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Data backup
All the suggested posts are closed, so I am starting "new."
I know "backup, backup, backup, ..." I was somewhat shocked to discover one should backup data from the NAS. The redundancy of the NAS auto-synch feature does not necessarily guarantee from loss.
I presume, then, from what I gather in other posts, the most straightforward backup would be to program the NAS to backup to a USB-connected drive.
As such, is this backup method pretty much "automatic"? The NAS use their own OS, etc., so must I somehow format the drive, or ... ?
As for drive compatability, should the external drive (I presume a USB to an external drive enclosure) be "the same" as the NAS drives? I know the NAS drives must be on "the list," but must ALL drives be the same brand, and so on, or should they be of the same size? Are there any other drive-specific features necessary for all to be working?
Thank you.
Knorske wrote:
Stephen ...
Thanks once more, particularly with your comment regarding your own use of a "backup" NAS. I believe, too, it is the "best" solution to data backup.
I do hope the documentation exists for my "old" 2150 instructing specifically how to program the auto backup to a second NAS. There is no "restriction" for the second NAS, I hope, as I intend to use a "new" ReadyNAS as my backup. I am aware the "new" and the "old" cannot read each other's disks such as when one attempts to "swap" disks between the two NAS.
I am backing up my Pro-6 (which runs OS 4.2.28) to an RN102+RN202 running OS 6.4.2 beta. So you can use a newer NAS with no issues. There are some guides (for instance http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/29788/~/readynas-backup-faq ), and of course you can always ask for help here.
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Knorske wrote:
As such, is this backup method pretty much "automatic"? The NAS use their own OS, etc., so must I somehow format the drive, or ... ?
You set up backup jobs in the web UI (there is a backup tab... :smileysurprised:)
You do want to be able to access the backups w/o the NAS, so if you don't have other linux systems your best format choice is NTFS. You can format it on a Windows PC.
BTW, it is also possible to back up over the network (e.g., the USB drives could be connected to a PC instead of the NAS).
Knorske wrote:
As for drive compatability, should the external drive (I presume a USB to an external drive enclosure) be "the same" as the NAS drives?
There's no reason to match the USB drives to the internal drives. It is best to use drives that can be connected to the power main directly (instead of getting power over USB). if the volume is too big to back up on a single USB drive, you can create backup jobs for each share that use different drives as destinations.
You do need to be careful to eject the drives via the web UI before disconnecting them from the NAS.
Stephen ...
Once again, thank you for your very quick and informative reply.
I thought "USB" because there is a USB port on my 2150, and connecting an external drive via the USB would be "simple." Then, too, I was concerned the data would be "lost" to my PC because of the NAS OS being NOT Windows.
If I use the NAS to program the backup, can it do so through the PC (to an external connected to the PC), or must the drive be connected directly to the NAS.
Again, I'm considering an external drive in container--or a self-contained external--for my backup destination.
I don't suppose there is such a thing as one NAS being the backup for another NAS (?), with "automatic" backup programming.
Knorske wrote:
I don't suppose there is such a thing as one NAS being the backup for another NAS (?), with "automatic" backup programming.
There is, and that is exactly I do. If you are backing up everything to one NAS you could use Replicate. I back up to several smaller NAS, and use the built in backup jobs for that.
It is more expensive than using USB drives, but I like it better. If the main NAS were to fail, the backup NAS is already in place and accessible. Plus I can (and do) run scheduled volume maitenance functions on the backups (scrubs, defrags, balance, disk tests).
Knorske wrote:
If I use the NAS to program the backup, can it do so through the PC (to an external connected to the PC), or must the drive be connected directly to the NAS.
If you share the USB drive in the PC, the NAS scheduled backup jobs can read/write to it. The USB drive would be formatted as the usual NTFS, so the PC would be able to see the data.
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