Backing Up UServe.

Jason, I've learned here on the forum that a 'manual' backup, to the extent it's just copying the folders/files over, is not the same as a backup of the music store created by the uServe's embedded backup utility.  The latter can serve to restore if something goes wrong; the former, not nearly so easily, as it does not include the database that the uServe has built. 

If something goes wrong, the former could be used as the basis for an external share, however, I believe.  It seems to me that it could be put into a share and 'seen' by the uServe.

Jason, the technical issue is that the uServe's backup system wants to backup to a backup location that starts life as an empty "Network Share" that has then been designated as a backup location by the user using the DTC or the web interface.  No software is relied upon on the backup destination disc; it just has to be first designated as a new Network Share.  See Section 4.8.4 of the User Manual.  Cheers!

In turn, to restore the backup, the backup location has to be then designated as a store so that the music can be copied back to the uServe store on the internal hdd.  https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878606102490

Whether you could go a different route -- simply copy the contents of the MQ folder to a disk and then if a backup were ever needed copy that music to a share, turn the share into a store, and copy the contents over to the uServe hdd -- is not clear to me as I've never tried it.  But when I've asked similar questions here in the past, Naim technical staff have advised using the internal backup utility.  Maybe I'll try in an idle moment to see what happens. (I have to do a full restore of my uServe later this week, as mine is coming back from the shop newly upgraded to the 2tb version and of course the new disc will be empty. I've backed up my music to my nas.)

Hi Jason,

I have a 2Tb NAS which I bought primarily to use as back up to my 1Tb Unitiserve.

I have other stuff on there also ( other music, video for streaming & document/photo back ups from my PC).

I tend not to leave it running all the time, auto switching it on at the weekends, manually switching it on weekdays as required.

But for the US back up, I force the Back Up manually as a 'differential' back up via DTC as and when I've ripped any new CD's to the US.

Other than that, it will normally be off apart from the times I've scheduled for it to be on!

What you would want from a NAS should be no problem, ie. fit the NAS into your network and leave it dormant until you want to do your differential back up. Switch on, back up, switch off.

Or I guess you could even fit the NAS into your network, and schedule differential back ups to run at times when you have auto scheduled your NAS to be on.

In fact thinking about it, I don't know why I don't do that to cut the manual process out!

Maybe I will......

Hope this helps.

Jason, differential back up means that the back up process looks at the system and on ly backs up the items that have been added since it was last backed up. This usually means that the back up process is much quicker as it only backs up a few added albums, not the entire system again.

My uServe was set up to do differential backups using the default protocol, which had it running at something like 4am every day.  I think it's safer to just let it run in that mode; that way, you never forget to do a backup.

My nas is "on" all the time, but I can tell from the front panel lights that its in a 'dormant' mode when not being used.  The discs spin down, and it's asleep.  It wakes up on demand, and the uServe never missed a backup.

With the default daily backup routine running, you can still create extra backups if you like, this will not change the daily backup, but unless you are ripping a lot of disks there is no need to do this.

Claus

Well the restore of my backup is proceeding.  I can't say that it was entirely intuitive at first -- when adding network shares from my nas, using the web interface, I had to figure out the syntax in order to add the right folder as a share.  (For me that turned out to be \\diskstation\unitiserve backup  based on how I'd named the backup.)  Until I had that right, the uServe wasn't really seeing any of my nas folders.

Then when I went to turn that share into a store, there was a 'warning' to be sure that the share was empty.  Obviously that didn't apply (the backup share is full of music!), and I threw caution to the wind and went ahead.  It worked just fine -- my backup folder was now a store.  Then I used the Move Music function that will move files between stores, selected all albums, and they are all being moved from the backup store on the nas to the internal hdd store.

nStream sees them already, as well as all of the album art.  I have to say that between the current versions of nStream and nServe, my nod goes to nStream.

I'd say that, as of late, you Northesterners have had no lack of wind in which to throw your caution.

Jason,

Cfr the response of Bart and the way uServe does its backup, you could again consider the Lacie Network Space since it as an ethernet connectiopn and hooks up in your network

Iver

The ill winds have died down outside   And my evening of wine, music, and restoring a uServe from its backup passed calmly overall.  (The "woman" part of the "wine, women and song" trilogy was no so interested in the restoring the uServe part, other than than all our music was once again listenable.)

I suppose I'm now an expert at restoring a uServe, having actually done it.  I hope no one other than a dealer has had to do it more than once.