Time Capsule/NAS alternatives

[jcravenw]

Ages ago I worked for Apple in their Wireless Multimedia department, and Time Capsule was a fantastic tool to have out there. Now that Apple has decided to go in a different direction, does anyone have any advice for a program and/or NAS type of device that can accomplish similar things to a TC? Remote backing up is handy, but remote storage/content access is really my main goal. Now that I've got a new MacBook Pro, it would be nice to be able to remotely access multiple external hard drives I've had gathering dust over the years.

WIthout trying to find a refurb or used item out there, does anyone have any thoughts as to what a decent alternative would be?

 

[Bigwaff]

You can buy Synology or QNAP NAS units w/out drives, although, ext drives you have "gathering dust over the years" might not be compatible w/ latest devices... but you never know.

 

[mentaluproar]

any NAS will do what you want. You can also build your own server with openmediavault, fireguard, and a little know how. If you want a simple set and forget and dont mid the occasional issue, the NAS is what you want. If you dont mind tinkering and a little extra work for something more reliable, building your own is what you want.

 

[Arctic Moose]

After my Drobo (which primarily served Time Machine, streaming media and file storage) died and the company went under I had more or less settled on Synology.

However, I had an old PC that all the disks from the Drobo would fit in after adding a new bracket and some cabling, so I decided to try TrueNAS:

Download TrueNAS CORE - Completely Free NAS OS

Download TrueNAS CORE and discover why it's the world's #1 Open Source storage operating system.

www.truenas.com

I had some initial issues getting Time Machine to run on an encrypted sparse bundle mounted from TrueNAS, but after a software update I got it working, and it has been rock solid for years.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I too recommend Synology NAS. It is not too hard to set up.

 

[HDFan]

1. TM maintains hour by hour backups in an efficient manner reducing the amount of disk space required. Most convenient backup solution.

2. Disadvantages of TM include its tendency to fail and that it can be problematic on NAS units. It either fails or is so slow even with incremental backups on my NASes that it is useless. I have never been able to get it to work, although I do have large backups. Others have had no problems.

NAS units require maintenance such as software updates, volume checks, network setup and configuration to avoid vulnerabilities, etc. Not an issue with DAS units.

I keep multiple DAS TM backups to reduce the risk of TM failures.

3. A 3-2-1 backup plan, with no more than 1 of the 3 being a TM backup, usually requires at least one attached drive which can be rotated to off-site storage.

4. Use apps such as Carbon Copy Cloner to populate and maintain attached drive(s).

5. QNAP has better hardware than Synology and doesn't have Synology's prompting to use their very expensive drives and memory - on some units. Synology may be a bit easier to use and more stable as opposed to QNAP's better configurability.

 

[Arctic Moose]

Disadvantages of TM include its tendency to fail and that it can be problematic on NAS units. It either fails or is so slow even with incremental backups on my NASes that it is useless.

I have always (sooner or later) had success making my own sparse bunde instead of using the NAS features:

hdiutil create -size 12000g -type SPARSEBUNDLE -volname "NAMEOFTMVOLUME" -fs APFS -imagekey sparse-band-size=262144 -verbose -encryption -stdinpass ~/Desktop/NAMEOFIMAGEFILE.sparsebundle

I create it locally on the desktop, and then copy it to the NAS.

Besides the fact that it actually works, you can also move or copy the image bundle wherever you want and mount it from there, and it is possible to restrict the maximum size TM will use, in this case 12 TB.

Double-click it from the NAS to mount it, and then run:

sudo tmutil setdestination /Volumes/NAMEOFTMVOLUME

 

[jcravenw]

I should have specified: The simpler, the better lol

I had someone try to configure a NAS but the only issue I encountered (beyond that he only knew Linux and 0 about Apple systems) was that it forced me to reformat whatever drive I attached, but once that part as done, I could never get the drives to appear in Finder or as a connected server.

Ideally the simpler, the better. I don't mind doing maintenance updates and the like, but the closer to plug and play functionality overall would be idea.

 

[Arctic Moose]

Ideally the simpler, the better. I don't mind doing maintenance updates and the like, but the closer to plug and play functionality overall would be idea.

Synology.

 

[HDFan]

have always (sooner or later) had success making my own sparse bunde instead of using the NAS features:

Maybe the issue is the smaller size of the TM backup/bundle. I need ~6 TB.

 

[Ifti]

TM backups to a NAS will work, but the main reason I didnt use it is because of the restore process. In the event of any disaster recovery I want the restore process to be as quick and easy as possible - and nothing is easier then attaching an external drive via cable and hitting the restore button.....I don't want to have to sit and troubleshoot getting a reliable connection to the NAS established when I'm trying to restore my system etc, and I want that restore to be as fast as possible so I can get set back up asap....

 

[Arctic Moose]

Maybe the issue is the smaller size of the TM backup/bundle. I need ~6 TB.

My current sparse bundle is 12 TB.

 

[gilby101]

My current sparse bundle is 12 TB.

My suggestion is a ~1TB SSD DAS for TM, excluding all your data files. This is for quick macOS, apps and user account (not user files) recovery. And use something else (e.g. CCC) to backup the rest to your NAS.

 

[Arctic Moose]

My suggestion is a ~1TB SSD DAS for TM, excluding all your data files. This is for quick macOS, apps and user account (not user files) recovery. And use something else (e.g. CCC) to backup the rest to your NAS.

Why? OS, apps and accounts can be installed and configured in no time. The data cannot be easily recreated. That is what I need continuously backed up.

If it wasn’t clear from my previous posts, Time Machine to a 12 TB encrypted sparse image served from TrueNAS has worked flawlessly for me for years.

 

[seggy]

Ages ago I worked for Apple in their Wireless Multimedia department, and Time Capsule was a fantastic tool to have out there. Now that Apple has decided to go in a different direction, does anyone have any advice for a program and/or NAS type of device that can accomplish similar things to a TC? Remote backing up is handy, but remote storage/content access is really my main goal. Now that I've got a new MacBook Pro, it would be nice to be able to remotely access multiple external hard drives I've had gathering dust over the years.

WIthout trying to find a refurb or used item out there, does anyone have any thoughts as to what a decent alternative would be?

The actually functional and hands-free answer for most in your positiion at this point in time is simple: Pay for cloud backup. Apple themselves do up to 14Tb now.

If you want to noodle it as an enthusiast etc, then a NAS with hosted remote access will work decently well. But as previously mentioned further up the thread you probably don't want to use those 'lying around' drives.