BLSamuel Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 My daughter is going to college and is required to have a MacBook for her major (Education at Ball State University in Muncie IN). The Mac Leopard OSX 10.xx.xx has a backup utility built in called Time Machine (I think) that while not perfect seems like it should be relatively easy to use. Apple also makes a standalone NAS drive with built in router called the Time Capsule which goes for about $300 for the 500 GB model and $500 for the 1 TB model. Time Machine is set up to work with a Time Capsule. I'm sure there are other options, such as getting a Firewire or USB drive that would have to be connected to use, or connecting a USB drive to a router, or maybe even a different wireless NAS drive. Time Machine works wirelesly with Time Capsule so would not require her to connect a cable to her MacBook. We're new to Mac so our requirements are Simple to set up and use Automatic so as not to require remembering to run a back up or plug the backup drive into the MacBook Low cost (relatively low cost at least) Not worried about offsite backups at this time (I need to work on that for our Windows laptop at home) Are there better alternatives to the Time Capsule? TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfogg Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 If she needs a wireless router anyway Time Capsule is a good setup and it will meet all your requirements and she doesn't even have to think about it once it is setup. The backups all happen automatically. The drive in my wifes Macbook died Friday. I swapped out the drive and was able to recover her entire system (roughly 60gb) from Time Capsule/Time Machine by booting of the Leopard install disc. Time machine keeps hourly backups for the current day, then daily backups for the current week and then weekly backups from there. It had all her backups since we installed the Time Capsule in march and I also back up my MacBook Pro to it. My wife was actually kind of happy about this as she was filling up her HD anyway and I put a 320gB replacement drive in. Time Machine itself for recovering a deleted file is also slick and very easy to use. If she hasn't bought the hardware yet make sure she does the Apple Student discount and also take advantage of the 'Back to School' special which will get her a free iPod too. Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSamuel Posted August 18, 2008 Author Share Posted August 18, 2008 Thanks Shawn. Her new MacBook arrived last week. And we did order her an iPod touch free with rebate so now I need to send in the rebate. The discount wasn't much on the MacBook, maybe $100 but $100 is better than nothing. I've not used it much but the keyboard is much nicer than on our Dell Inspiron or my Dell Latitude at work. Sprung for the 3 year hardware warranty (ouch!) but probably a good idea with a student as my understanding is they use their MacBooks in class so it will be with her most of the time. Will most likely buy the theft and accident insurance (ouch!) which covers theft, loss, and things not otherwise covered such as spilling a soda on the keyboard. Probably should get her a keyboad and mouse for use in her dorm as well.... . I'm not sure if she needs a wireless router or not. I think the whole campus has wireless available but not sure if wireless in the dorms or ethernet. That said, the Time Capsule sounds very simple to use and effective and will require no effort on her part other than checking that it's up and running occasionally. I may just buy the Time Capsule locally so can get it set up for her before we take her to school Wednesday or at least set it up for her then. I will check the Apple student discount in case it's significant for the Time Capsule. I'll probably get the 500 GB model. She has the 160 GB hard drive so hopefully 500 GB should be sufficient. Thanks again. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSamuel Posted August 18, 2008 Author Share Posted August 18, 2008 and she doesn't even have to think about it once it is setup. The backups all happen automatically. Automatic and she doesn't have to think about it.... that's what we need. Hopefully she won't have a hard drive crash or accidentally delete any important files but Time Machine with a Time Capsule should at least provide good backups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfogg Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 If she has campus wireless in her dorm you should check into how you would setup the TC with that. I don't think the MacBook will associate with both the campus wireless and the TC together at the same time if they are both acting as access points. You might have to set the TC as a repeater or bridge to the existing wireless network to get her machine to work with both. In that setup she might get messages about not being able to mount the TC when she is away from her dorm. If her dorm has wired ethernet then she should have no problem as she would just use the TC as an access point to get on there and Time Machine would backup to the TC when she is in her dorm. BTW, when you do the initial backup after you setup the TC it takes awhile as the whole system is backed up. I just left our machines open overnight to get that done. After that it is much quicker since it becomes an incremental backup. Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSamuel Posted August 18, 2008 Author Share Posted August 18, 2008 Thanks again. I was thinking of doing the initial backup at home but then it did occur to me that it may be better to do it in her dorm room as I have no idea if it's wireless or has ethernet or both available. She also moves in Wednesday and we don't yet have the Time Capsule. They have a support center on campus for Apple computers and she'll need to go there anyway to get set up for using her laptop with the university's network and to have the required software for her classes installed. They should be able to provide some nice simple directions to connect to a Time Capsule. Unfortunately they didn't really have much information available online other than take frequent backups. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 you can setup TC in "bridge mode" to use and existing ethernet connection. this will basically pass thru campus settings thru the TC while allowing the functions of a wireless backup. The normal default is "shae a single IP address", so this is a config change in TC. however, you need to check with the campus network folks, they may have policies about enabling a wireless router on their wired network. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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