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Thread ID: 140597	2015-11-10 02:50:00	RAID as backup	Chikara (5139)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1411156	2015-11-11 02:46:00	I know with RAID there is always a risk of RAID array failure, but in my view the odds of both my data disk in my PC failing, plus 2 drives in the RAID failing at the same time, are extremely remote. . dont be fooled, a raid mirror array can be trashed with just a single drive failing. Ive seen that happen, twice . Its rare , but can happen.	1101 (13337)
1411157	2015-11-11 08:14:00	Yes, but even if the entire RAID is trashed, I would still have my main data drive on the PC intact. So I am only exposed to the risk of only having one copy of my data for the time it takes to rebuild the RAID again. To me that's a very low risk. Basically, I am prepared to accept the risk of fire/burglary (I will do some online backups but only for my absolute most critical/irreplacable data). I intend to use a regular HD(s) in my PC as my primary data storage, and have this backed up to the NAS. Unless people here really think that's a bad idea, that's what I plan to set up. My only questions are - should I use the built-in Synology CloudStation to do this? (I am thinking this is the best way, as I can also turn on versioning which will keep prior versions of files - thereby giving me protection in case or file corruption or viruses etc - I can roll back to an earlier file version). The only possible problem I foresee with this solution is, if somehow a file is deleted directly on the NAS, it will delete it from the main PC's drive too. There may be a setting to stop this, but I haven't found it yet. In other words, it's a 2-way sync. Or option B, is to use something like FreeFileSync (which I have used before) that can create truly 1-way mirroring from main HD to NAS. Only problem this is not as user friendly to set up and configure, and while it offers versioning I don't think it's as robust. Or option C, some other software solution instead? PS yes 1101, I don't plan on opening the NAS to the net. I really have no need for that functionality right now.	Chikara (5139)
1411158	2015-11-11 20:07:00	PS yes 1101, I don't plan on opening the NAS to the net. I really have no need for that functionality right now. Isnt that exactly what Cloudstation does arstechnica.com www.storagereview.com I guess if you use cloudstation, simply dont open any ports(auto or manually) for it on your router Maybe just do a simple scheduled robocopy instead , keeps it nice & simple	1101 (13337)
1411159	2015-11-11 23:33:00	I don't believe so. While the Synology documentation is not very well written, I understand that Cloudstation itself is just a 'private' cloud, i.e. can be accessed from within your own network only. To enable remote access, you need to turn on a feature within it called QuickConnect. help.synology.com I stand to be corrected though if I have understood this wrongly.	Chikara (5139)
1411160	2015-11-20 09:20:00	When I originally set up with RAID-1, I had a series of apparent disk failures but installing a new disk initiated an auto rebuild and all was fine. I later found that it was a software issue in the RAID program and an update put an end to that problem. Since then, on three or four occasions I have cocked up big time, then on reboot the computer went into what I assume was a rebuild/data-validation routine and if left alone it finally finished with both disks in agreement and not data lost. Maybe some RAID programs are better then others? Cheers Billy 8-{)	Billy T (70)
1411161	2015-11-21 05:13:00	I'm using the Synology Hybrid Raid (SHR) in my Diskstation. help.synology.com Seems to be the best solution for me as it's simple and reduces wasted space	Chikara (5139)
1411162	2015-11-21 06:14:00	If a RAID setup is what you are happy with then go for it. Just a side note: Got a Customer who has had a couple of close calls, one was actually rather expensive when A hdd Totally failed, including internal head failure :( They have a NAS as storage, and it needs to be backup often as lots of important files that get changed many times a day - To much data for online storage without paying big $$. Found and been trialing (in the workshop) a program called Freefilesync (http://www.freefilesync.org/) - setting up a now a not used but still very good PC as a file server, throwing in several 2 TB Drives , with this program its live syncing from the NAS (that's the plan anyway - works in tests perfectly) Basically as soon as any file gets altered or added ( which happens often during the day) its always automatically synced to the server. Think of it as OneDrive - But locally. The only down side so far was Nod32 ( and any other AV - SHOULD) pick up opencandy on installing. Nod32 wipes it out of the temp/install Files and carries on perfectly :)	wainuitech (129)
1411163	2015-11-21 06:25:00	I've used FreeFileSync in the past and was very happy with it. I had a batch file set up to run nightly backups from my PC to my NAS (I am using my NAS as the backup, primary storage on my PC). It worked perfectly but for some reason when I upgraded from WIn 7 to Win 10, the batches broke. But it never gave me any errors, lucky I saw it by chance when I did some maintenance on my DiskStation and realised that there hadn't been backups for a month! That's why I started investigating the CloudStation program available with Synology products. It seems to do the same job plus has better version retention history. I think FreeFileSync can do versioning but it's not so user friendly? Maybe you guys can recommend something? Basically, I want to have my main drives on my PC, and my backup on my NAS. (Yes I know I am not protected for fire/burglary but I will accept that risk). I am not too worried about a drive in the NAS failing, because I have 1 drive redundancy in it. If two drives fail at once, I still have the primary data on my PC so I'm only at risk until the RAID is rebuilt. Ideally I am looking for a one-way sync, PC to NAS. If for some reason I accidentally delete a file off the NAS, I don't want to lose it from PC also. And versioning is quite important, so if an original file is corrupted or infrected I can go back and recover an early version. (I'd also love a program that can do some kind of error checking/hash check when backing up to give extra peace of mind.) PLus I prefer native windows file format. Am I asking too much for a program to do all this?? None of the ones I have found so far are perfect, they all have some limitations or missing features.	Chikara (5139)
1411164	2015-11-21 07:14:00	The Freesync will do fine for what my customer needs, copies the original from the NAS to the server, software is on the server, you can set it to mirror several ways . When installing its quite easy, select the source, then destination (as well as anywhere on a LAN that's accessible) and that's it. You can manually run the program, or it does put a auto run on the desktop as well. Its needs to be configured, the "help" explains how and and gives examples as well. I have not played with "keeping versions" but a quick search of Help describes how. It saves the files as they are, no change of format, not zipped ( unless original was a zipped file) or anything else like its own format. Its basically doing a 1-1 copy. Eg for Versions: 6826 At the end of the day as long as what ever backup is used it has to work. Backups that don't work are useless and a waste of time, saying that have not looked for any sort of confirmation/checking. Never used the program before so no idea what changes or alterations have been made over time :)	wainuitech (129)
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