What is required to use MyBook Live for off-site backup

Hi,

I’m considering buying a WD MyBook Live for an off-site backup solution where the disk is to be placed at a friends house . As I read around on the product specifications and such I only find that it works as an on-site solution. So my question is what is necessary in order to make it work as an off-site solution. 

What I want to do:

  • Backup folders on from a desktopcomputer at location A to a Mybook Live at location B over the internet.

  • I need it to be automatic (I will forget otherwise)

Is it possible?

What type of programs do I need?

I am new to the Networkstorage field and I really appreciate any assistance!

Hello,

At the moment, the backup software that comes with the NAS drive My Book Live (WD Smartware)is not capable of doing remote backup.

To be honest, not sure if that is possible and if it’s, it will be very slow.

http://community.wdc.com/t5/My-Book-Live/Secure-remote-automatic-backup-1-MBL-to-another/m-p/567763/highlight/true#M22156

I asked the same question pretty much in that thread above.  It’s possible, but not simple and some methods can void your warranty so beware if you don’t want to do that.  I think I saw some more detailed explanations of the rysnc method when I did a search for it on this board.  Rysnc is totally automatic and its incremental anyway - so it won’t be slow and even if it was, it shouldn’t matter since if it was, you can set it to backup at night I imagine.

 The method I’m trying you have to turn on your laptop before it runs - but it will run automatically with your laptop on (if I can get it to work).

Yes, it would be a similar solution as heehee62 said… howeves, in this case, if you run Windows or Mac OS, there is another option. Mount/map a drive over SSH. Once you do that, then you just need a program that will backup/sync to mounted/share drives. So in a few words you would need:

  • Enable ssh and get it to work local and remote

  • Get the drive map/mount over ssh. Many different ways to go around it as well as software options.

  • Get the automatic backups to run

But yes, there is no really a simple way. Most Home NAS devices will not provide this solution, but it is available already at the OS level, which in this case is Debian Linux.

If I remember correctly, you should also be able to mount/map a share over FTP, which is easier to setup. However, not secure at all.

Netdrive can mount an sftp drive (not just ftp).  Is that really any less safe than rsync when you use sftp with both?

I should clarify my post after seeing shabuboy’s post.  Rysnc is more difficult but completely automatic and not run through a separate laptop after initial setup.

The netdrive method is the simplier method that I’m trying to setup myself and will post a more detailed guide for after I’m done if I can get it to work (it’s still not that simple, but simplier).  You need to have your computer turned on when backing up cause it runs the backup through a computer.  But the computer will do the backup automatically.

Any protocol that can run over SSH, is a secure protocol. SFTP/SCP/rsync are some of those. Hence, these protocols are a bit slower due to encryption.

FTP, is not a secure protocol, just like telnet. All info flows in clear text.

Just about any non-secure protocol, has a secure counterpart…

http vs https

telnet vs ssh

ftp vs scp/sftp

rsynch which is a Unix command is not difficult and it is already instealled at the OS level for MBL. However, it does require some Unix knowledge.

And actually, you both should look into these options as well. Sorry, not simple solutions as well… nevertheless, great options.

Beautiful Directory Listing for Apache File Server Sharing Public Folder

BarracudaDrive Cloud Server for MBL

Installing OwnCloud Server on My Book Live