Distributed NAS sync - without master/slave

[haven104]

Hi Team

We're a small business with three distributed offices. We've recently upgraded our network with Netgear routers to establish a live VPN link between the offices, and added two Netgear NAS's to the remote offices (home office has a Windows SBS2003 server).

We have the server backups transferring each night to one of the remote NAS's, and the remote NAS files syncing back to a separate drive on the server.

What we really want is a distributed file system, so we don't have master/slave issues - ie. without a master,any deleted files will re-sync unless deleted on all nodes.

Is there any software (OS or commercial) that will handle this for us? The end goal is one set of data files in sync on three devices in three locations. Versioning would be even better!

Thanks in advance.

Tommo

 

[thiggins]

Is cloud storage not an option?

 

[bnborg]

What about the DFS in Windows Server?

 

[haven104]

Sorry for the delayed response

Sorry for the delayed response guys, and thanks for responding.

Cloud storage is a potential, but we're limited by our connection - the satellite offices can get ADSL2+ connections at best (and they're a long way from the exchange). So our upload speeds are around 0.5MBs. we're investigating whether VDSL is available for the 'home' office.

Distributed file system on Windows - would this not involve putting a Windows server at each location? Would the bandwidth be sufficient?

Thanks again.

 

[bnborg]

Yes, each location would need a server. Windows 2008 R2 Server has a lot of features available for branch offices connected by slower links. DFS can be custom configured for branch offices.

In addition to DFS, there is BranchCache for network files that will store local copies of commonly used files. Also, there are Background Intelligent Transfer Service and Remote Differential Compression.

 

[thiggins]

Uploading to cloud or your own remote server would both be constrained by limited bandwidth.

 

[bnborg]

Uploading to cloud or your own remote server would both be constrained by limited bandwidth.

With either DFS or a private cloud, a server at each location could reduce traffic on the WAN.

 

[haven104]

Private cloud?

Hi again, and again sorry for the delay - I've moved from working away, to a thre month holiday in Europe!

Going back to this thread, I appreciate the bandwidth concerns, which are a separate issue to solve. DFS may be an option longer term, but at the same time we are leaning towards an open source system. Strategically, open source options are cheaper but harder for us to support in-house.

I'm interested in the private cloud comment - is this feasibile using open source software? Could we set up our NAS's as virtual storage?

Thoughts? Comments?

Tommo

 

[bnborg]

I know nothing about clouds at this time.

I know only slightly more about Linux/Unix.

 

[synctus]

Hi,

My (commercial) product may be exactly what you're looking for: http://www.synctus.com.

It does not require a Windows server at any site. Changes are replicated in real-time as they happen, including creation and deletion of files and directories, so that it appears that there is a single copy but with LAN-speed access.

Technical details at: http://www.synctus.com/tech

 

[Dennis Wood]

For some collaborative work (particulary graphics), we've found Dropbox useful. Essentialy your files live on the web, however, installing the dropbox software on a workstation also bidirectionally syncs web files to/from a local directory. Your file structure is accessible of course via a web browser too. Worth a look.

Another thing to check on is http://web2project.net/ Great web based collaborative project management tool..open source and free.

Had a quick look at Synctus...looks very slick for an in-house solution