Time Capsule: everything you wanted to know
By Nilay Patel 
posted March 3rd 2008 11:00AM
posted March 3rd 2008 11:00AM
Obviously the Time Capsule hardware itself isn't all that interesting -- after all, it's basically just an Airport Extreme with a hard drive inside. It's quiet, but definitely not silent. It does have a fan that vents out the bottom, but overall it gets and stays pretty warm -- almost hot, even. Using Time Machine is just the same as if you were using a local drive, just a little slower depending on how fast your connection is. Over 802.11n WiFi the hit was only slightly noticeable while searching, and almost non-existent over Ethernet, large transfers excepted. There is one potentially troublesome issue, however: since OS X doesn't appear to prioritize network activity out of the box, Time Machine absolutely slams your network interface when it starts up. Although browsing and other casual activities are relatively unaffected, there is definitely a noticeable impact. Just to isolate what we're talking about, this is how fast our Ethernet-connected iMac was able to send data over the LAN when it was in the middle of its initial 10MB/s backup:
If you're editing huge files all day long, that could be a problem since Time Machine kicks in every hour (unless you hack it to slow down). If not, though, you probably won't even notice the switch from a local drive to Time Capsule -- we didn't experience any similar slowdowns after that initial backup. No, the big changes are in how Time Machine handles the Time Capsule drive, and the new, refined Airport Utility.
So what's the big change in how Time Machine handles Time Capsule drives? Nothing, apart from the fact that it actually sees them. Just like the computer-connected shared drive we've been backing up to for months, Time Machine mounts a sparse disk image from the TC drive, backs up, and unmounts it -- no secret sauce or voodoo involved, as far as we can tell.
Since both OS X and Windows see TC drives as regular shared drives, it's even more frustrating that there's no general NAS support in Time Machine -- Airport Extreme owners, in particular, are likely very unhappy, especially since Time Capsule has no problem using external USB storage for backups. We asked Apple about it and got a non-answer; we hope they eventually do the right thing.
The just-a-drive nature of Time Capsule also means that it can't do a lot of the things a lot of readers asked about: sure, you can put your iTunes library on it, but it's not a media server, and pointing several computers to the same iTunes library is asking for trouble. Similarly, you can't stream directly to an Apple TV or 360 or whatever -- it just doesn't show up.
The new Airport Utility is very slick, walking you through all kinds of network setups (including complicated dual-5GHz / 2.4GHz systems and WDS chains) and even providing semi-real-time diagnostics:
Disk management options are limited, however: you can erase the drive and change some access settings, and that's about it. You certainly can't partition it or change the formatting or anything. You can enable WAN access if you care to expose all your data to the outside world.
Overall, Time Capsule does exactly what Apple told us it would do: make it easier for the vast majority of users to start backing up regularly over their network. That's to be commended, and if you're a Mac user and you've got the coin, there's no reason not to consider a Time Capsule when the time comes to replace your router -- we've always found Airport devices to be rock-solid, and Time Capsule is no exception. But if you're using a PC, it's not like you need the Time Machine support -- and if you own an Airport Extreme, you have every right to be peeved about the fact that what's essentially the same hardware won't let you back up to AirDisk. Let's hope 10.5.3 makes Time Capsule a little easier to swallow.
The just-a-drive nature of Time Capsule also means that it can't do a lot of the things a lot of readers asked about: sure, you can put your iTunes library on it, but it's not a media server, and pointing several computers to the same iTunes library is asking for trouble. Similarly, you can't stream directly to an Apple TV or 360 or whatever -- it just doesn't show up.
The new Airport Utility is very slick, walking you through all kinds of network setups (including complicated dual-5GHz / 2.4GHz systems and WDS chains) and even providing semi-real-time diagnostics:
Overall, Time Capsule does exactly what Apple told us it would do: make it easier for the vast majority of users to start backing up regularly over their network. That's to be commended, and if you're a Mac user and you've got the coin, there's no reason not to consider a Time Capsule when the time comes to replace your router -- we've always found Airport devices to be rock-solid, and Time Capsule is no exception. But if you're using a PC, it's not like you need the Time Machine support -- and if you own an Airport Extreme, you have every right to be peeved about the fact that what's essentially the same hardware won't let you back up to AirDisk. Let's hope 10.5.3 makes Time Capsule a little easier to swallow.
This is *NOT* everything I wanted to know. I want to know what, if any, is the CPU speed on this thing. I want to know what, if any, is the RAM. I want a complete specs list - not just the crap Apple throws up on its website. I want to know how to hack it like an AppleTV to turn into a Super Storage Mac Nano, (ie make it run OS X by itself). I wasn't interested in anything this article covered. And nothing I wanted to know was covered at all. You lied to me, engadget, and not for the first time.
what i would like to know is, I have one imac and 3 other windows Pc's. Would i be able to have this is a time machine back-up device and let the other three Pc's use it as a file server?
So they could all add files to it and then take them off from a different computer? Would they be able to see all my files? etc etc
cheers
pete
@ Chad - Drama queen alert!
@ Peter - Yes, it will do all that. See: http://www.apple.com/timecapsule/wireless.html
Chad... Seriously? Its a router and a hard drive. I know people try installing Linux on pretty much everything, but I doubt you're going to be able to get OSX on a router.
Does the drive sleep when it's not being used or does it spin 24/7?
Jon Eric, I was wondering the same thing. What makes the time capsule drive back up correctly? How can I get my hard drive connected to my APE to work?
Are there anyone who are experiencing slowness of TC?
It is too slow and I am trying to back up my 50GB HDD but it takes more than 20 hours and it is still going. :-(
I wonder, since Time capsule is able to use other external HDD to back up to, can you not just add your present HDD that your using to backup through Time Machine to Time Capsule, and point time machine to continue using it for backups?
Nope, can't do it. Local drives don't do all that disk image mounting.
Is it possible to connect a usb audio port and add audio streaming similar to airport express?
Hey, I dont know if this was asked before, so i am just going to ask it, can i use the time capsule drive, as a simple storage drive also? To elaborate, lets say i have a DVD ripped, i dont really care much whether i lose it or not. If i lose it, i will just re-rip, yes hassle but no data lost.
But its taking up quite a chunk of space on my local machine, Right now i copy it to an external hard drive, and delete it locally. Can i just store it on the Time Capsule drive instead? That way i can get rid of external hard drives. So basically i want to use the TC's auto backup feature, and use TC as a dumping ground for big files that i may or maynot care about.
Yes, you can use Time Capsule as both a backup drive for Time Machine AND as a general storage drive.
I wouldn't think so, but can you guys perform a test with a Playstation 3 to see if the TC shows up as a shared drive? I'm hoping there is some sort of NAS drive support for the PS3, which would make me rush and buy a TC in an instant.
Can you attach a usb hub and run more than one external hard drive to it?
Yes. See: http://www.apple.com/timecapsule/wireless.html
Quote: "And if you want to share both a printer and an additional hard drive, you can. Just connect a USB hub to Time Capsule. "
Absolutely! I have three hdds attached to my Airport Extreme. Works Great.
Thanks!
How can you post and "Everything you wanted to know" article without actual specs? I expected to see at least the following:
-Mega Bytes Per Second transfer speed over Gig E to Time Capsule internal drive.
-Mega Bytes Per Second transfer speed over 802.11N to Time Capsule internal drive.
-Mega Bytes Per Second transfer speed over 802.11B to Time Capsule internal drive.
-Mega Bytes Per Second transfer speed over Gig E to Time Capsule USB drive.
-Mega Bytes Per Second transfer speed over 802.11N to Time Capsule USB drive.
-Mega Bytes Per Second transfer speed over 802.11B to Time Capsule USB drive.
-Full comparison to Airport Extreme USB transfer speeds.
Spending a weekend with the product should at least yield this information, if not more.
i like the cut and the paste
Any word on whether this new Airport Utility will be available to regular Extreme owners?
And speaking of fans who like to tattoo themselves...
http://macenstein.com/default/archives/1161
Can I hook my Xbox 360 to this (w/ethernet cable) and connect to my wireless Motorola cable modem?
Thanks.
I have some more questions:
1. Say Time Machine is doing a backup from a laptop over the network in the background. I put the laptop to sleep. Does Time Machine give an error when the laptop is next used? Or does it resume the backup quite smoothly?
2. Same scenario as above, but if I put the laptop to sleep, and then go to work where there is no network connection. Does an error come up saying that mounted drive was "disconnected"? Does the spinning beachball come up as it is looking for the drive (probably not, since this has been fixed in Leopard).
3. Same scenario as #2, but when I then return to my home where the Time Capsule is, do I then have to remount the Time Capsule volume to resume backups?
4. I know that the Time Capsule drive spins down when not in use. But do the attached USB drives also spin down when not in use? Or is this specific to individual USB enclosures? Or do they not spin down at all?
5. What's a full restore like? e.g. if I were to replace the hard disk on my MacBook. Because it would be quite slow to restore over wireless. What is ethernet restore like? And also, if I hang a USB drive off the TC, and periodically backup to the USB drive; Can I attach that USB drive to the MacBook to restore directly to the MacBook?
Thanks again.
When I plug my Time Capsule in initially, how will this affect my current Time Machine backups on my Firewire drive? Will all the backups be useless or will they transfer over to my Time Capsule and continue to be used. I don't want to start my backups from scratch.
So far, I have read several comments stating that Time Capsule is useless as a NAS and not capable of being a media server.
Just to make sure I understand, can someone tell me if I can load Slimserver or Squeezecenter onto Time Capsule and use my Squeezebox without turning on my Mac?
Would a Mac Mini be a better solution?
I'm not sure you read the story correctly. Nobody said Time Capsule is useless as NAS. If you read what Nilay said again, he was referring to Time Machine (not Time Capsule) not having NAS support. Time Capsule is NAS and can be used as NAS. He also said using Time Capsule as your iTunes library server is "asking for trouble", but he didn't say it couldn't be done. And quite frankly I don't think it's asking for trouble necessarily either.
Furthermore, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to stream your iTunes library to your Apple TV if your library was on a Time Capsule - you just wouldn't be able to stream it *directly*. You would point iTunes to the library on Time Capsule, and then point Apple TV to iTunes. Maybe a little roundabout (and I haven't tried it myself) but it seems like that would work. It wouldn't have to be super fast if you're just streaming music or movies.
Thanks for your feedback, Zak.
I did not ask a very clear final question. I would like the Time Capsule to run Slimserver or Squeezeserver without my Macbook running or being powered on. Will the Time Capsule allow the installation of programs that will run on it's startup? Or will obtaining this functionality on Time Capsule require a hack like that necessary of the Buffalo Linkstation, Lacie Drives, or Q-naps drives?
Thanks!
it a backup device - why are we wasting engadget space on it - except to prove a point about the excesses of fan-boy-ness
I see no-one has mentioned that this thing is rocking an hitatchi death... I mean deskstar hdd. Yes, they of "click of death" fame for a scarily large number of hdd's, tho no where near as bad as the number of fujitsu hdd's that I had at work that developed said click of death about 5 years ago.
Just to clarify some of the functionality, this thing basically doing snapshot backups of your system state and data so that should you delete a file you can get it back or should you install something that borks your system you can roll back the entire OS install.
This is doing similar things to applications that have been on the market for quite a while as well as WHS, tho they have made it quite a bit easier for the non-tech literate (and that is the only praise I would give to this device).
For those mentioning RAID1, for a purpose such as this RAID1 would have been advantageous and they could have played up the security of your data a lot more than they have - however this would have impacted on the formfactor (not a lot of free space in there).
I don't like how they have copped out and gone the cheap route with one of the worst hdd manufacturers out there - from my own experience I wouldn't trust my data on a hitatchi, even if it did survive the magical 3 month period (as in, if it survives 3 months it'll be good for the lifetime of the product or basically about 3 years).
Personally, I keep too much data to implement a backup solution so I effectively keep it rotating on constantly new hdd's every couple of years.. which reminds me, my theacus N2100 hdd's are coming up to retirement.
What I'd like to know is
Does the TC drive always running 24/24 or does it take pauses and sleep when not needed?
When I tried an USB drive hooked to my Airport Extreme base station, the drive was always running very hot and energy-vore.
What kind of "Energy Consumption Management" does TC offer?
What are the chances or how long will it be until Apple TV is able to stream media directly off of Time Capsule so you will not have to have your Mac/PC turned on to play your library? My understanding is that you have to have Itunes open on your Mac/PC to stream media. I think that would add value to what time capsule could add vs other solutions. ITB in time capsule + 1TB external would be nice!!!
I know that you can hook up an external drive to Time Capsule to add to it's storage capacity. My question is--can you daisy chain drives to that usb port? I have an external drive with a 2-port hub, meaning I could have 3 drives hooked up. But I'm wondering if for some reason the other 2 wouldn't show up. Does anyone know?
Can anyone explain why a gigabit ethernet drive like this would not be faster than having a firewire 800 drive?
I am pretty typical of most people who are interested in new technology at the consumer or professional level.
What I don't understand is why people get so irate over Apple. Their products look good, are generally easy to use and allow Joe Public to buy into what was previously an out of reach area of the market - Apple products.
I am not saying that they are perfect, nor am I naive enough to believe all of any company's advertising but I have bought a number of Apple products and always been happy but if I think there is a better solution - I will buy that. It really isn't worth getting upset about. We are all adults who work hard to buy the IT solutions that we want and I don't rely on any one reviewer, web site or company to dictate where I spend my money.
I enjoy engadget and will continue to read their news and reviews as part of my consumer research prior to buying anything from anyone.
I travel between berlin and moscow. I was curious, if i were to buy 2 time capsules, could i then buy a USB hard drive to take with me so that i can always have access to my backups? I.e. does it just mount whatever volumes are attached, because i saw that there were some complaints about it doing a full backup on connect (and overwriting all existing data) on connect.
Also can you hang multiple HDS onto TC through a hub? Does anyone know what kind of data is actually saved when you select a backup disk in TM? I've been backing up to my linux server up untill now, i did have to use the hack for that though.
All of Apple's products may not be cutting edge, but they are so easy to use. I cannot wait to get a MacBook Air.
http://www.professionalwatches.com/2008/03/sneak_preview_baselworld_2008_1.html
I will be the first to admit that I am not nearly as tech savvy as all of you, so I apologize in advance for the drop in IQ of this question.
I currently use only a powerbook, soon to be the new Macbook Pro which is on order, as well as AppleTV.
My question relates to some of the posts/reviews that say that Time Capsule can't be used as a wireless media storage device.
Does this mean:
If I do NOT store my itunes media on my local hard drive (laptop) but instead on an external hard drive, soon to be Time Capsule, would I not be able to stream my itunes media to AppleTV via itunes?
Really, what I want to do is NOT clog up my laptop's hard drive with media, stream my itunes (via Time Capsule) to AppleTV or at worst sync it, use TC as a wireless router, have it back up through Time Machine, and maybe eventually connect a USB printer.
Is any of this not possible with current TC hardware/software? Or am I misunderstanding what was said above.
Thanks.
Have you seen how the apple tv appears in Itunes? You see it in itunes like an ipod, and you copy whatever you want on to it (I've never done it myself but this is what I've read). So I dunno about streaming... i'm not sure that will work like you described it
Hey, does anybody know if you can power down the HD while still utilizing the AirPort? I don't think I'd really want to have the HD humming ALL of the time, like if I was just surfing the web.
C
I currently use a western digital 500GB My book connected via usb to my extreme base station and time machine works fine for me. I didn't have to do any hacks or anything to get it to work either.
All i did was connect the drive directly to my macbook for the initial "dump" and once it was finished i connected it back to the base station, opened time machine and the drive showed up and has been working fine ever since