Hardware :: Storage Solution To Serve Both Windows And OS X Through Network?
Aug 2, 2009
I've decided to buy a Mac Mini to use as a work machine and then depending on it's performance, I will either replace it with an iMac and my girlfriend will use the Mac Mini as her work machine or just buy another Mac Mini for her. However, at the moment, in addition to me using the Mac Mini, I am currently using a Windows machine and my girlfriends work machne is a Windows machine. Is there a storage solution that could serve both Windows and OSX through the network? How about some kind of file server like Linux or Windows? What would you recommend?
Basically I need a large storage option that is set up to be resistant to loss for my high def video and images. My 500 GB iMac is full to the brim but I don't want to spend 5-800 dollars to back everything up.
I have a 500 GB time machine that is also full so I assume it's just erasing old records with new as we go along now.
I want to purchase 4-5 of the lacie 1TB drives and set up a RAID array external to the iMac. Can I do this? Is it a process a computer novice can do?
If I got 5x1TB drives and did RAID 1 or something I would have 4TB of storage and one drive could die and still maintain all my data? Is there a better RAID version like RAID 6,10 etc...?
way to store 10 to 20 TBs of data. It needs to be readily accessible, but it doesn't need to be extremely fast. A normal usb 2 connection is fine, as well as firewire or esata or ethernet. I do transfer large files, but there is no urgent need for them to be lightening quick.As it stands now, I have several external drives just hooked up to my computer. I'd like to avoid continuing that method. I want only one volume to show up on my mac. It doesn't have to be through raid striping, though I don't really know of another way; maybe just a container volume that has all the drives in it?
As a side note, our three computers (Mac Pros) we use to access this info are spread about the same room. We also have our laptops and some older macs, so it would be nice to be able to occasionally access finished projects from these secondary computers.
I'm trying to build a raid 5 USB storage system to connect to an AirPort Extreme router. I am currently looking into buying the following enclosure and adding software to create a raid 5 storage solution which I can connect to the AE for both backup and media storage. Can someone help me find good software to create this raid 5 setup? 4-bay JBOD Enclosure [URL:...]
I have been wondering what the benefits of VMWare Fusion are over VirtualBox. I can't seem to get too much by searching. I upgraded my Mid-2010 13" MBP to 8GB of RAM and a 7200 RPM HDD. I am a CS student so I would like the ability to run Windows and Linux guests simultaneously. Is there something in Fusion that makes it better? I can get a Fusion license on the cheap, but I would like whatever is really the better performer for doing things like testing software, etc...
I'm looking for a way I can run multiple versions of IE (preferably side by side) inside OS X (So, using Wine). I previously tried ies4osx but when I launched them it would always load up IE5. Now that project is gone to make way for WineBottler, but I haven;t had any success using it. I've tried installing MultipleIEs, and then running the shortcuts on my desktop with Wine but I've only managed to open IE3 which crashed after a few minutes.
I'm thinking an easy solution would be, if there are some standalone .exe files for each version of IE to date, which have all the support files (dll's, etc.) bundled in, I could then use WineBottler to make a .app for them and then I can launch them and use them like any other native Mac OS .app, no worries. Only problem is, I can't fine such standalone versions of IE anywhere, MultipleIEs install all the support files in a folder and presumably required some of the system32 files too... So can somebody let me know if there are such standalone executables for IE versions 3, 4, 5, 5.5, 6, 7 & 8 ? Otherwise any other working solution would be fantastic.
I am looking to set up network area storage at home rather than have all my files jamming up my Mac Book hard drive. I'm considering one of two options but I am pretty new to network area storage and therefore after a bit of advise. My personal computer is a Mac although I use a PC laptop for work, both will need to access the networked hard drive. At this stage I just want to store files and itunes but may, in time, wish to stream video content to my TV. Option 1 is to purchase a network area hard drive such as buffalo link station. Option 2 is to purchase an air port extreme and attach a hard drive via USB. This option is slightly more expensive however I am wondering if the benefits of the airport will provide a faster connection?
I confess, Windows 7 is a good OS, even though 90% of its "features" you could find hidden in either WinXP or Vista, but the usability feature for me that fits in this 10% "new features" category was definitely Aero Snap and up to date there was no 1:1 Mac solution.Now I was extatic to download that handy Cinch tool fro And yes, in my opinion it looks even more elegant and feels more natural on Mac OS X than Windows but that is my highly biased opinion.
How do you keep all of your data safe? Do you rely solely on Time Machine or do use other 3rd party services like Mozy or JungleDisk?
I am looking for a total backup solution for both OS X and my Windows Boot Camp partition. For me, Time Machine is not enough. I want a way to protect against total hard drive failure, so if my hard drive fails I can boot from an external drive (for both Windows and Mac). What's would be my best backup solution?
(I think) but here we have a NAS (Network Access Storage) that everyone can access. Anyways, on a PC you go to network under my computer (or just computer or 7 now) and in there it is listed along with the other computers on the network. That's all good. On the Mac side you can see it as well, and that's all good. Here is what I am trying to figure out; on a pc in the computer navigation bar you can type addresses. For example the drive was not popping up earlier under the "network", so I just type "//DriveName" into the bar and it opened it up as if I had clicked it.
I'm looking for a "media server" of some sort. Buying a second computer to have constantly running to store movies/music is out of the question since I just want to have it for my MBP, 360, and roommates PS3. I want to get a NAS (Network Attached Storage), but the main router is in my roommates room. I don't trust my roommate to keep a $100+ hard drive safely in his room, and he won't want the responsibility of making sure nothing happens to it when people are over and what not. I already have an AirPort Express in my room. I know the AirPort Express can be used as a network extender. Would I be able to connect the NAS to the AirPort Express via Network Cable and have it work?
Just about to move to a new place I'm trying to think of the best way to network it with what existing equipment I have. So I will be getting virgin cable installed as my ISP which comes with wireless router although not sure which one. What I basically want to have is a home network with a central storage point for all my music and movies/tv. I currently have the time capsule for backing up my macbook, I lead to believe that this cannot be used to store my music collection which I wanted streamed to other laptop on the same network.
I also have a WD My Book NAS(networked attached storage) drive as well as various other external usb hard drives. I have also just looked at the apple air port express base station which I may purchase. So with all this hardware in mind how would I go about setting up my network effectively so that I can keep everything(music/tv/movies) centrally and be able to access through laptops which I plan to have around the house.
I currently have 1 PC (Windows7) and 1 MBP (Snow Leopard) in the house, the PC has 2 additional HDDs attached with movies and music on them and they are in NTFS format. I can view the contents on my PC via my wireless G network on my Macbook through sharing etc. Now my problem is that I'm getting rid of the PC (hopefully for an iMac in the future) but right now what sort of device would I need to build/buy to attach the 2 NTFS HDDs to the network so my MBP can still access the media on them?
I want to extend the desktop of a Mac Pro. Can I use the Powerbook as a second display? I searched and the answer seems to be no, but if anyone knows a way, I'd love to hear it!
My new 27" i7 iMac will be delivered tomorrow! My workplace has me use a Lenovo 410 Thinkpad which has Displayport slot (Lenovo - Laptop computers - ThinkPad T Series - Technical Specifications). I am looking to use my iMac as a second display for the Leonovo 410 Thinkpad so when I work from home I can have an extended PC desktop etc. I am under the impression that the 27" iMac supports Displayport input from external Displayport devices so what cable or adapters do I need to pull this off?
Could any readers recommend an affordable basic external hard drive for a macbook air, which would also serve as a back-up for my old pc laptop? I don't need it to be portable, just to serve as back-up at home, though if it doesn't escalate the price too much wireless would be a bonus. I see there is a vast range of products available at a vast range of prices
I am very computer savvy and am the neighborhood/work "go-to" guy for PC/Mac/iPhone/anything type stuff. I have been all Mac for about a year now so I am still learning. I currently have the lousy WRT160N Linksys router. I am very confused about Extreme/Express base station. All the mess about music and portability is confusing to me. Does it serve as a fully functional router?
I've searched everywhere and have one nagging issue. After I uninstalled Parallels I keep getting two Parallels Virtual Network Connections under Network in System Preferences. It happens every time I restart, I have to redeleate them. Has anyone had this problem after uninstalling Parallels?
Hope this thread will benefit those who are considering to buy Time Capsule or already a have one.
I'm considering to get Time Capsule for my home network which consist of:
- One MBP (15" Unibody)
- Two Windows XP desptops (connected via Ethernet cable)
- One Windows Vista laptop
Could any Mac users help answer my queries below:
1) Since I'm going to use Time Capsule as backup storage for Time Machine. Can I still manually copy files into its HDD and share those files with other network users?
2) Can all Windows PCs use Time Capsule as a external storage for storing and sharing files even after Time Machine has "marked" it as a backup storage for my MBP?
3) I presume the HDD in Time Capsule is formatted using HFS+. In this situation, do Windows users need to install special software to access the HDD in Time Capsule?
I thought I would share a cool realization. I am now eligible for any iPhone upgrades and most likely will be getting the new one coming out this summer - whatever it may be. I realized today that most likely it will have 64GB of storage - the exact same size as my Macbook Air - I think it is so wild my future phone/pocket computer will have the exact same storage capacity as my main laptop. I could potentially mirror everything on my Mac that is on my iPhone in the future.
So I'm using bootcamp to load up windows, but now I have run out of room on my Mac partition. I still have 30GB on my windows partition, and I haven't even used it ONCE! Honestly at this point I don't think I will ever need it....
But so my questions is, would there be any way to remove the windows partition completely without damaging my Mac side to allow for more storage? Or maybe just shrink the windows partition so that I can free up an extra 20GB or so?
I recently installed Windows vista using going through parallels because my bootcamp failed a while ago. This partition also acts as my bootcamp. Well The internet on parallels works fine because it is using osx network, but when i boot into bootcamp the network drivers seem to be missing. I cant figure it out, but it says the ethernet and network drivers are not there. I cant find the drivers on the internet anywhere and when i use the vista disk i have it still does not want to install them.
I've just ordered a Mac for work, which I'll be adding to a PC-based network all running under Windows Small Business Server. I know I can add the Mac ok, but I just wondered what will happen when I then add Parallels. If the Mac is properly set up and attached to a domain, will the "Virtual Windows" machine by definition be part of the same network and work ok, or is it better to think of the virtual machine as a completely new entity in the network?
Perhaps it'll all become blindingly obvious when I start, but I just wondered if there was anything I need to know so I go into this with my admittedly non-techie eyes open!
Equipment: Mac Mini (Early 2009), Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GHz, 4 GB RAM, Lion. I started noticing my Mac Mini was having trouble reconnecting my Bluetooth mouse and keyboard, slow processing (spinning pinwheel of death), and programs freezing. I did a recovery within Lion from the recovery drive and it seemed to work for a week or so. It started acting up again. So, I decided to erase the HD and reinstall Lion. I basically use the Mac Mini as a server for all my iTunes content.
My iTunes default save location is to my Drobo storage unit. Now that I have reinstalled Lion, I am looking for the easiest, most convenient, and safest way to change the default save location in iTunes and then importing the media. It would be nice if it was possible to just simply change the default save location to the folder I previously had all my media saved in and it would just magically appear in iTunes. Everything was organized perfectly, which took hours of time and attention to details.
Info: Mac Mini, 2 13 Inch Macbooks, Mac OS X (10.5.7)
Im new to having both mac and windows in one network and am basically trying to find the correct way to setup both systems so that they talk nicely with eachother. I would like to be able to access shared drives on the windows computer and shared drives on the mac from either system.
So, I've configured it so I can see my MAC on my Windows machine. However, for the life of me I can't figure out how to see my windows machines(Vista 64) from my Mac. Is there an easy guide how to set this up somewhere?
I am using Vista 64 SP2 and just upgraded the Mac to Snow Leopard.
