DSM 7.0 Single HyperBackup task to multiple rotating USB drives

[typ993]

I've read through a number of posts on various forums about setting up a rotating backup task with HyperBackup. I've got a USB enclosure where I can swap bare disks. I've set up a single version backup task and the task successfully completes to the first disk I've used.

I then swapped that out for a blank drive of the same capacity. The backup task target tells me that disk has the same shared folder, directory, and owner, yet the backup task fails when I run it on that disk. The error I'm getting is:

[Local][External Rotating Backup] Failed to start backup task. (The destination file does not exist. please make sure that no other application is able to write the backup destination.) [Path: /volumeUSB1/usbshare/X_NAS_1.hbk/Config/version_info.db not exist]

I understand from other forum posts that HyperBackup puts some metadata about the backup on the disk (like the version_info.db), yet those posts suggest a rotating backup is possible. Do I then have to copy all that metadata to every disk I want to use in the rotating backup? I'd prefer to stay with a single backup task rather than having to create a separate one for each disk I'm using, but if that's what I need to do

 

[typ993]

My bad here, when I said I set up a single version backup task, I had actually set up a versioned backup task. When I set up a multi-version backup task for each external disk I want to use, that works fine (albeit with the failure notice for the tasks where the disk isn't present).

One note on single vs. multi-version that I hadn't seen mentioned elsewhere: when backing up applications, some applications can only be backed up with a multi-version task. That's why I ultimately decided to go with separate multi-version tasks.

 

[fredbert]

Before you use a USB volume with Hyper Backup, do you use Control Panel to rename the USB shared folders from usbshare1...2...N ?

Occasionally I've moved a HB multi-version vault from one USB drive to another and the HB task has continued to work, because I used the same shared folder name for the new USB volume that I had used for the old one, e.g. 'hyper backup'. They can't be mounted at the same time. I don't remember having to re-link to the new drive's shared folder.

I've not tried this with a series of USB drives that are used sequentially to maintain a series of backups.

 

[typ993]

No, I kept the shared folder named the same between disks. I have to change the directory, since that appears to be where the backup metadata are stored (which differ between the multi-version backups).

 

[Deleted member 673]

It has been a while for me (rotating NAS-attached USB with HB). If I recall correctly... Give each USB volume a unique name, as fredbert suggested (e.g. Backup-1, Backup-2, etc). Then create an HB task corresponding to each unique volume. That should allow you to swap USB volumes. If backups are scheduled, you'll need to activate/deactivate the schedule for the HB tasks when the USB volumes are rotated.

Ultimately, I found USB backup/recovery intolerably slow with about 20TB. If that's a problem in your situation, a 10G Ethernet connection to another NAS - or better yet, to a 10G-equipped Mac/PC with Thunderbolt-attached drives will substantially improve data transfer time. Our fastest backup/recovery solution was a Mac mini with rotating OWC ThunderBay enclosures, using the Carbon Copy Cloner backup utility on the Mac.

Ron

 

[typ993]

We don't have large backup needs (<1TB), so USB backup works fine. The files we do backup are critical, though, so I run multiple backups which get swapped offsite, plus a daily cloud backup to Backblaze B2. I also have a couple volumes set up on the NAS and replicate our data volume daily.

 

[Deleted member 673]

Good for you, @typ993. I'm a "belt and suspenders" person too, where backups are concerned. We just implemented the 4-3-2 strategy after re-assessing a shared earthquake/tsunami threat for our nearby (convenient) offsite location.

 

[typ993]

If you don't have much data, cloud backup is a no-brainer. 300GB costs us about $1.50 a month on B2.