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Local ReadyNAS backups

rajaseck
Aspirant

Local ReadyNAS backups

Hello,

I have a ReadyNAS OS6 with 2 volumes in RAID 1, in one of them I have a couple of LUNs that will be exposed by iSCSI, and now I want to make a copy of that content in volume 2. My question is, what would be the ideal implementation for this ? create a LUN for backups in volume 2 or simply an SMB folder and place the copies made there? I hope you can help me
Thank you

Regards
Message 1 of 4
StephenB
Guru

Re: Local ReadyNAS backups

A LUN is only accessed from one client at a time, and the LUN itself is opaque to the NAS (just raw block storage).  So if you want to back up to a LUN, you'd need to do that from a different device.  That requires pulling the data over the network from the NAS, and then pushing it back out to the backup LUN.  Recovery would require access through an iSCSI initiator  - and if the backup server is running, you'd need to either shut it down, or access the backup from that server.

 

So in most cases you'd be better off with backing up the contents to a NAS share.  That doesn't have to be SMB btw, it can be rsync, NFS,  You can minimize the network traffic by using the built-in backup jobs in the NAS.  Though if you want to backup the contents in the LUN(s) (and not the raw block storage), then you'd need to run the backup on the server(s) that access the primary LUNs

 

Another option would be to use ReadyDR - which is the most efficient way to do incremental backups of a LUN block storage.  ReadyDR backups need to be restored before they are accessible though - so you need a highly available backup.you shouldn't use ReadyDR.

 

One comment - ideally backups should be on a different device.  If the NAS itself fails (or even loses power) you could lose both the main and backup volumes.  So I'd recommend a secondary backup to a different device (for instance USB drives).  Also if the NAS isn't protected by a UPS, then you should take care of that.

Message 2 of 4
rajaseck
Aspirant

Re: Local ReadyNAS backups

Hello, Yes, making copies on the same device is not the best idea... although I consider it right now is the only option, maybe later I'll try to move it to another location.

As for the copy, I have tried to configure it without creating folders but I am required to backing up to a ReadyNAS folder or by USB port, then I have configured it at the moment as SMB, if there was a best practice I would appreciate it. On the other hand I set the copy by placing the entire volume 1, I did not see any part where I will be allowed to place LUNs that I selected, does it need to be a copy of the entire volume? Thank you

Message 3 of 4
StephenB
Guru

Re: Local ReadyNAS backups


@rajaseck wrote:

As for the copy, I have tried to configure it without creating folders but I am required to backing up to a ReadyNAS folder or by USB port, then I have configured it at the moment as SMB, if there was a best practice I would appreciate it. 


I'd back up using rsync myself.  One trick is the destination is also on the NAS is to use make the source "remote", and use 127.0.0.1 as the IP address.  That's also known as localhost, and points the current machine.

 


@rajaseck wrote:

On the other hand I set the copy by placing the entire volume 1, I did not see any part where I will be allowed to place LUNs that I selected, does it need to be a copy of the entire volume?

You might need to back up the entire volume - not sure.  I don't use iSCSI LUNs on my own NAS, so I can't test it.  It's also not a use case that's described here: https://kb.netgear.com/29788/ReadyNAS-Backup-FAQ

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