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Are there any Firewire splitters available?

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commiebastard

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Nov 7, 2009, 11:59:10 PM11/7/09
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I've got an external Firewire 800 drive I use for Time Machine
backups, but it's also partitioned into 2 other volumes I want to
share with another computer that's also Firewire capable. I want to
split the Firewire cable to connect to both computers simultaneously.

nospam

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Nov 8, 2009, 12:44:50 AM11/8/09
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In article
<fc0c3132-6f80-4f09...@p8g2000yqb.googlegroups.com>,
commiebastard <oracl...@gmail.com> wrote:

you can't connect one drive to two computers, no matter what the
interface is.

share it from one computer and access it via the network.

Don Bruder

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Nov 8, 2009, 3:14:52 AM11/8/09
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In article <071120092144505516%nos...@nospam.invalid>,
nospam <nos...@nospam.invalid> wrote:

There's always the old fallback: "sneakernet". :)

Firewire hot-swaps, right?


Why am I reminded of a tagline I saw ages ago? It went something like
"It's all too easy to underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon
loaded with backup media."

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Howard S Shubs

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Nov 8, 2009, 3:54:27 AM11/8/09
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In article <071120092144505516%nos...@nospam.invalid>,
nospam <nos...@nospam.invalid> wrote:

> you can't connect one drive to two computers, no matter what the
> interface is.

<grin> You sure about that? In the normal home user's world, yeah,
true. In the business world, there's always a way. Might not be
pretty, might be expensive, but there's always a way.


> share it from one computer and access it via the network.

Good practical answer!

--
Don't bother with piddly crap like "gun control".
Life is 100% fatal. Ban it.

P. Sture

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Nov 8, 2009, 8:57:12 AM11/8/09
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In article <hd5ulf$v6$2...@news.eternal-september.org>,
Don Bruder <dak...@sonic.net> wrote:

> In article <071120092144505516%nos...@nospam.invalid>,
> nospam <nos...@nospam.invalid> wrote:
>
> > In article
> > <fc0c3132-6f80-4f09...@p8g2000yqb.googlegroups.com>,
> > commiebastard <oracl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > I've got an external Firewire 800 drive I use for Time Machine
> > > backups, but it's also partitioned into 2 other volumes I want to
> > > share with another computer that's also Firewire capable. I want to
> > > split the Firewire cable to connect to both computers simultaneously.
> >
> > you can't connect one drive to two computers, no matter what the
> > interface is.
> >
> > share it from one computer and access it via the network.
>
> There's always the old fallback: "sneakernet". :)
>
> Firewire hot-swaps, right?

That's what I've recently done to migrate my data from ,y iBook to my
PowerBook. I didn't even need to move the drives since they sit
together; I just swapped the cables.



>
> Why am I reminded of a tagline I saw ages ago? It went something like
> "It's all too easy to underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon
> loaded with backup media."

I found this, attributed to Dennis Ritchie:

"Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes"

<http://www.bpfh.net/sysadmin/never-underestimate-bandwidth.html>

For a home user nowadays this may be more appropriate:

"Never underestimate the bandwidth of an attach� case full of disks."

Mind you, a decade ago I had to transfer several hundred gigabytes from
one building to another. Getting the paperwork to move the physical
tapes out of one secure area and into another wouldn't happen until
after the weekend, so I used the network instead and it was all done for
Monday morning.

--
Paul Sture

Phil Stripling

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Nov 8, 2009, 2:48:05 PM11/8/09
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In article <071120092144505516%nos...@nospam.invalid>, nospam
<nos...@nospam.invalid> wrote:

That's why I use ethernet NAS for my back ups. I've got a couple of
desktop Macs, a windows desktop, and a few laptops (Macs, Windows, and
Linux) which can connect to the NAS via cable in my ethernet wired
house.

Although we also use wifi, it's nice to have a hard wire that doesn't
broadcast and a gigabit ethernet router. Reasonably fast access for all
computers.

I haven't tried accessing Firewire connected drives through other
computers. Is it possible to share the volumes and have other computers
see them through the home network? Assuming the original poster has
one.

Tom Stiller

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Nov 8, 2009, 3:14:29 PM11/8/09
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In article <081120091148055861%ra...@whitehouse.gov>,
Phil Stripling <ra...@whitehouse.gov> wrote:

Yes. You might be interested in the article at
<http://www.somelifeblog.com/2009/02/fixed-time-machine-backup-to-network
.html>

--
Tom Stiller

PGP fingerprint = 5108 DDB2 9761 EDE5 E7E3 7BDA 71ED 6496 99C0 C7CF

Warren Oates

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Nov 8, 2009, 5:26:40 PM11/8/09
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> Is it possible to share the volumes and have other computers
> see them through the home network? Assuming the original poster has
> one.

It's possible, but you're not connecting computer-to-computer by
Firewire, but by whatever transport you're router is set for. So if
you've got gigabit, you'll get nice fast file movement; if you're using
wireless g (or n for that matter), then it'll be somewhat slower.
--
Suddenly he realized that he was alone
with a giant halfwit on a dark deserted street.
-- Chester Himes

P. Sture

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Nov 10, 2009, 10:32:44 AM11/10/09
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In article <howard-C4F053....@news.newsguy.com>,

Howard S Shubs <how...@shubs.net> wrote:

> In article <071120092144505516%nos...@nospam.invalid>,
> nospam <nos...@nospam.invalid> wrote:
>
> > you can't connect one drive to two computers, no matter what the
> > interface is.
>
> <grin> You sure about that? In the normal home user's world, yeah,
> true. In the business world, there's always a way. Might not be
> pretty, might be expensive, but there's always a way.

BTDT, although not specifically with Firewire. And it was expensive.



>
> > share it from one computer and access it via the network.
>
> Good practical answer!

It's actually pretty easy from System Preferences -> Sharing -> File
Sharing.

--
Paul Sture

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