Build Your Own Time Capsule Work-Alike For $200

An anonymous reader writes "If you're a Windows or Linux user, or simply an Apple user that can't justify the $500 price tag on those beautiful 3TB Time Capsules, why not build your own? With a wireless router, an external USB hard drive, and a little bit of setting up, you can make your own wireless, network-attached backup device for around $200."

Comments

Foolproof my arse!

[Chas]

Sorry, but I always laugh when people describe anything as "foolproof". (In this case the meshing of Time Machine and the Time Capsule.

All it does is show a PROFOUND underestimation of the creativity and destructive potential of fools.

Re:Foolproof my arse!

[geekmux]

Sorry, but I always laugh when people describe anything as "foolproof". (In this case the meshing of Time Machine and the Time Capsule.

All it does is show a PROFOUND underestimation of the creativity and destructive potential of fools.

You make a sound point here, but in the relative scheme of things, Apples solutions are rather foolproof and extremely intuitive by comparison. And I'm not trying to be some fanboy either, just stating what I've seen owning and working in multi-vendor/OS environments.

Lack of polish

[spire3661]

Sure any geek can setup a versioning backup system. Time Capsule is elegant as hell and really easy to use, even for a lay person. The way its visualized is pretty much the only way a GUI for this type of functionality (targeted at lay folk) should work.

Re:Lack of polish

[TheRaven64]

Yes, geeks have been doing versioning backup systems for ages, and what Apple does is not new by any stretch of the imagination

Actually, it's pretty novel. No other *NIX systems that I'm aware of permitted hard linking directories. Doing this with Time Machine was a pretty neat trick. Any directories that haven't been modified are just hard links to the previous version. Directories that have been modified contain hard links to files in the previous version. The copy-on-write support in ZFS is a more elegant way of doing this (just clone the backup volume and apply changes), but Apple managed it without needing to modify anything other than the VFS layer.

The thing that Time Capsule adds is basically the ability for a remote device to issue an fsync command. When Time Machine finishes running, it knows that the data is safe on the Time Capsule's disk, not in some cache somewhere. Again, not a massive improvement, but an attention to detail that's important if you care about your data.

It's still a little too basic in some areas for more technical users - I'd like to be able to query at a glance what files were backed up,

This is trivial to do. Just look at the time machine snapshot. ls -R will give you all of the information that you want.

Re:Lack of polish

[Angostura]

There's a nice little free app called BackupLoupe that will let you examine what was backed up and when.

Re:Lack of polish

[Medievalist]

Actually, it's pretty novel. No other *NIX systems that I'm aware of permitted hard linking directories. Doing this with Time Machine was a pretty neat trick. Any directories that haven't been modified are just hard links to the previous version. Directories that have been modified contain hard links to files in the previous version.

Naw, I disagree. We've been doing all that at work since late 2005. I keep planning to set up a WRT54G implementation with a big USB disk at home, but somehow I never get around to it... the beer won't drink itself, you know!

Time machine is a trivial elaboration on Rubel & Schulz, and nothing special to linux geeks, although it is obviously da bomb for mac users who haven't yet transcended "point and grunt".

My own implementation requires adding a line to a flat ascii config file in order to add a new host, so GUI users are unlikely to find it attractive.

Summary

[Anonymous Coward]

"If you have a wireless router with a USB port for external storage, then you can map said external storage to a drive (or volume, as appropriate) on your computer. And then you can use whatever backup solution you have available by pointing at that drive/volume."

Re:Justification?

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Try this, instead:

http://www.amahi.org/

Amahi is a Linux appliance that will run on plug computers or nettops. It rocks for these applications. Like Timecapsule on steroids - cos you can add media streaming servers, whatever.

I like the disk pooling. It's like volume management for all the little drives you have scattered about the house.

http://www.amahi.org/tour/disk-pooling

Yes, it handles backups for Mac, Win and Linux - slicker than the setup in this article.

http://www.amahi.org/tour/backups

Better yet

[MrEricSir]

Make your existing Linux server into a Time Machine backup server.

Missing a really cool feature

[MartinSchou]

One of the coolest things about the Time Capsule is the ability to restore OS X from the installation media.

If your system crashes completely or you've just had your hard drive replaced, it's really cool to do the restore directly instead of having to install the OS first, remember what hacks to apply and then restoring it.

Is the Time Capsule expensive? Sure. Is convenience worth it? Possibly.

Re:Seriously

[jmitchel!jmitchel.co]

Enjoy providing free computer support to your family and friends. I have other priorities.

Or, you could do what any real Apple geek would do

[alispguru]

Apple has traditionally overcharged for more capacity (RAM and hard drive space). You ALWAYS buy the smallest model and upgrade it yourself.

1. Buy a 500GB Time Capsule from a third party ($100 and up)
2. Open it up and replace the hard drive with a bigger SATA drive
3. Be amazed as the Time Capsule formats and uses the bigger drive
4. Buy a cheap USB notebook cooling fan and put the Time Capsule on top of it, to make sure the new drive doesn't overheat

Actually, #4 is a good idea with a stock Time Capsule, too.

"Should" Work

[kf6auf]

The cheap options all evaporate as soon as you want a router with the same features as the Time Capsule or the $180 AirPort Extreme (plus BYO external drive); Simultaneous Dual Band and USB looks like it'll run you $120, not $50, from non-Apple brands.

Oh, and "you’ll need to use a little hack [13] to force the new drive to appear in Time Machine. Once it appears, however, your cheap-and-cheerful DIY Time Capsule should function in exactly the same way as the real thing."(emphasis mine) I'm sorry, but what is the point of a backup that should work?

I want a backup that I am confident works; saving $60 isn't worth it.

Time, Effort, Warranty = $$

[Mn3m0nic]

I don't have a Time Capsule, but I can say that the time and effort involved in a homebrew version would tack on to that 200 price tag. Also, the warranty and support you get from Apple far outmatch Western Digital, TigerDirect (shudder), etc. I learned a long time ago that sometimes you have to spend a little extra money to avoid a lot of extra headache down the road. This goes for many things in life.

Re:Or, you could do what any real Apple geek would

[spire3661]

Did you forget that time is money? What you described is AT BEST a one hour job, with it quite possibly taking longer along with research if everything doesnt go exactly right (o look 3TB is an Advanced Format Drive, will it work? is it supported etc etc). The point is, sometimes its jsut cheaper to buy whole solutions then to putter around for 8 hours trying to save $100.

Re:hard disk

[Angostura]

What are the odds that they will fail at exactly the same time as your desktop?

Re:So what?

[jedidiah]

You never trust the media.

That is why having all of your backups on a single piece of media seems so absurd to some of us. A single appliance that holds all of your backups is just asking for trouble. Although RAID or mirroring would mitigate this somewhat. Having only one non-user serviceable drive in a backup appliance is just stupid.

Although having multiple appliances cooperate could be interesting.

Any proper backup should include multiple distinct physical copies.

Re:Seriously

[Angostura]

No. The OP claimed that it was *more* difficult to discern the problem. The sub-text being that the dumbed-down cutesy GUI prevented you from getting at low level diagnostics.

Re:Or, you could do what any real Apple geek would

[Nerdfest]

Recently Apple has been using proprietary connectors and firmware on their disks that don't allow then to report their thermal info like normal disks. If this is the case with the Time Machine as well, then you can't replace the disks yourself unless you don't mind your fans running at full speed at all times.