DSM-G600, DNS-3xx and NSA-220 Hack Forum

nullpointerninja · 2010-08-02 02:07:28

Hello. New user here .

I've had a DNS-323 for some months to backup 3 windows PCs to it and it's been working without problems. Now I want to do something a bit different with it.
Since the DNS-323 is inside my house, I only have protection against hard drive failure in one of the windows PCs, in which case I'd have to replace the hard drive with a new one and copy all data from the DNS-323 to it.

Since I wanted protection against theft too, the best solution would be storing the DNS-323 somewhere else and backing up from the windows PCs to it. The problem with that is my internet connection. The slow upload speed would mean I'd have to leave all 3 computers on all night, and I want to avoid that.
Then I thought, why not build FreeNAS server with a fanless atom motherboard, hide it somewhere in my house, and let it transfer new files to the DNS-323 stored somewhere else through the internet.
This configuration lets me back up all 3 computers quickly to the FreeNAS server, and set up daily backups from it to the DNS-323 at 4 am. It doesn't matter how much time it takes since the FreeNAS server can be on all the time.

After searching all over the internet (quite literally...), I found this: http://dns323.kood.org/howto:backup_-_pc
I don't need multiple snapshots and complicated stuff. I just need to check every night if a folder (or three) in the FreeNAS server at home has any differences with the one in the DNS-323, and copy all new or changed files.

Since I don't know much about rsync, could anyone tell me if those steps could be adapted to backing up from the FreeNAS server (which has rsync server and client modules) to the DNS-323 through the internet (hopefully through a secure connection)?
The main thing I still don't understand is whether the FreeNAS server should be configured as the rsync server or client (I *think* client should do it...).

Thanks in advance for any help.

Last edited by nullpointerninja (2010-08-02 02:09:18)

karlrado · 2010-08-02 22:30:32

Seems pretty reasonable, and you can set it up either way. That is, the FreeNAS in your home could be the rsync client with the remote DNS-323 being the server running rsyncd, or vice-versa.

I think that the choice may be partially dictated by the "visibility" of one machine to the other over the internet. For example, you might have a NAT router at your home where you can set up the port forwarding so that outside connections can be made and forwarded to the FreeNAS server. But you may not have that luxury in the place you put the remote DNS-323. In this case, you'd want to run the client on the remote DNS-323 and have it connect via the forwarded port to your home IP addr to the FreeNAS server running rsyncd.

rsync can either "pull" or "push" data.

I would run rsync over SSH. Use rsync's --rsh=<path to ssh> option and set up your ssh keys for password-less authentication. And actually, you don't need to run a rsyncd on the "server" side. The "rsync --rsh=<path to ssh>" command starts the remote ssh session with the command "rsync --server" to run it in daemon mode and then shuts it down when finished.

You can also set up and run rsyncd on the server side, leaving it run all the time. It depends on the trade-off between letting the process run and starting it up for each connection. Up to you.

Lots more help at http://everythinglinux.org/rsync/ and other places on the net.

nullpointerninja · 2010-08-03 00:12:25

Thank you. I'll try to set it up and come back if I need help (after I buy all the hardware and build the FreeNAS server of course...).

Last edited by nullpointerninja (2010-08-03 00:19:27)

DSM-G600, DNS-3xx and NSA-220 Hack Forum

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#1 2010-08-02 02:07:28

Backup from FreeNAS to DNS-323

#2 2010-08-02 22:30:32

Re: Backup from FreeNAS to DNS-323

#3 2010-08-03 00:12:25

Re: Backup from FreeNAS to DNS-323

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