Forum Home
Press F1
 
Thread ID: 149802 2021-05-06 05:49:00 I'm looking at getting a NAS Digby (677) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1476989 2021-05-06 05:49:00 Hello

I got a lot a data on an internal hard drive and I do weekly backups to an external hard drive and to an offsite drive.

But its becoming a bit tedious.

I have heard of RAID and NAS systems.

So I have a few questions for any experts (or users) out there.

I am not interested in all the fancy stuff that say a Synology NAS does eg with videos and photos.

I just want to know If I can set it up so that it copies any files I update on my hard drive to the NAS in real time.

Thanks
Digby (677)
1476990 2021-05-06 06:24:00 I’m not really sure of any with real-time sync.

Not interested in keeping your external backup and just investing a a cloud backup (Backblaze personal is $50 a year- that’s a large number of years you can back up for the price of a nas).

Assumes you’re on fibre internet and unlimited however
psycik (12851)
1476991 2021-05-06 06:51:00 Personally I use Everysync www.easeus.com It can be set to do sync's at certain times or Like you requested (and how I have it) Live /Instantly any changes are made.

I have the paid version on my office PC (as it needed multi files in different locations) and the free version on the Media Center, The free does 1 Folder, BUT it has 40 Sub Folders ( music Collection) sync to NAS in workshop both ways.

Also have it set up in a couple of Businesses, syncing 3 + PC's ( different Folders) to a Server which in turn is uploading to Onedrive.
wainuitech (129)
1476992 2021-05-06 07:55:00 I have a local Nextcloud server here at home . You install the client is it’s like Dropbox in that if you save a file there it’ll sync to the server .

That can be installed in a nas if the nas supports it . Or they may have their own solutions .

The only disadvantage with a nas (apart from purchase cost) is it still doesn’t generally offsite your data .
psycik (12851)
1476993 2021-05-06 08:07:00 If you've only got the one machine to back up, then a NAS gives you nothing over a plugged in external drive. fred_fish (15241)
1476994 2021-05-06 10:06:00 I had a Qnap NAS and it had the option to setup real time file sync, I expect other brands do too. It's not a great backup strategy though, real-time means it also backs up file corruption and mistakes immediately. An automatic backup on a schedule is better IMHO and you can do that either with an external drive or a NAS. Raid is also not a backup, just protection against hard drive failure and nothing else. RAID doesn't really have much use for the average home user. It adds complexity and expense and is more intended for mission critical server applications. If you can afford to wait a few hours for a backup to restore don't worry too much about using RAID.

For me personally I don't have all that much data I can't live without so I just keep 2-3 copies on different drives of those files and don't backup anything else. Windows I can reinstall fairly quickly so I don't do system backups.
dugimodo (138)
1476995 2021-05-06 19:51:00 Thanks for some great replies.
I think I'll forget the idea of a NAS, and just work on doing my backups more regularlary.
Digby (677)
1476996 2021-05-06 21:48:00 If you've only got the one machine to back up, then a NAS gives you nothing over a plugged in external drive.

and the NAS itself also has to be backed up , as a NAS is open to virus/malware attacks (external & internal) & the usual hardware failures .
1101 (13337)
1476997 2021-05-07 00:13:00 If you have spare hardware around, NAS4free is a good bet to get started. BUT - as others have said above, a NAS by itself is not going to give complete security, especially if it is in your house.

What are you going to do when your burns down or a burglar comes in targeting electronic stuff?
decibel (11645)
1476998 2021-05-07 00:18:00 and the NAS itself also has to be backed up , as a NAS is open to virus/malware attacks (external & internal) & the usual hardware failures . Exactly, a NAS still has Hard Drives which can and DO fail.

Just finished a job, similar thing a guy put all his data on an external Drive thinking it would be safe -- NOPE - Drive less than a year old MANY MANY failed sectors, managed to get back about 1/2 of what was on the drive, the rest --Gone.


I think I'll forget the idea of a NAS, and just work on doing my backups more regularlary. Good intentions BUT seen it countless times - people get slack and don't do it, normally its " I'll do it tomorrow, to busy at the moment " Tomorrow comes and goes and not done.

What would be a better option along the lines of what 1101 advised -- Set auto backups to a NAS, THEN back up the NAS on a regular basis as well to removable external Drive.
wainuitech (129)
1 2