This topic has been marked solved and closed to new posts due to inactivity. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.
just bought a ReadyNAS 312 but not sure yet about some basic principles.
I wish to use it mainly as a backup destination but also as the main source for Crashplan backups. In detail I won't be installing Crashplan headlessly on the NAS (totally unsupported) but I'd rather install on my computer which is then connected to the NAS through my line (just check, Crashplan support backups of nas attached files).
What I don't understand is how can automatically make sure that Crashplan can see the files at all the time.. I may think that this must be easy with Linux computers and NFS. I just need to configure the shares to be automatically mounted at every boot, right?
What about Mac computers, is the same achievable with SMB/AFP so that I don't have to login all the time under Finder.
I know these questions sound a bit silly, but it's the first time I use a "serious" NAS.
To be honest: soon or later we'll back only Linux boxes in the house, but at this stage we can't yet get rid of an Apple computers.
My initial confusion is related to how to automatically mount those network shares on my system (the one eventually running CrashPlan) for them to be available to the local backup software (that will take care to copy files on the NAS).. sorry for bad wording or maybe misunderstanding something.
http://support.code42.com/CrashPlan/Latest/Backup/Mounting_Networked_Storage_Or_NAS_Devices_For_Back... answers that for OSX, and links to a similar article for Windows. I suspect for Linux you simply create a suitable NFS mount point, but I haven't tried it. In any event, you don't really need to go with the headless install on the NAS, though it does have the advantage of avoiding the need for a separate device.
I think than when I'll be on Linux and using NFS shares that will easily automagically mount at every boot (I still wonder if user/password on the NAS must the same on my computer, and to be honest wondering the same for both AFP/SMB!)
With Windows, the username/password can be different. You set this up in the Windows credential manager. I'm not a Mac guy, but I believe Apple's Keychain does the same thing for network resources with OSX. I think that with Linux you need to explicitly use the logon/password in the mount command (I don't think it has the equivalent of Windows credential manager or Apple Keychain).
@netghiro wrote: I already subscribed to a personal unlimited plan (single computer), I may consider the family upgrade but quite happy with saving a bit of money as well. I'll surely try to maintain a couple of good local backup sets in the first place.
Which is what I've done. I have a single computer unlimited plan for the NAS. I use Acronis TrueImage to back up the PC "C" drives to the NAS, and also use the NAS as consolidated storage. I maintain 3 local copies of everything (the primary NAS counts as one), and use CrashPlan as inexpensive disaster recovery.
My pro-6 had 2 GB of ram, which worked fine for a few years, but eventually the unlimited retention of deleted files in CrashPlan Central caused CrashPlan to run out of memory. That is what prompted the support request to Crashplan. The solution was to set retention of deleted files to 6 months, and then consolidate the archive. That took quite a while (Crashplan wasn't well-behaved by that point). I also increased the memory in the pro, and have CrashPlan set to use the max possible memory size (which on the pro is about 3.5 GB with a 32 bit JVM).
It's been running fine since then (late June). Anyway, it is a good idea to lower the setting for retention of deleted files. I also set deduplication to "minimal".
What version of CrashPlan are you planning to use?
Though crashplan headless installation is officially unsupported by code42, I am running it, and I recently did receive support.
There are some memory limitations in their linux implementation, which you might run into. The linux version only runs on the 32 bit jvm, and that does limit the size of the backup archive it can handle. You might ask code42 about that (since you are considering linux-only systems in the future). I don't think you will run into that problem with an RN312 unless you use jbod or RAID-0.
I am a bit confused on your main question. .Normally the users simply use the NAS as a network resource, and Crashplan backs the NAS to the cloud ("CrashPlan Central"), but not files stored on the user machines. Alternatively your users would back up their systems to the NAS, and then CrashPlan would back up the NAS to the cloud.
However, if you are planning to use the CrashPlan+ "friend backup" feature to back up to the NAS, then the CrashPlan+ won't re-back them up from the NAS to their cloud. So you need a different way of getting the data onto the NAS.
Perhaps you are thinking to mount the actual user drives as network drives on your main PC? Or do that indirectly somehow by mounting them on the NAS? That doesn't seem very scalable, and certainly would be fragile at best. It'd be better to create backup archives on the NAS, so you have a local copy in addition to the cloud copy.
If you don't have many machines, you could get the family backup plan, and back all the PCs and the NAS directly to CrashPlan Central. Though in general, I don't recommend depending exclusively on cloud backup. Personally I use CrashPlan for disaster recovery, but maintain local backup as well.
I'll check CrashPlan memory limitation(s) with Code42.
I wonder how the headless version will deal with a big set of files (4TB) to start the backup with.. just slow or won't it work at all?
Apparently the ReadyNAS 312 can be upgraded to 4GB ram, but then I'll have both setups (machine and software) unsupported 🙂
By the way, sorry for not making myself very clear.. as you said the plan is to backup a couple of machines on the NAS (by using backup software/utilities) and then backup the NAS itself online through CrashPlan (headless or not, still not sure about it).
I already subscribed to a personal unlimited plan (single computer), I may consider the family upgrade but quite happy with saving a bit of money as well.
I'll surely try to maintain a couple of good local backup sets in the first place.
My initial confusion is related to how to automatically mount those network shares on my system (the one eventually running CrashPlan) for them to be available to the local backup software (that will take care to copy files on the NAS).. sorry for bad wording or maybe misunderstanding something.
I think than when I'll be on Linux and using NFS shares that will easily automagically mount at every boot (I still wonder if user/password on the NAS must the same on my computer, and to be honest wondering the same for both AFP/SMB!)
My initial confusion is related to how to automatically mount those network shares on my system (the one eventually running CrashPlan) for them to be available to the local backup software (that will take care to copy files on the NAS).. sorry for bad wording or maybe misunderstanding something.
http://support.code42.com/CrashPlan/Latest/Backup/Mounting_Networked_Storage_Or_NAS_Devices_For_Back... answers that for OSX, and links to a similar article for Windows. I suspect for Linux you simply create a suitable NFS mount point, but I haven't tried it. In any event, you don't really need to go with the headless install on the NAS, though it does have the advantage of avoiding the need for a separate device.
I think than when I'll be on Linux and using NFS shares that will easily automagically mount at every boot (I still wonder if user/password on the NAS must the same on my computer, and to be honest wondering the same for both AFP/SMB!)
With Windows, the username/password can be different. You set this up in the Windows credential manager. I'm not a Mac guy, but I believe Apple's Keychain does the same thing for network resources with OSX. I think that with Linux you need to explicitly use the logon/password in the mount command (I don't think it has the equivalent of Windows credential manager or Apple Keychain).
@netghiro wrote: I already subscribed to a personal unlimited plan (single computer), I may consider the family upgrade but quite happy with saving a bit of money as well. I'll surely try to maintain a couple of good local backup sets in the first place.
Which is what I've done. I have a single computer unlimited plan for the NAS. I use Acronis TrueImage to back up the PC "C" drives to the NAS, and also use the NAS as consolidated storage. I maintain 3 local copies of everything (the primary NAS counts as one), and use CrashPlan as inexpensive disaster recovery.
My pro-6 had 2 GB of ram, which worked fine for a few years, but eventually the unlimited retention of deleted files in CrashPlan Central caused CrashPlan to run out of memory. That is what prompted the support request to Crashplan. The solution was to set retention of deleted files to 6 months, and then consolidate the archive. That took quite a while (Crashplan wasn't well-behaved by that point). I also increased the memory in the pro, and have CrashPlan set to use the max possible memory size (which on the pro is about 3.5 GB with a 32 bit JVM).
It's been running fine since then (late June). Anyway, it is a good idea to lower the setting for retention of deleted files. I also set deduplication to "minimal".
