Qnap differential backup

I also backup my QNAP on a USB disk but have scheduled a weekly back up 3 am Sunday and have not really tracked how fast it runs...good to know it is now most likely faster...

Ive been backing up my qnap to my synology, and then the synology to an attached usb.  I've not tried the blue button on the qnap.  Just connect up an empty usb drive and give it a push??

You need to go into the Qnap’s backup utility and tell it what sort of backup you want, and whether you want the nas to make audible beeps, which I find invaluable. Then it’s a case of connecting a USB, pressing the button for two seconds, letting it go, and the backup just happens. A beep tells you it’s started. When it’s finished, hold the button for about ten seconds until you hear the beep, and after the light stops flashing remove the usb.

When you start the backup you release the button after two seconds, then hear the beep. When you finish you hold the button until you hear the beep. This is the only bit that was a bit confusing until I got used to it. It’s one beep when it starts, and two when it finishes, so you know what’s happening. (Or maybe the other way round!)

If you do the backups from a system 'User Account' on the NAS that isn't used outside of the NAS (so no other device on the network has the password to that User Account on the NAS), and secure write access to the data on your backup device to that account only, then even if your network got hit by a ransomware virus, your NAS backup will still be clean when rolled back to the date before the ransomware virus was introduced to your network.

If additionally, you backup the data on all your other computers to the NAS, then you can restore almost all the data on your whole networked system without paying the ransom.  (I backup all the necessary install packs to rebuild my system in the same way, so the whole system can be restored not just the data.)

Another approach, which is what i do - is set an automatic incremental back up from one NAS to another on a weekly basis (using . Works well, no intervention required - and a little email to confirm it has been done all ok. The backup NAS remain most of its time powered down and wakes up once a week to initiate the backup and then powers down once complete.

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

Another approach, which is what i do - is set an automatic incremental back up from one NAS to another on a weekly basis (using . Works well, no intervention required - and a little email to confirm it has been done all ok. The backup NAS remain most of its time powered down and wakes up once a week to initiate the backup and then powers down once complete.

That's what I do too Simon but over a WiFi bridge to my brother-in-laws home, QNAP to QNAP.

Yes indeed Simon, if you have a separate NAS for backup (with no write access from elsewhere), that is ideal; and the most secure solution (but requires 2 NAS systems rather than just an extra volume).

On some systems the backup programme can control the drives, so then even:

Automatically re-mount the backup drive
Do the backup
Unmount the backup drive

will be sufficient.

HiFiman posted:

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

Another approach, which is what i do - is set an automatic incremental back up from one NAS to another on a weekly basis (using . Works well, no intervention required - and a little email to confirm it has been done all ok. The backup NAS remain most of its time powered down and wakes up once a week to initiate the backup and then powers down once complete.

That's what I do too Simon but over a WiFi bridge to my brother-in-laws home, QNAP to QNAP.

Interesting, good solution.
How do you arrange and secure the access control?  (Internal and external controls?)

I segment the WiFi bridge out from the rest of the network via a SonicWALL, only my local QNAP is allowed out via this route.

Nice!

I wasn’t recommending the very simple approach I use, merely highlighting that the backup to usb is once again working properly. 

Provided it works and can be restored, even the simplest of backup systems is infinitely better than having no backup! 

Huge posted:

Provided it works and can be restored, even the simplest of backup systems is infinitely better than having no backup! 

Especially the amount of time it takes to rip a CD collection for your NAS raid to fail.

Took me months to rip my CD collection don't want to do that again.

I'm not so worried about CDs, re-ripping them is just time, the CAD drawings of projects like speaker crossover layouts, and of my house, can easily be re-created.

I'm much more concerned about photographs that I can't redo and the product of the last four years of my creative effort that's due to be published later this year!