Mac fans now have a spacious place to store backed-up files
Unless you are a major multinational corporation, you probably haven't backed up the files on your computer lately. In fact, about one-third of us don't back up our files at all, according to a survey from the Consumer Electronics Association. Many of us think it's too much trouble, and keep on thinking that until a computer crash destroys a decade's worth of tax records, vacation photos, and music downloads.
Nearly every computer part is electronic, and therefore doesn't wear out. But the hard drive is full of moving parts; like your car, it's bound to break down someday. About two disk drives in 100 will fail in the first year of use, according to a study last year from Google Inc., and the number goes up as the drives age. You can gamble that your drive will last till you buy a new computer, but you'll pay a high price if you lose.
But data backup is easy for devotees of Apple Inc.'s Macintosh computers. Last year's big upgrade to the Mac operating system featured Time Machine, a program that automates the backup process. Without bothering the user, Time Machine preserves all the data on your computer, constantly updating any changes to your files. If your hard drive dies, just replace it, fire up Time Machine, and everything is put back exactly as it was before the disaster.
But Time Machine isn't much use without a safe place to store all that backed-up data. And here it is - Time Capsule, Apple's new external hard drive.
Time Capsule comes in a $299 version with 500 gigabytes of storage, or a $499 version with a full terabyte. That's rather pricey for external drives; you can get a terabyte's worth at Best Buy for under $250 these days. But rival products hook up to your computer through a USB port or Ethernet connection. The Time Capsule gets along well with Ethernet, but it has also got Wi-Fi, so you can link it wirelessly to the rest of your network.
In fact, you can unplug your old wireless access point, because Time Capsule has one of its own, based on the fast new Wi-Fi N standard. When talking to other Wi-Fi N devices, the Time Capsule can send and receive data at up to 300 megabits per second. You don't see that kind of speed in real-world use. But Wi-Fi N is still much faster than earlier versions, making it a practical tool for backing up a hard drive full of data.
In addition, Time Capsule remains compatible with older, slower versions of Wi-Fi. Anyway, that's the theory, though we found an ancient Dell Wi-Fi card that wouldn't work with Time Capsule. Then again, the Sony PlayStation Portable handheld game, which comes with old-school Wi-Fi built in, worked flawlessly.
Even in home networks, there's still a place for Ethernet wires. The Time Capsule carries three Ethernet ports, fewer than the four found on most routers, but surely enough for most households.
Of course, Time Capsule got along splendidly with the MacBook Air laptop provided by Apple. After working through some simple installation software, Time Machine began painlessly and wirelessly backing up the Mac onto the Time Capsule hard drive.
Time Capsule also makes guest appearances on Windows computers. Apple provides software to let Windows users see the external drive, and use it for stashing spare files. But forget about the seamless Macintosh experience. There's no Windows version of Time Machine backup software, so you'll have to use some other program, like the NTbackup software built into Windows XP.
It would also be nice if you could use Time Capsule as a serious network file server, rather than just a backup device. We'd welcome a way to store all your music and video files on it, then stream them to any other device on your home network. That's the kind of multimedia fun you might have expected from Apple, but you can't do it with Time Capsule.
Neither will it communicate over an Internet connection when you're away from home. Then you could use it to access important files when you're on the road. Microsoft's Windows Home Server offers this feature, but Apple isn't interested. A company spokesman told me that Apple built Time Capsule with just one goal - easy data backups for Mac users. Mission accomplished.
Hiawatha Bray can be reached at bray@globe.com. 