Is a NAS what I'm looking for?

[Rhialto]

I posted this on the Synology forums (because I'm in the process of getting my first NAS and think a DS214 may be it) and thought it would be great to post here also and get more opinions if a NAS is what I need.

I currently run on my PC an old version of Comodo Backup in Sync mode. 60 seconds after I add a file or modify a file in the "My Documents" folder, it is replicated on an external USB HD. It has worked perfectly for years and I prefer this than running a backup from time to time.

My girlfriend have a Mac and it's now a priority to also backup that computer as we almost never do it. While mine had it running all the time, we only backup hers once a year or so.

My idea was to get a NAS and I thought the NAS would backup both our computers. In fact I had hope the NAS will run a similar sync backup. Since a NAS is always running, I thought it would always be ready to sync files from the "My Documents" folder on my PC and any other folder I want, and also sync files from any folder on the Mac I will told. When a computer goes offline, the NAS would sync the next time the computer is seen on the network (this could mean locally only and it would be fine or if it also support over internet then it's a small plus but not really important).

Is this possible? Does it work that way? I mean is it the NAS that take care of backing up the data or it's each computer that have to run a backup software to push on the NAS?

Because of course, the next great thing with a NAS is that all the pictures and media found on the PC and the Mac would be available for streaming thanks the the DLNA feature so we would be able to watch pics on the iPad, plasma TV, etc. very easily.

Thanks for reading.

 

[thiggins]

In general, you need to run a backup application on each machine that you want to back up.

The exceptions are NETGEAR and newer Iomega NASes. You can have them periodically pull files from SMB/CIFS shares (MacOS and Windows both support SMB/CIFS). Neither product offers the instant "sync" option you are looking for, however.

 

[stevech]

I posted this on the Synology forums (because I'm in the process of getting my first NAS and think a DS214 may be it) and thought it would be great to post here also and get more opinions if a NAS is what I need.

I currently run on my PC an old version of Comodo Backup in Sync mode. 60 seconds after I add a file or modify a file in the "My Documents" folder, it is replicated on an external USB HD. It has worked perfectly for years and I prefer this than running a backup from time to time.

My girlfriend have a Mac and it's now a priority to also backup that computer as we almost never do it. While mine had it running all the time, we only backup hers once a year or so.

My idea was to get a NAS and I thought the NAS would backup both our computers. In fact I had hope the NAS will run a similar sync backup. Since a NAS is always running, I thought it would always be ready to sync files from the "My Documents" folder on my PC and any other folder I want, and also sync files from any folder on the Mac I will told. When a computer goes offline, the NAS would sync the next time the computer is seen on the network (this could mean locally only and it would be fine or if it also support over internet then it's a small plus but not really important).

Is this possible? Does it work that way? I mean is it the NAS that take care of backing up the data or it's each computer that have to run a backup software to push on the NAS?

Because of course, the next great thing with a NAS is that all the pictures and media found on the PC and the Mac would be available for streaming thanks the the DLNA feature so we would be able to watch pics on the iPad, plasma TV, etc. very easily.

Thanks for reading.

Try using SecondCopy from Centered Systems on each PC. It's inexpensive. It will copy to NAS (or any media) whatever you want, as often as you want.

the Synology I have can mount a share provided by a PC. That done, the Synology backup and time backup can copy when you wish. I prefer to have the PC push, with SeconCopy because it is more fine grained on what and when - and the NAS has to deal with the PC being off when a backup was called for.

 

[PrivateJoker]

I have a Synology 212+ and have separate volumes on it that I backup each one of my local PCs to.

I have multiple Macs that I use TimeMachine (the built in Mac backup, very easy to setup it does versioning, in that if your computer sees it, it will go so far as to backup hourly [it's unnoticeable unless you're looking at the menu bar], but you can throw your Mac into the toilet, go get a new Mac, connect it via wifi or ethernet to your network and show it where your backup was, and it restores every single app and document, everything, and places it on the new Mac in a process that's almost shockingly simple) and I like it alot.

My one current Windows 8 machine I use the Synology "data replicator" utility on the desktop to create and update its backups manually on a semi-regular basis. Windows 7 had a pretty good backup function baked into it of giving you just the specific folders option & also full disc imaging on the fly while using your computer. They tucked those away in Windows 8, but they are still there under "Windows 7 backup & restore" or something, and Win8 also has a versioning/backup function similar to TimeMachine, but more geared towards easy retrieval of individual files and folders with less of a disc imaging component. That function in Win8 can work over network drives too.

Paul Thurrott on WinSuperSite just wrote an article about the changes in Win8.1's backup.

Long answer short, yes I'd strongly recommend a NAS, I have each machine backing up in the method I prefer on a regular basis and the NAS is really decently quick enough, much faster (and easier to use) than multiple external drives. And it's RAID1 (technically I'm in "synology hybrid raid" mode) so it gives you that much more safety, and for $125ish I can get a 3TB USB 3.0 drive that I plug into my NAS once a month and back it up, then leave it at a family member's home.

Another reason I like Synology in particular is that I've been with them for maybe 5 incremental changes in their DSM OS updates, and 2 major ones, and I can say I've measured speed increases on my same hardware in file txfr speed in many of those version changes. So, it's nice that they don't exclusively put out stuff focused on new product, but they continue to optimize and add new features that affects hardware already in the field.

hth!

 

[Rhialto]

In general, you need to run a backup application on each machine that you want to back up.

Tim himself answering! I come to the same conclusion, I think the PC itself can monitor all the changes to files much better and push when required.

I prefer to have the PC push, with SeconCopy because it is more fine grained on what and when - and the NAS has to deal with the PC being off when a backup was called for.

Exactly and thanks for SecondCopy suggestion, I've read about it and looks very easy to setup and seems to do everything I want, maybe more! I will probably reconfigure my current Comodo backup to send files on the NAS and see if it works first. Is FTP the recommended method or I can map a drive letter? I'm not sure if the Comodo version I use support FTP.

Long answer short, yes I'd strongly recommend a NAS, I have each machine backing up in the method I prefer on a regular basis and the NAS is really decently quick enough, much faster (and easier to use) than multiple external drives. And it's RAID1 (technically I'm in "synology hybrid raid" mode) so it gives you that much more safety, and for $125ish I can get a 3TB USB 3.0 drive that I plug into my NAS once a month and back it up, then leave it at a family member's home.

I also think a NAS is the way to go, because I also want to have in one place all the medias so any other devices can access those. And just like you, my plan will be to remove my USB HD from the PC and connect it to the NAS for a backup every month or so that will then place somewhere else.


I'm waiting for DS214/214+ announcement and some reviews before deciding which to get and if the + would be overkill. From what I've read, Synology not only have good products but their software is also very functional and always up to date.

I wonder if Tim already have a review ready to publish, just waiting for the NDA to expire?

 

[PrivateJoker]

@Rhialto

I'm glad to see you're getting helpful feedback here. SNB reviews helped guide me to both my current router and my NAS as well.

Though not at all an apples to apples comparison, but initially I had a Synology 212 and sent it back to get the better CPU in the 212+. In hindsight I should have backed up my data externally, then configured new device and restored, but I didn't. I just moved the drives over and it was very forgiving and updated itself for the new hardware. Though I'm not recommending that method of data transfer to anyone.

 

[stevech]

Tim himself answering! I come to the same conclusion, I think the PC itself can monitor all the changes to files much better and push when required.



Exactly and thanks for SecondCopy suggestion, I've read about it and looks very easy to setup and seems to do everything I want, maybe more! I will probably reconfigure my current Comodo backup to send files on the NAS and see if it works first. Is FTP the recommended method or I can map a drive letter? I'm not sure if the Comodo version I use support FTP.



I also think a NAS is the way to go, because I also want to have in one place all the medias so any other devices can access those. And just like you, my plan will be to remove my USB HD from the PC and connect it to the NAS for a backup every month or so that will then place somewhere else.


I'm waiting for DS214/214+ announcement and some reviews before deciding which to get and if the + would be overkill. From what I've read, Synology not only have good products but their software is also very functional and always up to date.

I wonder if Tim already have a review ready to publish, just waiting for the NDA to expire?

I don't use FTP for backup within the LAN. For backup of the NAS to external media, I use USB3 and ext4 file system format, plus at the ready is a utility (freeware) for Windows that will read ext4.