh, I aim to be thorough. I don't have an Australian accent, though I haven't watched the speed closely, but I wanna say I get around 2MB/s (don't quote me!) on wireless-g while doing my normal volume of chatting and browsing the 'tubes. I did my initial backup via USB because I'm not a masochist I believe it does sleep when it's inactive. I usually switch it off when the house is empty or dormant, though, just to save a few pennies and abate any paranoia of unauthorized access. The fan on the enclosure has two manual settings (High/Low) and Auto, which operates in tandem with the thermal sensor that you just tape to the top of the HDD. I've been pleased to not hear it kick on too often, especially considering that it's a plastic enclosure. Drawbacks: It's louder than I like, unfortunately, which seems odd to me since that HDD was whisper quiet in my G4 *shrug* The power cable isn't terribly secure in it's socket. I've accidentally pulled it out with little effort a couple times while moving the unit around to access the back. No worries of it falling out while the unit is sitting there doing it's normal thing, though. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/92501-using-time-machine-with-a-network-attached-storage-hd/#findComment-736628 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mschilling Posted May 6, 2008 Author Share Posted May 6, 2008 My menu meters show around 950 kbs transfer from computer to computer on my wireless setup, so 2M sounds great to me. To check if the hdd is sleeping, feel the case. It should be room temp to the touch, as if it's off. When it's spinning it uses around 10W vs. only 2W when asleep, and will feel warm to the touch when running using 10W. Sounds good if the fan isn't on, meaning it's cool. So when the fan set on auto, cuts in, it sounds loud? Is it quieter set on low, or does the fan run constantly on the low setting? With two macs, it sounds impossible to prevent them from both backing up simultaneously, when using time machine on each one. Would it work with two, or do they say your files will be corrupt? That sounds harsh! Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/92501-using-time-machine-with-a-network-attached-storage-hd/#findComment-736891 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDuck Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 It definitely sleeps when inactive. It hasn't sounded very loud lately, either, so maybe I was imagining things.... The driver installer warns you that you can't write with two different Macs without risking data loss, so for now, I just make sure the wife and I don't have it mounted as read/write at the same time. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/92501-using-time-machine-with-a-network-attached-storage-hd/#findComment-744487 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mschilling Posted May 29, 2008 Author Share Posted May 29, 2008 Thanks! Let us know how it goes. Maybe test out running the two at the same time and see what happens. You can always recreate the backups, if it doesn't work. Have you checked for a new driver that supports multi tasking? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/92501-using-time-machine-with-a-network-attached-storage-hd/#findComment-761980 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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