Backup for HDX

Roy, the advice I got from Naim tech support here was that simply doing that (with your MQ folder, I presume) was not likely to result in a backup that could be restored by the server if needed.  Rather, it is best to use the backup function built into the HDX.  Have you tried that?  It involves creating a new empty share on your nas/networked drive, telling the server to make that a new backup location, and then using the backup functionality in the server software to schedule backups and/or do a one-time backup.

Thanks Bart. I have not tried your suggestion I was working from an article off the internet. Are there any published definitive instructions for carrying out this process? It sounds like it will meet my requirements.The manual is not particularly helpful in this respect. Many thanks for your help.

Roy there has been a fair bit written about it here on the forum.  It's a process not without its frustrations sometimes.  I do believe that the biggest frustrations arise because people assume that when they create the new backup, things should work INSTANTLY.  It actually takes a little time for the server to see the new 'share' and recognize that it's been converted to a 'backup.'

I think that someone (perhaps HungryHalibut, maybe?? ) once prepared a guide to all of the steps and posted it here on the forum.

It wasn't me.

The HDX was primarily developed to run off network protocols so introducing a NAS is a logical and relatively way of achieving a good back up. 

My HDX is a model that came supplied with two internal HDDs. I started off by using this system, which incorporated an automatic back up onto the second HDD. But I quickly moved everything out onto a NAS for better scalability, maintenance and control. You still have to backup the NAS though, which is where something like a USB drive excels.

Sorry - for "relatively" read "relatively straightforward". Head still a bit all over the place post heart attack last week.

Setting up the backup was a total nightmare for me. I posted a question on here about it last summer, and Simon in Suffolk, Bart and others helped me immesurably. If you hunt out the thread you'll find what to do. Basically, you set up the NAS as a share, and then promote it to be a backup. Then you tell the hdx to do a backup. You do all this in the desktop client, which you should have on your PC. If you don't have it, you can download it off the Naim website.

If you have master copy of the files on your HDX, the NAS copy is your backup, so that will be sufficient. At least, that's what I have, using a UnitiServe and a NAS. The NAS has twin drives in a raid configuration, so that if the serve failed, and one of the NAS drives failed, I'd still have one functioning copy.

Roy, the Seagate drive you mention is NOT a NAS drive, is it?  As far as I can see it's a plain old external hard drive, am I right?

That being the case you won't be able to do all the good backup things mentioned above, apart from make a copy of MQ folder onto the Seagate drive... but then, as Naim has said, restoring that copy back to the HDX is a no-no.

You need to get yourself a 'proper' NAS drive - it doesn't have to be an expensive one and doesn't even have to have two mirrored disks in it.  Have a look at a d-link NAS for about £50 plus a hard drive for about the same... plus a network cable... and you'll be away.  I started with one of these (still have it actually) but then graduated to a Netgear mirrored disk ReadyNAS when I chnged my HDX to SSD (diskless).

Hope this makes life simple for you once again  

Many thanks for all your helpful responses. I am, beginning to gain an understanding of what is required here. I do find it surprising that Naim do not cover this issue in greater detail in their manual given that they have moved to a single hard drive in the latest HDX models. I am not sure whether my Seagate is a NAS drive. I had assumed that as it is connected via the network (using an RJ45 cable rather than a  USB) that it would serve the purpose. It does show up in the list on the HDX and I am able to "enable" it. I have not tried to do a back up until I know that it is acceptable. Can anyone clarify whether I can back up on this external Hard Drive? Many thanks 

Roy it sounds like that IS a nas - "network attached storage."  It's attached to your network.

Here's what you do.

Create a new shared folder on the nas.  Do not put any spaces in the name of the folder, or special characters -- just use letters and numbers.  NO SPACES!

Be sure to give read and write permissions to all users.  Have the HDX scan for new shares, and look for that new folder in the list.  

Make the new folder 'active' as a share.  (I know how to do this in the DTC for OS X; I think you right-click the name of the folder in the Windows DTC.)  Then, use the DTC to make that newly activated share a Backup location.  Again, this is a function of the DTC.  You may see a warning message that once done, all contents of that folder will be lost; that's normal and just fine.

When all that works, you can go into the Backup portion of the DTC and select that folder as a backup location.  You can do a one-time back up to it, or better yet, schedule daily backups.  Be sure to tell it to do "differential" backups, not "full" backups. otherwise the entire HDX store gets re-written to the backup each time; totally unnecessary.

Good luck!

If you can create a share on it, it's a NAS. If you for some reason can't get past Bart's first step above, it isn't.

Many thanks for your suggestions although I think I will have to admit defeat!! I cannot believe that Naim can come up with such a difficult system for back up - I used to think that I was reasonably intelligent! All I am trying to achieve is a one off back up. I am fairly sure the Seagate is NAS as I have accessed sharing on their dashboard and set up a NaimBackup folder under share but this does not seem to be recognised by the HDX. It does show the three GoFlex main folders - all of which are enabled. I have a screen shot of the dashboard on my desktop showing the files but cannot find a way of adding it to this message. 

I gave up on my go flex; it was flaky as hell and I never knew when folders would be visible or not. I bought an assetnas which works fine

Thanks Dayjay. I will follow your lead and abandon the Seagate and move to Synology.

Making a backup share is no harder than adding an image to a post here

When everything is working right, it's just 3 or 4 clicks to make a backup on a nas.  But the folder has to be a shared folder, and you have to give the HDX time to scan for it, or force a scan.