Backup from NAS on Mac

Have a look at Carbon Copy Cloner. You can try the demo version before buying. 

James

The easiest way is to pick up a USB harddrive and plug it directly into the nas and back up from the utilities. Having to go via a mac to do this will be a ball acher.

garyi, I always copy files by hand, never use the time machine, because I feel that it is just a gimmick.

Do you have any comments on the cons of the time machine?

I agree with garyi that it's easiest to use native backup tools on the "source" side (thinking of pushing your files onto the archive system as the natural direction), rather than learning how to adapt "destination" side tools across platforms (thinking of pulling files from your main working directory as the awkward direction). 

In this situation, the main con of Time Machine is that you can't include a network mounted drive as part of your backup list...only internal and locally mounted external drives for the source(s)...even though you can use a variety of destinations, including network drives mounted using AFP (Apple file protocol) whether on a Time Capsule or on any other NAS that supports it (including all the usual suspects I've encountered).  

For my part, as a newcomer to the apple world with a Mac mini, Time Machine pointed at a cheapie iOmega ix2-200 NAS is working very nicely - no jinx!! - and the ability to go in and recover things (done for test purposes only, thus far) is as easy as any system I've used. Not gimmicky to me, but the idea of displaying the archive history as a z-ordered finder view appeals to my own sense of logic. 

I am sorting through the syntax of rsync to see about automatically keeping yet another NAS up to date with my main FLAC library folder on my Synology NAS...but that's really just an exercise to get my head back into the old unix shell world I left behind a couple / three decades ago. The side benefit is having two independent but working boxes with different streaming software pointed at independent but synchronized FLAC libraries. I wouldn't have purchased the extra box for this, but I bought things in a less than optimal order!

To the original question: verify at time of copy is more or less universal and may not be mentioned explicitly in a way that's transparent. For example, rsync has a flag to look at check sums, but this is strictly  for deciding what to copy (to see if a file with the same name on the destination drive is identical to the one on the source drive)...but this in no way matches or eliminates the automatic post-copy comparison to verify an accurate accurate transfer of the original to the backup. Most tools (on most platforms) are wrapped around an rsync-like main engine. 

regards, alan

Peter I have taken the OP to be asking how to back up his NAS. Now he could use rsync or ftp to some other network device. But the reality is plug in a USB drive and set a back up from the nas interface. This wont protect from theft etc but its ok.

As for macs, I use time machine for the laptops to my proliant server. I also use the utterly awesome carboncopycloner for may main mac which backs up to my main dell poweredge server. Both work fine.

One other thing if you are backing up timemachine to a network volume it will be saved within a sparse bundle. however you can mount that sparsebundle with a double click and navigate through it like a traditional folder no bother.

This way you can avoid the fripperies of time machine.

I do both. 2x USB external HD's off the NAS for a monthly backup, and a third drive via the Mac using CCC to copy the whole library just incase my NAS blows up - i've then got a drive to plug in readable via the Mac with my music on it. 

I'll echo what Gary and others have said.

To back up your nas, use the backup utility built into the nas.

CCC, Carbon Copy Cloner, is a great program.  I use that to backup from my uServe's "Downloads" folder to my nas.  Then Synology's backup util to go from the nas to an attached usb drive.

My personal caveat on this excellent observation is to ensure Time Machine is not turned on to backup while you're in there poking around on the mounted sparse bundle... I was trying this out early on and corrupted the backup bundle. Lesson learned with no cost here, warning shared in case others try the same thing. 

Regards alan 

I guess the OP's issue of backing up the NAS is sorted and is not a problem with a Mac per se, rather than the availability of a software solution for Mac that enables control of SMB volumes and shares.

Jude

Not sure we're talking about the same direction of backing up Jude: both of your links explain how to use Time Machine to back up from a Mac to a NAS. I, like garyi, took the OP to be asking how (if possible) to use software on a Mac to back up a (remotely mounted) volume on his NAS. Indeed, the first link agrees with what I suggested:

It  [Time Machine] cannot back up any network drive, including a Time Capsule,  a USB drive connected to a Time Capsule or Airport Extreme, or a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device.  

Regards alan

Replies seem to be coming up with the same answers I did, when I web searched.  I always thought Apple sold Macs on the basis "they just work".  After 2 days of ownership I can't agree with that, and am seriously considering returning it for a refund.  If you look at the "moving to a mac" thread in Padded Cell, you will see that I am having severe problems with NAS drives on the mac - thought I'd solved them, but it's all suddenly gone wrong.  In fact a little message has just this minute popped up on my screen telling me that "Server connections interrupted" and asking me whether to ignore this or disconnect them.   (sigh).

Not my router, 'cos I can see and access them with no problem from the Windows 8 laptop.

And the network shares have suddenly reappeared!  No idea why - unless ...

They appeared under the "shared" heading on the sidebar.  Could I perhaps have inadvertently clicked on the "hide" message next to the heading?  Don't think I did, because when they disappeared   I wasn't doing anything to the Finder window, which was just left open while I was installing PhotoScore.

Incidentally, the problems with NAS drives "disappearing" apparently happen with Windows 8 too.

There is a universal law. If it has a chip in it, it will go wrong occasionally.

I use macs and PCs in my network. I have windows 2008 running as a server and a Linux server and macs and pcs as clients they are all equally infuriating sometimes.

However the glue keeping all these things together is the home router.

Sadly people settle for the piece of crap supplied 'free' by their ISP. Then they expect miracles even though it cost 11 quid to manufacturer.

I don't know what you are using but start here.

Secondly. Mac and SMB/Samba, well its never gonna be perfect. A mac Vs a proprietary protcal developed my microsoft.

Its easy to blame the thing you are looking at. However I have a solution.

Mount the drive you want, if this is your NAS, then goto to 'go' on the mac finder and 'connect to server'  in here type smb://youripaddress, 'youripaddress' being the IP of your NAS.

It will then ask for a user name and password if you have set up guest privilages you can connect as guest or put in the same details you need to log onto your nas.

You will then get the available shares, mount them. Now right click each share ont he desk top and create alias. Keep this little icon on the desktop and in future double click it to mount the share.

However your pop uo saying share unavailable could be for a host of reasons, most typically your mac failing to be connected to the network, typically via wireless. And be warned this never truely goes away, and sometimes will even cause you finder to crash. I wish I could tell you it was the fault of MS, but its not, sometimes even macs are shit.

Thanks, Gary,

the router is a Netgear N600, and I also have to use a Netgear WiFi extender to use iPad for nStream.   I connect my Mac (and previously my Windows laptop), NAS Drives and NDS  by ethernet.  Most of the other stuff (SWMBO's laptop, Printer etc) via WiFi.

If it does it again, I'll give your suggestions a try.

I've been doing Macbook Pro, Synology nas(es), UnitiServe, NDS, Qute . . . for a few years now.  No issues really other than the occasional need to reboot something.  My Mac can ALWAYS see my Synology nas(es).  If it can't see the UnitiServe, I just remount it from the GO menu in Finder, which is simple as the GO menu remembers its name.

Experience of router, network problems - rare until I got this Mac!  I very occasionally (about 4 times a year) have to reboot the Router and then reconnect the Wifi Extender to it because the iPad wifi doesn't seem to want to work, even though it shows a strong signal! (i.e. press a button on extender, then same button on Router)   This is usually seems to occur when we have a brown-out.   Sometimes when this happens, I also have to go reapply the router settings on the iPad before the iPad will actually accept the extender's wifi output again.  Usually provokes bad language from yours truly.

Bart, I've made a mental note of the Filer Go Menu bit.

Gary, just tried to set up desktop aliases as you said, but that option is greyed out on the Finder File menu, Right click doesn't bring up that option, and using Command-L (as per Apple Support) didn't work either.  So, how do you do it?

Well, fired up the Mac this afternoon, and had to remount both NAS drives.  Checked on Windows laptop, before doing this, and both NAS drives were readable/mounted.  So why does the Mac keep managing to lose them?

Now I know the method of finding them and remounting FILER > Go, it's become an annoyance rather than something insurmountable, but still wish I didn't have to go through the process of remounting.

I am not sure what your issue is, the nas for instance should show in the finder on the left of any open window. Is it or is it not?

Well.  I can mount them (alas the Buffalo will only let me connect as guest), but after a while (not sure how long,  the Buffalo disappears from the Finder Sidebar, and sometimes the QNAP does as well.  For instance, this morning, the Buffalo was missing from the sidebar, but the QNAP was still there, but with no "eject" symbol (is that the right thing to call it?) next to it. Clicked on the QNAP in the sidebar, then clicked on the multimedia directory.  It said it couldn't find it!  Went to Finder > Go, reconnected to QNAP as registered user.  Now working OK, but from my recent experience I will probably be reconnecting it later today should I want to access.

The Buffalo will only allow me to connect as GUEST.  For some strange reason it isn't accepting either my login name or password, but these work fine if I look at the drive using NAS Navigator 2.  Strange ...

Is the mac wired or wireless?

How olds the firmware on your router?

Buffalos are crap, were you aware

Wired.  Firmware last updated about 6 months ago IIRC.  Buffalo NAS was on Naim's approved list!

I think I misunderstood your last question.  I've now figured out that you were asking about the Aliases.  Funnily enough there they are in a column on the right side of the desktop, among a few random files I'd dumped there for convenience.  I'd been foolish enough to think that as with Windoze, when you drag something to the desktop, it stays where you drop it, but these must have aligned themselves there automatically, and what further confused me was that I didn't seem to be dragging anything there (you know, a little faded out icon with the mouse pointer).  I've already forgotten what keyboard shortcut I used when I was doing that!

The only problem is that I now have 2 aliases on the desktop called 'Multimedia' - one for the Buffalo, one for the QNAP.  Don't know whether it's OK to rename them or if that would bugger up the link.  Further reading required, methinks.

Totally off-topic, but Apple don't seem to give any nice clear instructions on how to use iPhoto, and I spent a 'merry' (sarcasm) half-hour trying to make it save the edits I'd done to a few of SWMBO's photos, and then found out that what you have to do is Export them.  Rather a convoluted way of doing things, IMO.  MS Photo Gallery does it better, and just saves when you move to the next picture.  After all, why would you want to use the simple editing features (Red Eye and Crop in this case) and still keep the unedited photo in iPhoto.  Surely you just keep the originals elsewhere (well, that's what I do).  The good thing about iPhoto?  It will let you edit BMPs and TIFFS (useful for tidying up scans), whereas Photo Gallery seems to be restricted to JPEGs, and also straightening images is a little easier in iPhoto.

I think I'm still on the steep part of the learning curve with this Mac, and am trying hard not to keep just automatically doing things in the way I've been used to.

Yes, I have got it the wrong way round at one point.  Garyi and yourself and sorted the OP's issue with Carbon Copy Cloner (I guess SuperDuper is another option).

For people coming from windows the primary thing you have to get your head around with apple is that its drag and drop.

Once you have done your edit in iphot drag the photo to where you want it, to an email, or a folder or the desktop etc.

Its all drag and drop. Trust me going the other way is far more frustrating!

The other thing I am struggling with on pc is that you have to physically click in a window or side bar in order to scroll it, such a simple thing that MS should totally copy from mac.