Apple introduces 2TB Time Capsule backup appliance

[AppleInsider]

Apple doubled the capacity on its Time Capsule router with integrated hard drive Thursday, giving users a full 2 terabytes of storage in the top-of-the-line model.

The new model is available for $499 from Apple.

Rumors of a 2TB Time Capsule first broke this April, when a picture of a box with the expanded capacity first appeared at ClubMac. At $499, the 2TB model has replaced the price point of the 1TB model. The lower-end Time Capsule is now available for $299.

Earlier this year, the company introduced new AirPort Extremes and Time Capsules with dual-band support. The new models allow simultaneous 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz dual-band networking. With dual-band, base stations can simultaneously support iPhones and other 802.11b/g devices operating at 2.4 GHz, while also broadcasting 802.11n wide signals in the 5GHz band to maximize throughput for notebooks and devices such as Apple TV.

Time Capsule drives were also made accessible over the Internet for MobileMe subscribers. Additionally, the new Guest Network feature allows users to set up a secondary network for friends and visitors with Internet-only access without handing out a WiFi password.

Time Capsule pairs the existing AirPort Extreme with a hard drive to serve as a backup appliance for Leopard machines running Time Machine, in addition to acting as a simple file and print server. It is offered for both Mac and Windows users, although Windows PCs (or Macs not running Leopard) won't have Time Machine and therefore will access it only as a regular file and print server.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[lilgto64]

Why does Apple keep making products that I want to buy? I really can't afford this right now and already have an Airport Extreme with externally attached 500GB hard drive - then again I have only 100GB free space on it already - and I would have one less device (with USB and power cord) and maybe it would be faster. and the guest network feature is nice. and I could sell the old devices.

[NOFEER]

doesn't your setup backup the same? can't you daisy chain, i agree, gee 500 for the setup
i still think apple should make a home server with switch out drives, so two can mirror and can add others
could you use the usb powered drives say from iomega (i have those) and daisy chain those
but adding storage should be easier

[Takeo]

Time Capsule = Sloooooooooooooooow

[UnexpectedBill]

Originally Posted by lilgto64

Why does Apple keep making products that I want to buy?

After a little over a year's worth of Time Capsule use, I'm not sure you really do want to buy one.

I put two units into service, each of them backing up about six or seven computers apiece. I "staggered" the initial backups so that the units would not be overloaded. Even with just one computer backing up at a time, the backup was unbelievably slow, and that was over a gigabit LAN. Other systems with locally attached disks were faster. The only bottleneck I can see would be the processor used in the Time Capsule.

Some computers never worked properly with Time Capsule. The issues I saw most were backups that stalled for no reason, sudden prompts for the Time Capsule password, and sparse disk images that became corrupted. It didn't matter if the computer was an older PPC model or a new Intel system.

A year and two months out of warranty, one of the Time Capsule units died with a flashing yellow light. Opening it up revealed some kind of a reaction that had taken place in the thermal transfer pads--a kind of oil had leaked out of them and covered the circuit board. Apple has been unwilling to even offer a pro-rated price on a new one.

Even when they work, these things run frightfully hot.

One unit still survives and works about as well as it ever did. Which is really too bad, as this could have been such a cool idea...

[lilgto64]

Actually I have an externally FireWire drive that I use for TimeCapsule - the drive I have attached to the Airport is for file archive - ISO images. And actually having the external drive is nice since I can unplug it from the Airport and plug it directly into a system when I need to do a full backup before a clean install or hard drive replacement and that is way faster than doing it over ethernet. so I will not run out and buy one of these - but may someday - gotta get my broken iPod fixed and my iPhone 2G reception issue addressed first.

[macxpress]

Originally Posted by Takeo

Time Capsule = Sloooooooooooooooow

Not! Mine isn't slow at all. The initial backup takes a couple hours, but other than that its fast. Snow Leopard is supposed to improve Time Machine backup/restore speeds.

[floccus]

Nice update, but when the hell are they ever going to update the AppleTV?!?! 40GB on the low end and only 160 for the "high end"??? I know its not a big product in terms of sales, and there may be a much improved version in the pipe, but come on... at least update the HD to a respectable size and I may think of getting one...

As for the Timecapsule being slow, yeah, it is when you're doing the initial transfer, and if you're backing up large files over wireless, but I've found that not having it update my scratch folders where I move large dataset files around keeps the versions I care about backed up and performance in a good (enough) range.

[akf2000]

Is there a way to copy across a backup from one TC to another? If I got the new one will I lose all my backup history?

[goodcow]

Originally Posted by floccus

Nice update, but when the hell are they ever going to update the AppleTV?!?! 40GB on the low end and only 160 for the "high end"??? I know its not a big product in terms of sales, and there may be a much improved version in the pipe, but come on... at least update the HD to a respectable size and I may think of getting one...

As for the Timecapsule being slow, yeah, it is when you're doing the initial transfer, and if you're backing up large files over wireless, but I've found that not having it update my scratch folders where I move large dataset files around keeps the versions I care about backed up and performance in a good (enough) range.

Apple TV doesn't really need a big HD, I have the 40GB model, my iTunes library is nearing a gig and I just stream everything. Why would anyone buy the 160GB model?

[cashaww]

I use Drobo, and think this is a better long term investment. Has anyone attempted to use Drobo with Airport Extreme? Asking because I plan to play around with this very set up.

[chronster]

Originally Posted by goodcow

Why would anyone buy the 160GB model?

because they can

[DanaCameron]

Originally Posted by Takeo

Time Capsule = Sloooooooooooooooow

The initial backup can take a while depending on how much data you have to backup (which is why Apple recommends doing the initial backup via ethernet connection). But after that, I hardly notice wireless incremental backups. They, and my wifi/internet connection, are pretty snaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaapy.

I just got my TC a few months ago, and I was relieved to finally do it. I'd suffered an internal HDD failure the year before and lost a lot of data. Not again, knock wood. It does sting a little that Apple has already doubled TC's storage capacity for the same price I paid. But hey, that's gonna happen…

[brucep]

Originally Posted by UnexpectedBill

After a little over a year's worth of Time Capsule use, I'm not sure you really do want to buy one.

I put two units into service, each of them backing up about six or seven computers apiece. I "staggered" the initial backups so that the units would not be overloaded. Even with just one computer backing up at a time, the backup was unbelievably slow, and that was over a gigabit LAN. Other systems with locally attached disks were faster. The only bottleneck I can see would be the processor used in the Time Capsule.

Some computers never worked properly with Time Capsule. The issues I saw most were backups that stalled for no reason, sudden prompts for the Time Capsule password, and sparse disk images that became corrupted. It didn't matter if the computer was an older PPC model or a new Intel system.

A year and two months out of warranty, one of the Time Capsule units died with a flashing yellow light. Opening it up revealed some kind of a reaction that had taken place in the thermal transfer pads--a kind of oil had leaked out of them and covered the circuit board. Apple has been unwilling to even offer a pro-rated price on a new one.

Even when they work, these things run frightfully hot.

One unit still survives and works about as well as it ever did. Which is really too bad, as this could have been such a cool idea...

Are you kidding ??? could you please explain in great detail exactly how many? what kind of mac ? etc etc on each set up .

FULL DETAIL
and how you set this up at all .

[brucep]

Originally Posted by floccus

Nice update, but when the hell are they ever going to update the AppleTV?!?! 40GB on the low end and only 160 for the "high end"??? I know its not a big product in terms of sales, and there may be a much improved version in the pipe, but come on... at least update the HD to a respectable size and I may think of getting one...

As for the Timecapsule being slow, yeah, it is when you're doing the initial transfer, and if you're backing up large files over wireless, but I've found that not having it update my scratch folders where I move large dataset files around keeps the versions I care about backed up and performance in a good (enough) range.

I find its best to add a folder a week and judge the speed .

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by goodcow

Apple TV doesn't really need a big HD, I have the 40GB model, my iTunes library is nearing a gig and I just stream everything. Why would anyone buy the 160GB model?

My iTunes files alone are 80GB and growing. How do you stream the movies you own?

[Gustav]

Originally Posted by teckstud

My iTunes files alone are 80GB and growing. How do you stream the movies you own?

From your Mac or PC running iTunes. My iTunes files are well over 80GB, but I have no trouble using my 40GB Apple TV to access any files from my Mac.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by goodcow

Apple TV doesn't really need a big HD, I have the 40GB model, my iTunes library is nearing a gig and I just stream everything. Why would anyone buy the 160GB model?

What AppleTv needs is a way to store my files (especially movies) on it and it alone. My computer's hard drive is overloaded with entertainment for the AppleTV and shouldn't need to be.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by Gustav

From your Mac or PC running iTunes. My iTunes files are well over 80GB, but I have no trouble using my 40GB Apple TV to access any files from my Mac.

I'd rarther those file be on the AppleTV than my computer's drive anyway.

[Gustav]

Our office recently switched from a dedicated network drive to Chronosync to back up to a Mac with a dedicated drive. Chronosync was a bit slow, but then we added their backup agent to the Mac with the drive and it's much faster than any previous backup solution we've tried.

No, I don't work for them, just a satisfied customer.

[charlituna]

folks will get variable performance with the TC. this is true. all kinds of things can affect it. multiple computers can slow it down. having a non passworded wifi can slow it down (cause all your neighbor stealing internet off you bogs down the system). large files can slow it down. and yes they can run very warm since they are on all the time. so you want to be sure you aren't keeping it in an enclosed space, putting things on stop of it etc. good airflow is vital.

I work in a home studio so I have an odd set up. My itunes is on an external drive so I don't back it up via the TC. I work with video so the files are huge. I scratch to an external in mirrored raid so don't need the TC for that either. I use my TC for the wifi router and for backing up my basic files, email, the project files, ichat sessions with partners. that sort of stuff. and even then I have a secondary backup where about once every month I do a manual copy of my home folder just to be safe.

as for the fellow that had the melted TC. putting 6-7 computers on there might have been a culprit. the software is likely set up for on the hour, not an hour later. so all 7 were hitting it at the same time. you don't mention if you ever took it in while under warranty. so if you had a defective unit they couldn't replace it. and once out of warranty it's not a shock they wouldn't do anything for ya. that's why warranties are limited. sucks but that's the way the game works

[Wiggin]

Originally Posted by cashaww

I use Drobo, and think this is a better long term investment. Has anyone attempted to use Drobo with Airport Extreme? Asking because I plan to play around with this very set up.

I would think it would work as well as connecting any other external drive to an Extreme, assuming your Drobo's file system can suppose Apple's sparse disk image format. But in case you weren't aware, using a drive connected to an Extreme as a Time Machine backup disk is still officially an "unsupported" function as far as Apple is concerned. Many people do it, but I still occassionally read about people having problems. Although, usually it's impossible to tell from their posts if the problem was related to using the Extreme.

Personally, I use an old Mac mini to host my TM backup disks. You can daisy chain as many FW drives as you need for however many computers you are backing up over the network. If you already have a router, you can get a low-end (or used) mini plus a big external drive for not much more than the high-end Time Capsule and not have to worry about the TC's internal drive failing, slow speeds, limited capacity, etc. You can administer the mini via screen sharing and even have it accessible via MobileMe's Back to My Mac if you need to access your data while away (although you can't run a TM backup over Back to My Mac).

[emulator]

Originally Posted by Takeo

Time Capsule = Sloooooooooooooooow

but you have the apple logo on it.

seriously, for less than $450, you can get 2x 2Tb external WDs at amazon, and it's not even a good price. or get a fast D-Link NSE and put in any drive. $500+tax is a joke.

[Wiggin]

Originally Posted by teckstud

What AppleTv needs is a way to store my files (especially movies) on it and it alone. My computer's hard drive is overloaded with entertainment for the AppleTV and shouldn't need to be.

And FrontRow's capability to play any video file, including video_ts, in my Movies folder regardless of the format. There is no reason for it not to be able to play anything QuickTime can play, and having to convert everything to a different format is time consuming and lowers the quality.

[success]

What if I want a Time Capsule only for its wireless capabilities? I don't want to back up. I want to store.

[djames42]

Originally Posted by goodcow

Apple TV doesn't really need a big HD, I have the 40GB model, my iTunes library is nearing a gig and I just stream everything. Why would anyone buy the 160GB model?

Music, photos, and standard definition video stream fine. Most of the time I have little issue streaming HD video as well, although what little issue I do have with stuttering would likely be solved by upgrading my airport extreme with a dual channel version. However, I'd still like more than 160GB for two reasons:

• Seeking within HD video really doesn't work. I've found that my AppleTV stops seeking as soon as I've reached the end of its buffer (about 30-60 seconds worth of video). I can seek back and forth just fine with synced content.
• Storing non-iTunes formatted content locally. I use Boxee's interface for playing DivX content. I have to be very careful how much content I allow iTunes to sync over to ensure I have room to copy other media files over (I generally find that I have at most 2GB available for raw data transfers). I realise not many people do this, but having hacked my AppleTV to allow third-party tools has made an already incredible device that much better.

Besides, as cheap as 2.5" drives have become, there's absolutely no reason for Apple not to include a 320GB drive for the cost of the 160GB version (I'd be leery of the 500GB drives though - my AppleTV already runs hot enough).

[RichL]

Originally Posted by goodcow

Apple TV doesn't really need a big HD, I have the 40GB model, my iTunes library is nearing a gig and I just stream everything. Why would anyone buy the 160GB model?

I don't know. I'm the kind of guy who always goes for the top model on anything he buys but even I couldn't justify buying the 160GB Apple TV over the 40GB version. Neither are big enough for my entire collection so there was no point to go for the basic model.

I agree that the Apple TV needs an update though - either a price cut or a bump in HDD size. It's ridiculously expensive for what you get in the UK (the basic 40GB version costs over $320).

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by Wiggin

And FrontRow's capability to play any video file, including video_ts, in my Movies folder regardless of the format. There is no reason for it not to be able to play anything QuickTime can play, and having to convert everything to a different format is time consuming and lowers the quality.

Oh god is that's always ben major can of worms I'm hoping Snow Leopard will fix. That alone took most of the joy out of the APPle Tv - converting all those formats from DVD, Quicktime, iMovie, etc- constantly degrading the quality with each step. Then what plays on ATV, won't play on iPod, etc. What a friggin nightmare.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by Gustav

From your Mac or PC running iTunes. My iTunes files are well over 80GB, but I have no trouble using my 40GB Apple TV to access any files from my Mac.

But doesn't that defeat it's purpose? Why should you have to run 2 machines to watch something that 1 machine should handle by itself?

[bloggerblog]

Originally Posted by emulator

but you have the apple logo on it.

seriously, for less than $450, you can get 2x 2Tb external WDs at amazon, and it's not even a good price. or get a fast D-Link NSE and put in any drive. $500+tax is a joke.

Did you even read the feature list?! Apart from the ones AI listed, Time Capsule serves as a Print-Server too which doesn't require each computer to capture the printer before printing to it (almost all other router that support printers do this). It's the best long-term investment you can make, especially if you subscribe to MobileMe and have nerd friends who visit.

[NasserAE]

Originally Posted by success

What if I want a Time Capsule only for its wireless capabilities? I don't want to back up. I want to store.

Then you need Airport Extreme Base Station. Time Capsule is Airport Extreme Base Station with built in HDD.

[aaarrrgggh]

With the failure rates on 2TB drives, not sure this is such a good move. I think Apple would have been better off incorporating a drobo style RAID array, even if it is 2.5" drives. (Heck, with the drop in demand for 1.8" drives, maybe you could get a good deal and have a 6-pack!)

Does anybody know how this type of block-level rsync works if you have an error in the original block the data is stored in? I can't think of a mechanism that rsync would know that the data is bad.

[NasserAE]

Originally Posted by goodcow

Apple TV doesn't really need a big HD, I have the 40GB model, my iTunes library is nearing a gig and I just stream everything. Why would anyone buy the 160GB model?

Why not?! AppleTV needs a bigger HDD since the standard definition 1.5 hours movie is 1.3GB. You might not have more than 1GB in your iTunes library but most who have movies do. My iTunes library is more than 50GB and I have extra 40GB of movies stored in my Time Capsule because my MBP HDD is almost full. The only thing keeping me from getting AppleTV now is capacity. I need to be able to place all my movies in AppleTV HDD and not have to worry about keeping my MBP running. As far as I know, AppleTV only sync with one iTunes library and my wife has her different set of movies that will probably be another 40GB. It is more efficient to place all of those in centralized location such as AppleTV.

[razorpit]

Originally Posted by cashaww

I use Drobo, and think this is a better long term investment. Has anyone attempted to use Drobo with Airport Extreme? Asking because I plan to play around with this very set up.

I currently do that and it works okay. Time Machine backups are slow, but I don't know if it is any slower than using a TimeCapsule. I recently started running out of hard drive space on my laptop and started using the Drobo more as a storage for larger files and libraries. I pulled the Drobo from the AE and use it through the firewire connection and backups are blazingly fast. I use Backblaze for redundant offsite storage and by connecting the Drobo via firewire the data on it is also backed up. My only wish is that I have the newer dual band AE.

[NasserAE]

Originally Posted by UnexpectedBill

After a little over a year's worth of Time Capsule use, I'm not sure you really do want to buy one.

I put two units into service, each of them backing up about six or seven computers apiece. I "staggered" the initial backups so that the units would not be overloaded. Even with just one computer backing up at a time, the backup was unbelievably slow, and that was over a gigabit LAN. Other systems with locally attached disks were faster. The only bottleneck I can see would be the processor used in the Time Capsule.

Some computers never worked properly with Time Capsule. The issues I saw most were backups that stalled for no reason, sudden prompts for the Time Capsule password, and sparse disk images that became corrupted. It didn't matter if the computer was an older PPC model or a new Intel system.

A year and two months out of warranty, one of the Time Capsule units died with a flashing yellow light. Opening it up revealed some kind of a reaction that had taken place in the thermal transfer pads--a kind of oil had leaked out of them and covered the circuit board. Apple has been unwilling to even offer a pro-rated price on a new one.

Even when they work, these things run frightfully hot.

One unit still survives and works about as well as it ever did. Which is really too bad, as this could have been such a cool idea...

I have 1 MBP and 1 MB both each with 250GB HDD and I have one 500GB TC. I just checked and I have less than 10GB of space left in the TC HDD. How did you manage to back up 6 macs on a single TC?! If you have desktop Macs then you should have used external HDDs for each Mac because I don't think TC was designed to handle that much load simultaneously and over long period of time. TC is mainly beneficial to those who use portable Macs since they need to backup on the fly without worrying about cables.

[goodcow]

Originally Posted by NasserAE

Why not?! AppleTV needs a bigger HDD since the standard definition 1.5 hours movie is 1.3GB. You might not have more than 1GB in your iTunes library but most who have movies do.

Actually I meant to type nearing a terabyte.

I have HD seasons of shows I bought off iTMS ad I just let everything stream off the DroboPro connected to my MacBook Pro. It never stutters. So to me, a drive-less Apple TV would be sufficient.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by NasserAE

Why not?! AppleTV needs a bigger HDD since the standard definition 1.5 hours movie is 1.3GB. You might not have more than 1GB in your iTunes library but most who have movies do. My iTunes library is more than 50GB and I have extra 40GB of movies stored in my Time Capsule because my MBP HDD is almost full. The only thing keeping me from getting AppleTV now is capacity. I need to be able to place all my movies in AppleTV HDD and not have to worry about keeping my MBP running. As far as I know, AppleTV only sync with one iTunes library and my wife has her different set of movies that will probably be another 40GB. It is more efficient to place all of those in centralized location such as AppleTV.

But that's the problem- the centralized location is not the AppleTv but the HDD (usually the computer's) that has the original iTunes files on it. I for one wish I could put them (esp movies) onto the AppleTv and then delete them off my HD- they take up too much space.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by goodcow

Actually I meant to type nearing a terabyte.

I have HD seasons of shows I bought off iTMS ad I just let everything stream off the DroboPro connected to my MacBook Pro. It never stutters. So to me, a drive-less Apple TV would be sufficient.

But is it Green -to have 2 machines (3 including the TV itself) running to watch but one file?

[JakeTheRock]

Is it possible to get an AppleTV and just put in your own 320 or 500 gig hard drive?

[goodcow]

Originally Posted by JakeTheRock

Is it possible to get an AppleTV and just put in your own 320 or 500 gig hard drive?

Sure, but you'll void the warranty.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/23/h...your-apple-tv/