NAS for local backup and remote backup

[syncmaster]

Hi folks, great forum and first post:

Today one of my friends, lost 9 months of photographs because it had no backups and it's computer disk died. It's already the second person that I know that something catastrophic like this happens... So problems due happen...

I do have a backup plan, namely two external disks, where I have my backups, namely photos and AVCHD videos.

One of the disks is connected to a reliable workhorse LinkSys NSLU2, hacked to run Linux and rsync daemon. The another one is connected to my PC every time that I need to backup.

So every time that I have new photos or videos, I just plug in one of the USB disks, copy all data to my PC internal disk, another copy to the usb connected disk and rsync everything to the NSLU2 attached disk.

I'm 100% Linux user so, I use LuckyBackup (an rsync shell) to do the backups.

So far so good, but I still have issues with this:

- Fire or another natural (or not) catastrophe
- Robbery/assault to my home.
- Data corruption.

Cloud backup for me is out of the question due mainly to the fact that AVCHD videos are very large, and the price for the needed space is out of the question. Right now I have around 200GB of data, with 50% photos, 50% videos.

So the solution for this is, I think, to implement my own "cloud" backup, namely a remote nas server on my father-in-law house... and use the internet to rsync remotely.

I'm thinking in NAS devices and not a full blown server, namely for two reasons: low power consumption, self contained.

But for that to be possible, I need to know if there is any NAS in the market that can do this:

Local NAS, two slots, RAID1 with
- Volume encryption, file encryption, or at least truecrypt support or something similiar
- Rsnapshot or snapshot managment to check for data corruption and keep snapshots
- ssh access for administration
- Auto-off, auto-on
- rsync to remote nas possible and able to schedulle
- rsync possible and over ssh in a non-default port (example: 44556 instead of 22)
- email notification

Remote NAS, one slot, low power consumption
- Volume encryption or file encrytion
- rsync server possible via ssh on a non default port
- email notification.

So my idea is to due backups to the local RAID1 NAS, and during the night, that NAS rsyncs to the remote NAS and creates a snapshot of data.

Any input is welcomed, and thanks everyone for your help!

 

[zurge]

Some Backup options

The key thing for your local NAS is that it SHOULD support rsync. Many NAS devices do not support rsync. You can find NAS devices that backup to external devices, but do not support an open implementation of rsync (meaning you can only backup to NASes from the same brand).

You may want to look at these brands for your local NAS:

Netgear
Synology
Qnap
Seagate

I believe these companies support rsync to any other rsync device.


For the remote NAS device I would look at the Tonido Plug (http://www.tonido.com/). The Tonido plug has a USB port for a hard drive and runs linux as its OS. This of course will give you rsync and many other flexible features.

Hope this helps.

Zach

 

[thiggins]

You might look at BuddyBackup for non-NAS remote backup.

 

[syncmaster]

Hi!

Thanks for the input.

I've already saw the TonidoPlug, and in fact I've found out that the Seagate Docstar NAS is a SheevaPlug with half the memory and no RTC compared to the plug reference design. It only costs 55euros, so it's almost half the price and can be hackable with Linux...

Regarding the BuddyBackup, great idea, but it's windows only... I'm 100% Linux user, so can't really use it.

I also solved my problem with encryption, namely, I really don't need the encryption capability on the NAS, but backup to it the already encripted files. Basically is to sync an encfs file system.

Thanks again,
Best regards.

 

[claykin]

You might look at BuddyBackup for non-NAS remote backup.

Tim

Do you have any personal experience with Buddybackup?

I understand the product has been around for a few years but had limited, if any, success. This is sort of a re-release as far as I can tell but now its completely free. What is their revenue model? I don't get it and even perusing their site and forums found another user asking the same question. Hmmm.

 

[thiggins]

Tim

Do you have any personal experience with Buddybackup?

I understand the product has been around for a few years but had limited, if any, success. This is sort of a re-release as far as I can tell but now its completely free. What is their revenue model? I don't get it and even perusing their site and forums found another user asking the same question. Hmmm.

No. I plan to look at it soon, though. If you try it first, let me know what you find.

I'm curious as to their business model, too.

 

[jramskov]

An alternative to Buddybackup is CrashPlan: http://b5.crashplan.com/landing/index.html

They support Windows, Mac, Linux and Solaris.

 

[thiggins]

BuddyBackup review just published over on SmallCloudBuilder.

 

[teknojnky]

with 2 (or more) newer model (x86) readynas devices, you can now buy 'replication' licenses to setup local or remote backup jobs for easy to use 'set and forget' backups.

its not a very cheap option (you need multiple readynas devices, and the additional license fee for each), but I've used the trial and it works pretty well.

http://www.readynas.com/?p=4555

note however, that this is not a real-time replication service, its schedule-based 'cloud managed' direct readynas to readynas snapshot + resync backup jobs.

basically, you can have multiple readynas devices added/in your remote/replication account and setup backup jobs to any other readynas in your account, with no additional vpn setup required.