Incremental backup to a remote Synology NAS
Graham
Hi there, I am having problems using Retrospect 9 to back up to a remote Synology NAS. Initially I tried using WebDAV which is theoretically supported by both Synology and Retrospect but after backing up a few Mb it just stops, doesn't freeze or anything, it just stops backing up. Retrospect are tryng to get to the bottom of this but unsuccessfully so far. I have also tried using Retrospect over a VPN using PPTP built in to 10.7 and terminating the VPN tunnel on the Synology, again a supported protocol. The problem with this is that if the VPN connection is interrupted for any reason then Retrospect cannot see the target volume as its ID has changed when the VPN reconnects. So again no good.
I am now wondering if CCC may be the solution.. what I need to do is simply do a timed incremental backup of a single server to the remote Synology NAS and which will pick up where it left off in the event of a break in communication between the 10.7 server and the NAS. I have a feeling the VPN is going to be too slow but if it works and is reliable then it may be the solution.
Thanks in advance...
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Support Staff 2 Posted by Mike Bombich on 20 Jul, 2012 03:37 PM
Hi Graham:
CCC may work fine for this, but I can't recommend WebDAV at all. I'd use WebDAV in a pinch, for a one-time transfer of a small amount of data, but it just isn't well suited for regular backup tasks or for large amounts of data.
I should mention that CCC does not specifically try to re-attempt a backup task that encounters a broken connection. If the connection to the NAS drops in the middle of a backup task, the backup task is aborted. CCC will pick up copying where it left off when the connection was broken, but only in the next backup task (that runs either on schedule, or when you choose to run it manually).
Mike
3 Posted by Graham Pontin on 20 Jul, 2012 05:12 PM
Hi Mike
Thanks for that- as long as CCC will pick up where it left off at the next scheduled back up that should be OK. I was using WebDAV because it is a protocol specifically supported by Retrospect and Synology!
Will run a test.
Many thanks
Graham
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4 Posted by Graham on 22 Jul, 2012 08:15 AM
Hi Mike, I have now set up the remote backup and so far so good except that it is pretty slow over the internet - around 2Gb in 24 hours and the initial backup will be about 250Gb. I am wondering if I can do the initial backup on the LAN and the move the NAS to the remote site for daily incremental backup. I tried this with Retrospect but the problem was that it wouldn't recognise the initial backup as it saw it as a different destination drive. So, will this approach work with CCC, ie will it see the initail LAN based backup and then,carry on with incremental when I move the NAS to the remote site.
Many thanks
Graham
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Mike Bombich <[email blocked]> wrote:
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_____________________________________________
From: Mike Bombich (Bombich Software support staff)
Subject: Incremental backup to a remote Synology NAS
Hi Graham:
CCC may work fine for this, but I can't recommend WebDAV at all. I'd use WebDAV in a pinch, for a one-time transfer of a small amount of data, but it just isn't well suited for regular backup tasks or for large amounts of data.
<blockquote>I am now wondering if CCC may be the solution.. what I need to do is simply do a timed incremental backup of a single server to the remote Synology NAS and which will pick up where it left off in the event of a break in communication</blockquote>
I should mention that CCC does not specifically try to re-attempt a backup task that encounters a broken connection. If the connection to the NAS drops in the middle of a backup task, the backup task is aborted. CCC will pick up copying where it left off when the connection was broken, but only in the next backup task (that runs either on schedule, or when you choose to run it manually).
Mike
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Support Staff 5 Posted by Mike Bombich on 22 Jul, 2012 06:01 PM
Hi Graham:
That should work just fine with CCC. You can also improve performance by backing up to a disk image, if that's practical in your scenario:
Slow performance of network appliances can be mitigated by backing up to a disk image
Mike
6 Posted by Graham Pontin on 22 Jul, 2012 08:10 PM
Hi Mike
Am now trying a diskimage back up...
On the backup I have tried so farI seem to have a folder called "_CCC Archives" which contain parts of the backup of a 260GB folder called "City Graphics Partnership" which contains 2 folders with a date/time stamp as well as a separate folder called "City Graphics Partnership" Can you lease explain the difference.
If I back to to a disk image how easy will it be to restore a single file and how will the daily incremental files appear, as individual images or what.
Many thanks
Graham
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Support Staff 7 Posted by Mike Bombich on 22 Jul, 2012 09:07 PM
Hi Graham:
The _CCC Archives folder contains only the older versions of modified files and files deleted from the source since a precious backup task. You won't find a copy of everything in these folders, it's all outdated or deleted stuff. You'll always find the most current version of your files at the same location on the backup volume as it exist on the source volume.
If you ever want to restore from the most current version of the backup, you'll stay out of the CCC Archives folder altogether. If you ever need to find an older version of a file, or a file deleted from the source since a previous backup task, that's when you'll look in the CCC Archives folder. Everything will be on the mounted disk image volume, though, they won't be kept in separate disk images. To mount the disk image, simply double-click on the disk image file and then you can browse its contents. It should look exactly like the source.
Mike
8 Posted by Graham Pontin on 22 Jul, 2012 09:33 PM
Mike
That's great, just what I need!
Many thanks
Graham
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9 Posted by Graham Pontin on 31 Jul, 2012 08:46 AM
Hi Mike
A couple of questions re CCC... It may be that the answers are already there but I'll ask anyway..
I am now successfully backing up to a Synology Disk Station over the internet. In order to achieve this I have established a VPN between the (office) MacMini and the DS using Synology's built-in PPTP protocol, I can then mount the remote volume on the desktop. However, this all seems a bit 'clunky' as if there is a break in the internet access to the DS then the VPN drops as does the mounted volume. I have an AppleScript which checks the VPN every 120 seconds and re-connects if necessary but I suspect that if the VPN is disconnected then the remotely mounted volume will disconnect anyway. I accept that if this happens during a backup then that backup will fail but pick up where it left off at the next scheduled backup The back up I have just run is for about 260GB data on the MacMini server and the incremental backup took 14 hours to compare the files then backup the new 270Mb data.
So, my question is, is there anyway the remote disk sparseimage can be accessed directly over the internet without the need for the VPN and remote volume mount? Sorry if a) this question has already been addressed or b) it's a stupid question in any case! If it can be done then CCC looks like the perfect solution.
Thanks and regards
Graham
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Support Staff 10 Posted by Mike Bombich on 31 Jul, 2012 02:10 PM
Hi Graham:
No, not without some other means of punching a hole through your firewall. There would be an additional, faster option if you had a Mac on the other side of the Internet connection -- CCC could use SSH to do a secure transfer of the data directly to a volume attached to the remote Mac. Assuming that your network allows this kind of traffic, you might even be able to avoid the VPN tunnel. The performance would be incomparably better. The problem with backing up to an SMB volume is that the file information has to be transferred to your Mac for comparison. That turns out to be a fair amount of data. When CCC can back up to a remote Mac, each Mac reads the file information locally and they compare "Cliff notes" on the files, so it's a much more efficient algorithm. You can also compress data transferred across the network, something that can't be done with SMB/AFP (because you'd need an agent on the other end to decompress the data).
Mike
11 Posted by Graham Pontin on 31 Jul, 2012 02:25 PM
Hi Mike
Thanks for that, just wondering if you are familiar with Synology stuff, just wondered if there s any mileage in their EZCloud solution? If you don't know Synology then pls ignore.
Thanks again
Graham
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Support Staff 12 Posted by Mike Bombich on 01 Aug, 2012 01:41 AM
Hi Graham:
I'm only casually familiar with their products, I don't own any. I have a sour taste in my mouth from network appliances, they just don't have the muscle and capabilities of "real" computers. I'm allowed to be a backup snob, though, right? :-)
Mike
13 Posted by Graham Pontin on 01 Aug, 2012 09:24 AM
Hi Mike
I fully respect your opinion re NAS type devices, the issue I have is the speed of the backup which is down to a slow internet link, when the NAS was locally based the speed of backup was very acceptable. I also think that doing the backup over a VPN is a contributing factor in the speed of data transfer so I guess my question is does the target volume for the diskimage need to be mounted on the local desktop or is there any way I can tell CCC the path to it as the Synology specifically supports remote access to its files.
Many thanks for your help and regards
Graham
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Mike Bombich closed this discussion on 15 Sep, 2012 04:01 AM.