早在 2018 年，苹果(Apple)就正式宣布退出路由器业务( withdrawal from the router business)，停产其AirPort、AirPort Extreme和Time Capsule设备。该公司仍然通过错误修复和安全补丁提供硬件和软件支持，尽管这只会持续五年。您仍然可以在亚马逊上购买更新的。(renewed ones)
如果你有一个AirPort Extreme，与它的前身 AirPort Express 相比，你可以用它做很多事情，AirPort Express的USB端口仅用于打印机而不是外部驱动器。
在本指南中，我们将向您展示如何将外部USB硬盘连接到您的AirPort Extreme，以充当您计算机的网络连接存储设备(storage device)。它还支持用于共享无线打印的打印机和USB集线器。(USB)
Airport Extreme 和外置 USB 硬盘如何协同工作(How Airport Extreme & External USB Hard Drives Work Together)
AirPort Extreme是(AirPort Extreme)Apple推出的一款功能齐全的中级高性能WiFi基站，它以激进的设计和重大更新取代了AirPort Express 。
与AirPort Express(AirPort Express)路由器相比，它提供硬盘驱动器和打印机共享(printer sharing)、双频高速 802.11ac Wi-Fi、自动备份和更强的信号，这要归功于它的六个天线和高大的立方体形状。
它还具有本地网络地址转换(Network Address Translation)( NAT ) 防火墙、内置文件服务器、封闭网络选项和密码加密。
此设备中的AirPort 磁盘(AirPort Disk)功能允许您将外部硬盘驱动器插入端口以充当存储，因为AirPort Extreme没有内部存储。
插入驱动器后，您可以与网络共享驱动器上的数据和存储空间。需要注意的是，路由器不支持APFS、前FAT或 NTFS 格式的(OR NTFS-formatted)驱动器——仅支持那些预先格式化为FAT或HFS+的驱动器。
但是，就其存储而言，这是因为您无法使用Time Machine将计算机备份到外部驱动器。您也不能像使用其他提供USB存储的路由器那样将内容从驱动器流式传输到其他网络设备，例如Apple TV、Roku或其他网络媒体流媒体。
另外，AirPort Extreme不能用作Web或FTP功能的服务器，因此与上一代相比，它在功能方面没有什么可借鉴的。
将外部硬盘驱动器添加到 AirPort Extreme(Adding an External Hard Drive To AirPort Extreme)
为此，您将需要AirPort Extreme、外置硬盘和 Mac，您可以从中访问文档和媒体文件以及网络上的其他数据，或与网络上的其他人共享。
- 第一步是正确打开和配置AirPort Extreme。如果这是您第一次，请了解如何设置 AirPort Extreme( set up AirPort Extreme)。
- 接下来，将外部USB硬盘驱动器连接到您的AirPort Extreme基站。只有一个USB端口，但您可以使用USB集线器连接更多设备(connect more devices)，如打印机、多个硬盘驱动器等。
- 单击Menu>Applications>Utilities打开AirPort Utility应用程序。
- 接下来，单击磁盘(Disks)。将打开一个新窗口，您可以在其中验证您的外部硬盘驱动器是否出现。
- 选中启用文件共享(Enable file sharing)框。
您已成功将外部硬盘驱动器连接到AirPort Extreme，现在可以在无线网络上共享它。
使用 Mac 连接到网络驱动器(Use Your Mac To Connect To The Network Drive)
将外部USB硬盘连接到AirPort Extreme后，下一步就是使用计算机访问网络驱动器(use your computer to access the network drive)。
Mac的Finder将AirPort Extreme视为服务器，因此该驱动器看起来不像其他已安装的硬盘。但是，您仍然可以像使用Mac(Mac)上的其他硬盘一样使用它。
- 要访问网络驱动器，请切换到Finder并单击Preferences。
- 单击Connected Servers框（如果尚未选中），然后关闭Finder Preferences窗口。
- 单击文件(File )并选择新建 Finder 窗口(New Finder Window)以打开一个新的 Finder 窗口。
- 从Finder(Finder)窗口的边栏中选择AirPort Extreme基站。您会看到您的外部硬盘驱动器看起来像一个文件夹。
为您的网络驱动器选择安全设置(Choose Security Settings For Your Network Drive)
这是整个过程的最后一步。
您可以使用三种不同的方法保护您的网络驱动器：
- 有磁盘密码
- 有账户
- 使用 AirPort Extreme 密码。
使用磁盘密码(With a disk password)，所有用户共享一个密码来访问网络驱动器，而使用 AirPort Extreme 密码(with an AirPort Extreme password)，用户将输入您为设备设置的密码。后者对于多用户网络来说不是一个好的选择，因为任何拥有密码的人都可以配置您的AirPort Extreme。
第三个选项With accounts适合需要不同访问权限的多个用户的网络。每个用户都有自己的登录凭据，具有读写或只读访问权限(login credentials, with read and write or read-only access permissions)。它在办公室等场景中很有用，您可以在其中允许员工阅读或查看驱动器上的文件，但不能完全创建或修改它们。
- 要保护网络驱动器，请打开AirPort Utility>Manual Setup。
- 从安全共享磁盘(Secure Shared Disks)菜单中选择一个安全选项。
- 如果您选择了使用帐户(With accounts)，请单击配置帐户(Configure Accounts)，然后为每个用户添加一个帐户。
- 如果您选择了使用磁盘密码，请在标有(With a disk password)磁盘密码(Disk Password)和验证密码(Verify Password)的字段中输入密码。
- 单击更新(Update)。您的AirPort Extreme将重新启动并应用您选择的所有安全设置。
这些是将外部USB硬盘驱动器连接到AirPort Extreme并授予具有磁盘密码或访问权限的任何人访问权限所需的步骤。
注意(Note)：您可以通过单击在我的钥匙串中记住此密码(Remember this password in my keychain)将密码保存到钥匙串中。这样，您就不必在每次连接到网络驱动器时记住它或输入它。
您(Were)是否能够使用上述步骤将外部USB硬盘驱动器连接到AirPort Extreme ？在下面的评论中与我们分享。
How to Attach an External USB Hard Drive to your AirPort Extreme
Back in 2018, Apple officiаlly announced its withdrawal from the router business by discontinuing its AirPort, AirPort Extreme, and Time Capsule devices. The company still provides hardware and software support through bug fixes and security patches, though this will only go on for five years. You can also still purchase renewed ones on Amazon.
If you have an AirPort Extreme, there’s a lot you can do with it compared to its predecessor, the AirPort Express, whose USB port was only for use with printers and not external drives.
In this guide, we’re going to show you how to attach an external USB hard drive to your AirPort Extreme to function as a network-attached storage device for your computer. It also supports printers and USB hubs for shared wireless printing.
How Airport Extreme & External USB Hard Drives Work Together
AirPort Extreme is a fully-featured, mid-level, high-performance WiFi base station from Apple that succeeded the AirPort Express with a radical design and significant update.
It offers hard drive and printer sharing, dual-band higher-speed 802.11ac Wi-Fi, automatic backups, and a stronger signal compared to the AirPort Express router, thanks to its six antennas and tall, cubic shape.
It also has a native Network Address Translation (NAT) firewall, built-in file server, closed network options, and password encryption.
The AirPort Disk feature in this device allows you to plug an external hard drive into the port to act as the storage since the AirPort Extreme has no internal storage.
When you plug in the drive, you can share the data and storage space on it with your network. It’s important to note though that the router doesn’t support APFS, exFAT, OR NTFS-formatted drives – only those preformatted in FAT or HFS+.
However, that’s as far as its storage goes, because you can’t do things like backing up your computer to the external drive with Time Machine. You can’t also stream content from the drive to other network devices like Apple TV, Roku, or other network media streamers as you would with other routers that provide USB storage.
Plus, AirPort Extreme can’t function as a server for Web or FTP functions, so there’s nothing much to draw from it in terms of functionality when compared to the previous generation.
Adding an External Hard Drive To AirPort Extreme
To do this, you’ll need your AirPort Extreme, external hard drive, and your Mac from where you’ll access the documents and media files among other data on the network, or share with others on the network.
- The first step is to turn on and configure the AirPort Extreme correctly. If it’s your first time, learn how to set up AirPort Extreme.
- Next, connect the external USB hard drive to your AirPort Extreme base station. There’s only one USB port but you can use a USB hub to connect more devices like a printer, multiple hard drives, and others.
- Open the AirPort Utility application by clicking Menu>Applications>Utilities.
- Next, click Disks. A new window will open where you can verify whether your external hard drive appears or not.
- Check the Enable file sharing box.
You’ve successfully connected your external hard drive to your AirPort Extreme and can now share it on your wireless network.
Use Your Mac To Connect To The Network Drive
Once you’ve attached the external USB hard drive to AirPort Extreme, the next step is to use your computer to access the network drive.
Your Mac’s Finder views the AirPort Extreme as a server, so the drive won’t look like other mounted hard disks. However, you can still use it in the same way as other hard disks on your Mac.
- To access the network drive, switch to Finder and click Preferences.
- Click the Connected Servers box, if it’s not selected already, and then close the Finder Preferences window.
- Click File and select New Finder Window to open a new Finder window.
- Select the AirPort Extreme base station from the Finder window’s sidebar. You’ll see your external hard drive appear like a folder.
- From here, you can drag and drop folders and files to the network drive.
Choose Security Settings For Your Network Drive
This is the final step in the whole process.
You can secure your network drive using three different methods:
- With a disk password
- With accounts
- With an AirPort Extreme Password.
With a disk password, all users share one password to access the network drive, while with an AirPort Extreme password, the users will enter the password you’ve set for the device. The latter isn’t a good option for multiple user networks as anyone having the password can configure your AirPort Extreme.
The third option, With accounts, is good for networks with multiple users requiring different access permissions. Each user gets his or her own login credentials, with read and write or read-only access permissions. It’s useful in scenarios like an office, where you can allow employees to read or view files on the drive, but not create or modify them altogether.
- To secure the network drive, open AirPort Utility>Manual Setup.
- Click Disks > File Sharing.
- Select a security option from Secure Shared Disks menu.
- Click Configure Accounts if you selected With accounts, and add an account per user.
- If you chose With a disk password, type a password in the fields labeled Disk Password and Verify Password.
- Click Update. Your AirPort Extreme will restart and apply all the security settings you chose.
These are the steps you need to attach your external USB hard drive to AirPort Extreme and give access to anyone with the disk password or access permissions.
Note: You can save your password to your keychain by clicking Remember this password in my keychain. This way, you won’t have to remember it or type it in each time you connect to the network drive.
Were you able to attach your external USB hard drive to your AirPort Extreme using the steps above? Share with us in a comment below.
