How We Do Backup

[Gonz]

Tim,

In your March article about backup on your own system, you mentioned that you should have had the setup reversed between the QNAP and Synology NAS's as to their positions of primary and backup NAS's. Was this just because the Synology backup software on your NAS was newer then the software on the QNAP? If you had both units running the newest software would you still say that the SN software is better at backup? I am deciding between the two and am focused on backup. You also said that the older Netgear NAS had the best backup software of them all. Is this still your opinion in comparison to the newer software of QNAP & SN? Thanks for the article and your further comments!

Gonz

 

[thiggins]

For backup over the network, both Synology and QNAP use rsync.

The main reason for my comment is that Synology lets you use only its NetBackup folder as an rsync target (without having to log in to the Linux console and edit the rsyncd.config file). QNAP lets you use any network share, including its media shares.

I'd prefer backing up my media folders on the QNAP to their equivalents on the Synology. That way, I could have an alternative UPnP/DLNA server for testing.

NETGEAR ReadyNASes still have the most flexible backup options, with Iomega's ix2 and ix4 now the closest alternative for the reasons stated in the article.

I suggest you try the online demos of both Synology and QNAP and look at the backup features. Also look at these articles:
How To Back Up NAS to NAS - Part 1
How To Back Up NAS to NAS - Part 2

 

[Gonz]

Thanks Tim!

 

[akarts]

SyncBack

Tim,

wrt SyncBack and browser window:

There is a setting for that in SyncBack options or whatever it is called. You can either pop up HTML log, or text-only log, or no log. The 2nd/3rd is probably what you want.

Other then that, SyncBack is a pretty good SW. My only complain is that it does not handle non-Latin1 characters incorrectly (think European languages). However, I'm not sure whether this might be due to target side as well (Linux SAMBA server).

But overall, SyncBack is much better then Microsoft SyncToy (which is close to useless).

 

[thiggins]

Thanks, akarts, I did see that option.

Would be good to also have an "errors only" report mode.

 

[BillEl]

With the notion of needing to backup your NAS why is it that if the NAS dies and not the discs all the data is lost?

There's no way to retreive it off the drives?


Thanks.

 

[claykin]

Thanks, akarts, I did see that option.

Would be good to also have an "errors only" report mode.

Set Syncback to email logs and on that screen you'll have the option to email them only if errors occur. LOG > EMAIL LOG > ADVANCED.

You made a good choice. Syncback is a great tool and very reliable. I've tried them all (you know that) and Syncback is the rockin' backup/sync tool especially if you opt for SE or Pro. My other favorite pay for backup tool is KLS Backup Pro. Its great for backup, includes plugins to backup common apps (i.e. Outlook data, etc), is fast, very reliable and runs as a service . KLS also offers sync but its not as flexible as Syncback. Regardless it just works and works better than most other dedicated sync tools.

If you want to try another freeware backup app, consider Cobian. V10 beta is public and supports VSS for x86 and x64. Cobian backup is another great backup tool that just works like a horse. unfortunately it doesn't offer restore for those who insist on automated restore.

I found similar results with GFI Backup Home. its really a dog and very buggy.

 

[claykin]

My only complain is that it does not handle non-Latin1 characters incorrectly (think European languages). However, I'm not sure whether this might be due to target side as well (Linux SAMBA server).

You'll need to spend the $30 for Syncback SE to get full Unicode support. Nice thing is that $30 gets you 5 licenses if you are a home user. See here: http://www.2brightsparks.com/help/index.php?action=kb&article=27

 

[claykin]

With the notion of needing to backup your NAS why is it that if the NAS dies and not the discs all the data is lost?

There's no way to retreive it off the drives?


Thanks.

Not necessarily true. If NAS hardware dies you can retrieve the RAID data in most cases. Any RAID array formatted in EXT2/3 (for example) can be mounted in Linux. If its only a RAID 1 array it can be mounted using a freeware EXT2/3 driver in Windows such as EXT2IFS. Keep in mind that this only applies to EXT2/3 file systems that were formatted using 4Kb block size. Synology and Qnap use 4Kb blocks. Netgear uses 4Kb blocks on their x86 NVX and Pro NAS boxes. The Duo and NV+ use 16Kb blocks since V4.x firmware. 16Kb blocks can still be read in a Linux environment but its a bit complicated and not for the faint hearted.

Hope that didn't confuse you.

Regardless, RAID is NOT EVER a replacement for backing up. it was never designed or marketed as a backup replacement. Inexperienced people somehow touted it as such. Don't listen to them please.

 

[thiggins]

Set Syncback to email logs and on that screen you'll have the option to email them only if errors occur. LOG > EMAIL LOG > ADVANCED.

I think that's not an option in the free version.

You made a good choice. Syncback is a great tool and very reliable. I've tried them all (you know that) and Syncback is the rockin' backup/sync tool especially if you opt for SE or Pro.

Yeah, I know you're a fan!

Thanks, by the way, for your note in the other post about 5 home licenses for $30. I'll be purchasing SE, then.

I found similar results with GFI Backup Home. its really a dog and very buggy.

Didn't hit any bugs. But it sure is slow.

 

[Max.VI]

SyncBack

Tim, I'm using SyncBack Free v.3.2.19.0 and I have an option to open the browser on errors only. I usually make backups and never have that window opening.

Right click your profile, Edit, Misc tab: there is the Log File section where you can choose to have the log popped up on errors only.
Have you tried that?

Thanks for your work!
Max

 

[thiggins]

Thanks, Max. After I bought SE, I discovered the setting in the backup profile. Oh, well. But I don't mind spending the $30.

 

[Unregistered]

My Setup

Interesting article regarding your backups. I've tried SyncBack too, but tend to keep most everything stored directly on my Synology CS407e NAS so backing up hosts isn't as big a deal. I've found what I consider to be a pretty good compromise of a robust backup scheme and reasonable cost that's easy to maintain:

My CS407e has 3 1TB drives in a RAID 5 array. I agree with the philosophy that RAID is rarely appropriate for SOHOs, but I store lots of less critical data (like all the digital rips of my DVDs, etc) that I'd like to guard against a simple drive failure. However, if there was a catastrophic loss like a house fire, ripped DVDs and random web videos are the least of my concerns.

My total data set of critical files (family documents, photos, home video, digital-only music collection, etc) is "only" about 400 GB. I have two 750 GB hard drives and one of the USB docks that accepts a naked disk. I have a nightly backup job on the Synology that copies everything *except* the video/movie share off to the external disk.

I let the nightly run every night (obviously) and then each week, usually Monday, I eject the current disk, take it to work to store in my desk, and bring the other disk back. The backups pick up that night and update the disk that's been offsite to the latest data set.

With this, I'm protected against a simple drive failure for my entire data set via RAID. The critical data is kept off-site, plus I always have a rolling snapshot of "last week's" backup, so if I deleted something critical I would, in most cases, have a couple days to realize it and retrieve the other disk to get the deleted data back. There's also the local nightly backup available in the event I delete something and realize it before that night's backup propagates the delete.

The Synology's backup mechanism is file-level, so I can always just mount the disk and navigate through the folder structure to find the file for recovery through Synology's file manager tool. And since Synology's external disk backup just uses an EXT3 file system, if the entire setup was lost I could just load up a Linux LiveCD and mount the off-site backup to recover the critical files.

In a perfect world I'd add a 3rd external disk and add a quarterly snapshot into the rotation stored at a different off-site location, but that might be going a bit overboard for home use...

This setup gives me bags of storage space, the security of off-site backups that are entirely under my control, and reasonable cost since I'm not trying to back up a full 3 TB of data to an external source.

Bob

 

[thiggins]

Thanks for sharing the info, Bob. Backing up to rotating removable drives is relatively cheap and easy and, as long as you're disciplined enough to do the fetch and carry, pretty secure, too.

 

[Unregistered]

Toucan Backup

Cobian isn't bad as suggested before,
my current favourite is Toucan which is on the portable apps page

nice interface and several synch options
Can be scheduled using windows scheduler.
and more importantly is actively maintained!!