You’ve checked Reddit, Google, Twitter, all the forums, but you still haven’t found the answer to the question burning deep into your soul. “What is an NAS? Do I need one?” Look no further, friend. In this video we dig deep into the philosophy behind when Network Attached Storage is right for you, and when you just need to let some of that archived footage go.
I’ve reviewed OWC’s approach to NAS. I understand how it works.
I am looking to replace the functionality of my old TimeCapsule for TimeMachine backups. On paper, it looks like I can buy something like a high quality ASUS Router and connect one of. your network connected drives to provide an accessible disk for TimeMachine. However, the whole subject of JellyFish confuses me. Do I need to install this application on my Mac to make the disk act like an NAS?
What experience to you folks have creating a simple method of creating an environment that will handle TimeMachine? We use this approach for our laptops. My Mac Studio uses a directly connected disk, which, of course, works perfectly, accept when the computer goes to sleep I always get the “Disk incorrectly shut down” notification, which I can ignore. It is just annoying, that is all.
Hi Jack. No, you only need the Jellyfish application for those specific Jellyfish units. But the set up you are describing can even be accomplished with a usb connected external drive, so long as the router accepts a USB data connection. I would recommend giving a call in to our Technical Support team to go over your set up and needs, they’d be able to help build the right solution in the budget you have to work with! https://eshop.macsales.com/Service/
Thanks for this information, Jamie. I’ve been a bit slow responding because we’ve been away for a bit.
I now understand that your NAS designs are aimed at the organisation level rather than the personal level and that makes sense from your OWC’s position.
I’ve tried just putting a disk on a router and found that works with some routers and not others. For example, there is an ASUS router that actually provides instructions on how to attach a disk specifically for Time Machine.
I want this NAS solution for our two laptops, the Mac Studio I have does use a directly connected, large capacity, HDD.
I’ve done some more homework on this question and it looks like Synology has a good solution for me, in a home situation.
Mind you, I’ll wait until my Time Capsule actually dies before I’ll do anything. It isn’t the fastest WiFi approach these days, but there is only my wife and I in the house now, so bandwidth is not the challenge that it has become for many…..not that I wouldn’t like one of the new, faster routers. Anyway, that’s how I’ll stay for now. I just want to be prepared.
I’d like to note that I’ve never found a solution that is as elegant as Time Capsule. My non-technical wife can set it up easily, which is a great indication of how elegant it really is. I do understand why Apple dropped it, given their focus these days, but it still seems like a loss to me.
I have several OWC products and they’re great, so I keep an eye on all the new stuff coming out. The key problem here, in Canada, is the final, delivered cost, given our dollar exchange and the ridiculous shipping costs we have here in Canada. I have a friend who lives is Tuscon and we compare shipping cost regularly. I find it almost embarrassing.