Incremental Timed Backup with DS

[Deleted member 28741]

How can I do incremental timed backup with one DS to another i.e. only backup files that have changed and not everything?

I set "Timed Backup" on my DS214Play to do network backup to another DS box. Couldn't see any toggle for incremental rather than full backups.

ANy advice or tips most welcome!

 

[stevech]

I use time backups. "incremental" I don't think makes sense for this.
My 2 bay has two volumes (DS212).
Every x hours, the time backup runs and uses only the folders/directories I've told it to so I don't backup my backup files. (!).

It copies from volume 1 to the time backup set on volume 2, files that have changed. It keeps the last 90 days of file versions. The oldest file version is deleted if changes occur after that old one is 90 days old.

This has saved my fanny several times due to my mistakes in hosing up a file with an editor, or oops I didn't want to delete, etc.

I do drive images in full now and then and one can do an "incremental" drive image as well. I don't. I just keep the youngest 2 or 3 drive image files.

 

[Deleted member 28741]

I use time backups. "incremental" I don't think makes sense for this.
My 2 bay has two volumes (DS212).
Every x hours, the time backup runs and uses only the folders/directories I've told it to so I don't backup my backup files. (!).

It copies from volume 1 to the time backup set on volume 2, files that have changed. It keeps the last 90 days of file versions. The oldest file version is deleted if changes occur after that old one is 90 days old.

This has saved my fanny several times due to my mistakes in hosing up a file with an editor, or oops I didn't want to delete, etc.

I do drive images in full now and then and one can do an "incremental" drive image as well. I don't. I just keep the youngest 2 or 3 drive image files.

Thanks Steve. What happens with your backups is what I want to achieve.

I couldn't work out what " Timed Backup" would do backup wise and thought it might simply copy the whole 2TB lot again rather than just the files that had been changed.

The first box has 2x3TB in RAID 1 and the backup box has two single volumes of 3TB each... So the backup disc would be full after 1 1/2 backups .. If you understand what I mean

I'm really glad I went with Synology though .. Extremely impressed with the DSM 5 OS .. It makes the Buffalo OS look like something from the Flintstones. Especially the Synology disc health checks and info .. I could never work out what was wrong on the Buffalo box - the controller card, the discs, the OS / firmware.

 

[Deleted member 28741]

It copies from volume 1 to the time backup set on volume 2, files that have changed. It keeps the last 90 days of file versions. The oldest file version is deleted if changes occur after that old one is 90 days old.

Hi Steve

Is the 90 day setting the one in the Time Backup "OPTIONS" which says "Remove older versions .. Before 3 Months"?

I couldn't grasp the meaning of what it does… "Before 3 months" could mean tomorrow!

 

[stevech]

Hi Steve

Is the 90 day setting the one in the Time Backup "OPTIONS" which says "Remove older versions .. Before 3 Months"?

I couldn't grasp the meaning of what it does… "Before 3 months" could mean tomorrow!

Yeah, the English isn't clear. But yes, when a file changes and there's an older version more than x months old, the oldest one gets deleted.

For me, the key is to have Time Backup configured to backup only selected folders/directories. I have mine set for all my folders except the ones in which I have backups from PCs in the house, these being 20-40GB drive images. No need to backup these, but you could.

In the 2 bay I use two independent volumes so that I'm not vulnerable to losing files due to human error or a corrupted file system on the volume 1 drive. Volume 2 has the time backup and other backups from Volume 1.

 

[Deleted member 28741]

Thank you very much!

You have helped me a lot. In fact it was some of your previous posts that pushed me to use 2-bay rather than 4-bay boxes.

In the old buffalo box I started out with 4x2tb drives set as raid 5 which was great until one drive dropped out mad I had to rebuild.

Then I changed the bad drive and started out again but this time to raid 10. When another drive went bad I was pulling my hair out and that's when I decided to rethink what was easier to manage.

The worst thing was that the Buffalo OS has no disc health info so I really didn't know what was wrong: the discs, the box/raid controller or the firmware.

It was then that I started to look at qnap or Synology ... And the Synology hardware and software seems to give more bang for the buck.