Attach Time Machine backup to Airport Extreme network

It's Apple's primary recommendation

Do you have a link to an Apple Support document that would support this?

If it exists, I can't find it, nor do I ever remember Apple stating something like this in the 12 years of regularly answering questions on the AirPort and Time Capsule user sites. I still answer questions if I see them appear.

It's Apple's primary recommendation and also supported by your final observation that a USB disc into an AE is hit and miss. I've always found that it is unreliable, something you don't want in a backup regime.

Not only is that not Apple's recommendation, primary or otherwise, it is contrary to my experience. Time Machine backups have been 100% reliable in every supported configuration, and that's one of them. So for that matter have USB hard disk drives connected to TCs or AEBSs as shared devices.

I agree we need more information from texbev. For example, connecting a hard disk drive that had previously been in service as a directly-connected TM backup drive to a network device such as a TC is unlikely to work for a variety of reasons.

David McKinlay wrote:

texbev wrote:

How can I attach a Time Machine external hard drive to my Airport Extreme network?

Backing up to a network drive is not recommended by Apple. All the documentation they provide advises users to connect a Time Machine backup drive directly to your Mac, and to use that drive only for the backups.

Back up your files with Time Machine on Mac - Apple Support

Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support

The now deleted Time Capsule (2008 - 2018) was device was designed to do what you seek but it is long out of production. I always struggled with it as a backup device.

This is plain wrong and very bad advice. This site

Types of disks you can use with Time Machine on Mac – Apple Support (UK)

states ,

"Types of disks you can use with Time Machine on Mac

You can use Time Machine with an AirPort Time Capsule, with a network-attached storage (NAS) device that supports Time Machine over Server Message Block (SMB) or Apple Filing Protocol (AFP), or with an external storage device connected directly to your Mac (such as a USB or Thunderbolt drive). If a disk has partitions, you can use one of the partitions for your backup disk."

Are you saying that you have Time Machine backups stored on an external hard drive that were made when the external drive was connected to another Mac? Or, was the drive connected to an AirPort Extreme?

Or, is it possible that you have a Time Capsule that was used to make backups of another Mac?

There are other possibilities as well, and we are not good at guesswork. We can't proceed with a solution until we have a clear understanding of all the details.

Please do your best to explain how things were working before when you were backing up to the external and how things have changed now. The more details, the better. Assume we know nothing, so we will only know as much as you can tell us about how things were working before and how you want them to work now.

David McKinlay wrote:

Zurarczurx wrote:

This is plain wrong and very bad advice.

Actually no. It's Apple's primary recommendation and also supported by your final observation that a USB disc into an AE is hit and miss. I've always found that it is unreliable, something you don't want in a backup regime.

That, plus you have not considered that we cannot expect that the OP is an experienced user. As Bob observed we cannot make assumptions. Your link to types of external discs is useful but little of it will make sense to an inexperienced reader.

Your OP states "Backing up to a network drive is not recommended by Apple."

The Apple Support site I quoted contradicts your statement so unless you can give an Apple Support source your assertion is plain wrong.

Your OP states " All the documentation they provide advises users to connect a Time Machine backup drive directly to your Mac, and to use that drive only for the backups." The Apple support site I quoted contradicts this statement so it is plain wrong. Telling the user that they should have the backup always attached directly to the Mac not only severely restricts their backup drive options (no network drives) but is likely to result in missed backup opportunities when the user isn't sat next to the drive or is unable to plug it in because of other connections.

Plain wrong and bad advice.

You say "Your link to types of external discs is useful but little of it will make sense to an inexperienced reader" but how the heck are they supposed to get experience if they're never steered towards learning opportunities.

As for "The now deleted Time Capsule (2008 - 2018) was device was designed to do what you seek but it is long out of production. I always struggled with it as a backup device." That's baffling an possibly the reasons for your errors posting here. After struggling with Acronis on a Windows machine the plug, play and forget nature of Time Machine with a Time Capsule on my first Mac (2009) made me almost weep with joy. I'm still using that Time Capsule, I use another one for my wireless network and second backup and I've got three spares in the loft which I intend to use as long as they are supported. The best and most enduring piece of kit ever made by Apple IMO and the OP would do well to buy one S/H off eBay as a second backup option

texbev wrote:

How can I attach a Time Machine external hard drive to my Airport Extreme network?

Backing up to a network drive is not recommended by Apple. All the documentation they provide advises users to connect a Time Machine backup drive directly to your Mac, and to use that drive only for the backups.

Back up your files with Time Machine on Mac - Apple Support

Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support

The now deleted Time Capsule (2008 - 2018) was device was designed to do what you seek but it is long out of production. I always struggled with it as a backup device.

Well, you have had ample time to locate any Apple documents that would support your claims.

So, we have to assume that you were making things up in your answers.

Depends what sort of disc it is. If it's an Apple Airport TM then you can either attach it wirelessly by extending the network or connect it via etherenet. If it's a NAS then ethernet is best. If it's a USB disc then it might work by plugging it in to the Airport extreme, but I've found that hit and miss.

Zurarczurx wrote:

This is plain wrong and very bad advice.

Actually no. It's Apple's primary recommendation and also supported by your final observation that a USB disc into an AE is hit and miss. I've always found that it is unreliable, something you don't want in a backup regime.

That, plus you have not considered that we cannot expect that the OP is an experienced user. As Bob observed we cannot make assumptions. Your link to types of external discs is useful but little of it will make sense to an inexperienced reader.

I thought we had ruled out assumptions? You can put away your stopwatch; we don’t all work to the same timetable. As it happens I was dealing with a lot of life stuff this week including a very elderly parent and a hospital. In the light of that, this seems a little less important. That, and some unnecessarily aggressive posts above, did not invite a swift return.

My reading of the support documents I linked discussed a direct connection of a drive to a Mac for backup. The Mac User Guide one has a link to the types of (network) drives page which in that context I read as subordinate, and information for a subset of more experienced users. This view was informed by my lack of sustained success with backups in a home setting to USB drives connected to my Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme(s). 

However, I am encouraged by the success John Galt reports and I stand corrected, and can see that the advice on the types of disk page page has equal standing, though I would suspect that novice users might struggle with understanding it. 

I will always defer to senior members such as yourself and John with your vast wealth of knowledge, but I can only write from my own experience and interpretation. I hope your information has helped the OP.

Thanks for posting back.

It is unfortunate that things did not work for you, but the fact that they did not does not mean that they also will not work for other users.

It also does not mean that "Backing up to a network drive is not recommended by Apple". That statement....as was pointed out by other users as well......is not true.