After being broken into and losing all my laptops, PCs and more importantly a decade's worth of photos and music, I'm now rather belatedly looking to get some decent storage/backup on the go. I'm looking to get a NAS enclosure that will support 2 disks in a RAID1 config but also want to be able to copy the data across the internet to offsite storage too - basically, going to stick one enclosure in our house and one with the inlaws and we'll share it. However, despite checking the usual hardware sites I can't see any that explicitly state they can do this. Does anyone know of any enclosures that can do this? I'm thinking 1.5TB to 2TB storage per NAS in total giving ample room (for now). It's just the internet replication to the 2nd device that I don't see advertised! Any info on other features these things come with would be nice too, I'm tempted to host some webcams hidden in strategic locations around the house so if we do get broken into again then the video captured can be stored offsite. Cheers
I'm pretty sure the free version of Crashplan allows you to use storage at anther location. http://www.crashplan.com/ Its a software solution to your hardware question I know, but with Crashplan you should be able to use any NAS that fills your requirement.
Transferring 2TB of data across the internet in one go might be an issue, though it'll be a lot easier if you're adding things over time rather than all at once up front. If the NAS setup is running on a PC rather than an off-the-shelf NAS box (a Linux-based NAS box that gives you shell access would also work) and you don't mind getting your hands dirty, then setting up rsync to do the replication might be a good solution as long as one of the machines has the appropriate ports forwarded to it (only one needs it, rsync can run from either side [in this case, the "inaccessible" one]).
Synology DS211j. You can use encrypted rsync to backup to any rsync server on the net or you can backup to an Amazon S3 server. http://www.synology.com/products/product.php?product_name=DS211j&lang=enu#p_submenu http://www.synology.com/dsm/backup_server.php?lang=enu http://www.scan.co.uk/products/syno...er-inc-x1-ip-cam-support-gbit-lan-x3-usb-port Great piece of kit.
Sorry - yes, you're right about the 2tb over the net. However because we literally have *nothing* left, it's going to be incremental updates over time. I just don't want to lose anything again, and although having a hiddden NAS in the loft is fine, it's not much good if the house burned down. Was thinking one of the NAS enclosures like the synology ones reviewed recently in CPC. I'm confident and capable enough to set up the replication I think, I just want to make sure I buy hardware that can support it. If that makes sense?
I use a DS211j at the moment with rsync. Works brilliantly, and Synology are second to NONE for their software design. I'm actually contemplating buying a DS411j and using the 211j as an off-site repository.
@fingers66 - that sounds pretty good, but I'm reluctant to backup to anywhere I have to pay a subscription. I looked at Amazon s3 and calculated that with the pre-theft data I had, it'd cost ~ £100 a year. True that's cheaper than an HDD enclosure, but I have less control, it's slower than a local backup and the appeal of a one-off cost superceded that of the hosted backup.
Do you? I admit I'm an absolute n00b on storage so was hoping for an independent device that would sit in the loft, look like an extra drive in windows and which would automatically copy everything across to the inlaws as soon as it was saved locally. I might therefore not be asking the right question. A better question could be "what's the best solution for fast, local storage that also replicates offsite - ideally also accessible by family members too".
Do you have as shed/outbuilding that you can put another NAS in? you could use the DS211j indoors (silent and small) and use rsync to backup the data on it to a home built NAS outside - any old PC will do and you can use FreeNAS as the O/S. I backup my DS211j to a FreeNAS rsync server - I just need to build the shed now to be able to move it outside....
One DS211j on-site. Plug in an external USB drive to it of the same size for a weekly backup, then have that transported off-site the next day to, say, another DS211j via an RSync connection. That's what I'd do. In fact, that's what I'm looking to do right now
See the link to the backup features above. It works fantastically well, I am so pleased with it. Try out an online demo of the O/S (DSM) here: http://www.synology.com/products/dsm_livedemo.php?lang=enu. Edit: the beta of DSM v3.2 looks interesting, it will mount up to 16 ISO's directly on the NAS.
