The best method(s) to fulfill my backup requirements?

[DASH]

Hi everyone,

Hopefully someone can advise me on the best method(s) to backup my data.
In my opinion, my requirements are pretty basic, but I have not yet found a way to meet them all.

Background info:
I recently bought the DS920+ with two WD Gold 8 TB drives in there (SHR, BTRFS).
My PC is equipped with a 256 GB SSD for system/program data, and four WD 2 TB drives (two WD Green, two WD Black) for storage.
I use Windows 10 Professional.
I have ~200,000 files to be backed up, ranging from very small to enormous (max. 27 GB).

My main purposes:

• Backing-up only certain folders across my 4 HDDs in my PC and my gf's laptop
• Automatically skipping certain cache files, like *.CFA / Rendered - * / etc.
• PC --> NAS only, so changes on NAS should not flow back to PC
• Preferably use Intelliversioning
• Encrypt only the My Documents folder (in case the NAS gets stolen)
• Access the data from anywhere
• Use e.g. Plex to stream (transcode on the fly) video files to my TV
• Perhaps create bare-metal backups from the PCs in my house

I thought Synology Drive would meet most requirements (except for the encryption and the bare-metal backups).
Synology Support said that Synology Drive is not the best solution for me, though.
He advised me to use Active Backup For Business task 'File Server' over SMB.

However, I'm concerned that, still, not all my requirements can be met.
For example, encryption is not supported according to the Quick Start Guide.
What set-up(s) would you advise me to use?

Can I fulfill all my requirements?
(If not, please let me know as well!)

 

[EAZ1964]

My 10cent

Step 1:
Make sure your DS920+ disks are in SHR, with redundant storage.
Move all valuable data from your PC to the NAS, make sure no data is left on the PC
nicely sort the data into the NAS shared folders public, photo, video, whatever you need.
Map the NAS folder on your PC/GF laptop as network disks .
Then, remove the HDs from the PC and add them to the NAS to create redundant storage.

Now all data is stored centrally on the NAS, ready for structured backup.

step 2:
Then, remove the HDs from the PC and add them to the NAS to enlarge redundant storage.

Step 3:
Now think where to store the backup:
a) in the cloud, think about C2, idrive, hidrive or the like.
b) a second nas
c) USB disks

Step 4:
setup multiple Hyper backup tasks from the nas to the above device(s), and adjust the freqency based on data rotation. Set the number of versions you would like to go back.

This will give you business grade, independent, versioned backups on different media and different location.

 

[DASH]

Hi EAZ1964,
Thanks a lot for your extensive reply!
I forgot to mention that the DS920+ disks are in SHR, indeed - I updated my original post.

I start wondering whether my requirements are quite uncommon after all.
Removing all data from my PC is definitely not what I want to do. Let me explain.
The NAS functions as a backup. If the data would be only on the NAS, I'd still have no backup, right?
Yes, I know that Hyper backup is a good idea!
This is something I'm definitely planning to do later, when the NAS is set up and running well.

My plan is to, eventually, have the data in three places:
1. My PC / gf's laptop
2. The NAS
3. Another location outside my house (T.B.D.)

With that out of the way, do you see possibilities to achieve my requirements?
If yes, what (combination of) packages would you advise me to use?
E.g. Synology Drive, Active Backup For Business, or other(s)?

Thanks so much!

 

[EAZ1964]

NAS is much more than a backup device, but if you want to keep data on pc, there are two ways: use acronis / paragon or the like to push the data to the NAS, or use active backup for business to pull it to the NAS.
My business view is clear: no data on devices, unless you cannot live with ethernet speed access.
Data is so much safer on a NAS.

 

[DASH]

Yes, it's much more than a backup device, but currently my most important goal is to backup the data... been procrastinating for way too long

Another reason is indeed that I cannot live with ethernet speed access. I also do video editing (hence the WD Black disks), and have only 1 Gbit LAN here.
To prevent a discussion on that, I did not mention video editing, because I didn't want to go down that lane

Thanks for your suggestions, I will look into them!
You mentioned Active Backup For Business, but encryption is not supported according to the Quick Start Guide?
Also, will I be able to access backed up video files from my TV?

 

[ed.j]

Regarding your desktop -> NAS backup, check out SyncBackFree: Backup software comparison - SyncBackPro, SyncBackSE and SyncBackFree
Set it to sync your various drives to an (encrypted if necessary) shared folder on the NAS.
Restriction of this method is that in its basic form it is a LAN only solution; if you need to backup from offsite I would recommend setting up a VPN.
I have been using it for at least ten years (SyncBackFree that is) I reckon and it has never failed me. Highly customisable and always works.

Accessing the data from anywhere - which platform? Again VPN may be your best option here. I tried Drive and didn't like it - very basic.

For your third copy/backup, there are many options, basically restricted by offsite access and £££. Personally I have a few TB HDDs that I keep at work and update every now and again. I also have an old DSM at my folk's place that acts as a mirror (although this is therefore not protected in terms of ransomware).

Plex - simply install and go!

-- post merged: 11. Nov 2022 --

However, I'm concerned that, still, not all my requirements can be met.
For example, encryption is not supported according to the Quick Start Guide.

I think that means that ABB cannot backup an encrypted shared folder, rather than the backups not being encrypted. Not sure though. Certainly for mine I have to enter a password to view the ABB backups but I'm not sure if they're encrypted or not.

 

[EAZ1964]

I cannot help you with recent PC backup backup, as I left that path 15 years ago Others jumped in and that is the magic of this forum.
Assessing an encrypted, multi version backup with a television is not an option, ever.

And once you take the step to centralised storage, you will understand why this is the standard in the business environments. Even video editors move/sync the working files to the PC SSD and copy these back to the server at the evening. Best of both worlds.

 

[dslamguy]

Hi everyone,

Hopefully someone can advise me on the best method(s) to backup my data.
In my opinion, my requirements are pretty basic, but I have not yet found a way to meet them all.



My main purposes:

• Backing-up only certain folders across my 4 HDDs in my PC and my gf's laptop
• Automatically skipping certain cache files, like *.CFA / Rendered - * / etc.
• PC --> NAS only, so changes on NAS should not flow back to PC
• Preferably use Intelliversioning
• Encrypt only the My Documents folder (in case the NAS gets stolen)
• Access the data from anywhere
• Use e.g. Plex to stream (transcode on the fly) video files to my TV
• Perhaps create bare-metal backups from the PCs in my house

I thought Synology Drive would meet most requirements (except for the encryption and the bare-metal backups).
Synology Support said that Synology Drive is not the best solution for me, though.
He advised me to use Active Backup For Business task 'File Server' over SMB.

However, I'm concerned that, still, not all my requirements can be met.
For example, encryption is not supported according to the Quick Start Guide.
What set-up(s) would you advise me to use?

Can I fulfill all my requirements?
(If not, please let me know as well!)

Synology Drive is the best solution for your stated goals. Ignore Synology support on this one. Active Backup does not support the file de-duplication feature with encryption and it backs up the whole PC which is not what you want. Synology Drive will allow you to choose folders for your one-way backup and you can set rules to skip files. I use it this way for my business PCs. BUT, I find best results when not doing continuous backups with Drive. Instead choose specific times to run the backups and you can use the feature to restart the backup when the PC starts up if the backup job time was missed.

I am not sure what Intelliversioning is, but I suggest you back up the NAS to the cloud using Hyperbackup and use that for versioning your backups. Hyperbackup will do a good job of this and you can restore old versions from the cloud backup. I use Google Drive for this and my Hyperbackup repository is encrypted on Google Drive. You might have to buy additional storage. You also could use other cloud providers including Synology themselves with C2.

The answer to the question about access the data from anywhere depends on how. You might need to implement a VPN or if its just individual files you care about, you could use Quickconnect access from browsers or ds_file on mobile devices.

I am not a big fan of bare-metal backups because you probably would want to reinstall the OS anyway. What you really want to back up is your data, not the OS. Synology's solution for bare-metal backups is Active Backup.

One tip which I have learned is that Synology boxes can do it all, they just are not that great at doing it all at the same time. So don't run all your backups at the same time. Space them out and run them overnight. Or buy the extra memory for your NAS.

FYI, I have a DS216+ which I use as an office-server. 4 PCs are mounting drives over SMB. I use Synology Directory Server to support authentication for my domain. PCs run Synology Drive once a day to back up important data 1-way to NAS. NAS is backed up daily using Hyperbackup to Google Drive. Snapshot once a week to M365. All data is encrypted at rest and in-motion. NAS has handled all this quite well and my Hyperbackup volume has been running since 2018. I have the NAS do an integrity check once a week and I also do test restores periodically.

Cheers,
David

 

[DASH]

Thanks so much @ed.j @EAZ1964 @dslamguy!!

Accessing the data from anywhere - which platform? Again VPN may be your best option here.

Mostly Windows desktop, in case I need to look at a file while I'm not home or I want to show something to a friend. No big plans or whatever!
I'm planning on setting up VPN for that, indeed.

I think that means that ABB cannot backup an encrypted shared folder, rather than the backups not being encrypted. Not sure though.

This makes sense, thanks for the insight!

Assessing an encrypted, multi version backup with a television is not an option, ever.

I know that; note that I only want to encrypt the 'My Documents' folder

Synology Drive is the best solution for your stated goals. Ignore Synology support on this one.

Hahaha... I have to admit, I didn't expect anymore to see such an answer!
Such a relief to read that someone actually uses Synology Drive successfully, as it seemed the right choice for me when reading about it.

BUT, I find best results when not doing continuous backups with Drive.

That's interesting - what issue(s) did you observe?

I am not sure what Intelliversioning is

From Synology Drive | Your private cloud for file management and sharing anywhere | Synology Inc.:
Synology’s Intelliversioning algorithm saves space by keeping only the versions with the most significant changes over time.

If I'd continue working on an old file and press save every few minutes (which I tend to do), the versions from earlier days would quickly disappear from the database... Intelliversioning should prevent this. I thought this is a very clever mechanism.

my Hyperbackup repository is encrypted on Google Drive

Thanks for touching this subject - are you saying that you backed up your entire (unencrypted?) NAS to Google Drive (encrypted)?
Is the encryption before uploading to cloud a standard Hyper Backup feature, and done locally on the NAS?
I'd like that, because I don't want all my unencrypted files floating around in the cloud.

I am not a big fan of bare-metal backups because you probably would want to reinstall the OS anyway

I agree - I was only curious about this feature because I'm thinking about replacing my old 256 GB SSD with an M.2 SSD.
I was just playing with the thought of doing this without reinstalling Windows - have not yet looked into it yet though!

All data is encrypted at rest and in-motion.

That's great - how did you manage to do that?
I could not find any way to make Synology Drive encrypt just the 'My Documents' folder.
I hope you can enlighten me?

Thanks so much for all your help, guys!

 

[DASH]

@dslamguy Hey David, perhaps the amount of questions I asked was a bit overwhelming, but could you please elaborate on how to combine Synology Drive with encryption?
I can't find this info anywhere, so I wonder if I misunderstood what you explained... I'm pretty much stuck without this information.
Thanks a lot!