Our small office is currently running a PR4100 as our local server, with remote backups to the cloud with Elephant Drive. The PR4100 is nearing 3 or 4 years old now and recently had a drive failure that was remedied by simply removing and replacing the drive. So I am planning to get a replacement for the PR4100 before it has additional failures. I have also relocated about 1 hour from the current office location and was hoping to do the following-
1- Get the replacement unit- hopefully a newer model, then duplicate the existing PR4100 data to the new unit and take it to the new home location.
2- Set up a way to have the existing local office server mirror to the home office server so that if or when the local server fails I can simply replace it with the newer unit from the home office.
3- Along with that I would like to maintain the local office backups to the cloud via Elephant Drive.
Is this possible or feasible? If not what would be the best way to accomplish the same goal? Our office (small civil/structural engineering) is bringing on a couple more partners that will also be working remotely so remote access will be a key part of the expansion.
Thanks for any thoughts on this and have a great new year.
This is an interesting question.
So the basic gist of what you are doing is three fold;
- Running a remote file server
- Wanting to sync two file servers that are remote from each other
- Cloud backup for the servers
This all should be doable with WD NAS hardware.
The first thing to think about is the remote access. For a business application. . .really don’t think OS/5 web applications are up to the task. I would quickly look at a VPN solution, where all your remote users log into the office network via VPN, then access the NAS like an in-office network drive.
With a VPN connection. . . most of the other stuff becomes pretty easy as well. You can run standard mirroring and backup software. I can’t provide specific advice on that stuff, as my needs have never require file syncing capability, and I buy NAS units to avoid the need for cloud backup. I don’t see why Elephant Drive won’t continue to work.
One comment. . . .if you are running mission critical business stuff. . . .not sure WD software is really a good long term answer. Other NAS vendors seem to be staying more current with the software.
I recently setup a personal remote file server. I wound up using WebDav for other users. . … and for myself, I find using OpenVpn for access quite convenient. (Truth be told: the server is not a WD NAS)
You distilled the plan into the 3 basic parts.
W have been using a VPN but find that the users complain about the speed of it and either opt to use the cloud backups on Elephant Drive to download and access the data or request that the office email them the files. Human nature at it’s finest- they want it now even if it makes more work in the long run.
I have further contacted WD and they did provide a link to tips on setting up remote backups- and it seems to state that you have to disable the cloud backups. So that is an issue that I need to look into a bit deeper.
Prior to considering this option I did investigate several other options including buying rack/server space in a data center for hosting our data remotely and none of those really worked out.
The PR4100 has worked well for our scale/size so far so we shal lsee how long it lasts.
Follow up-
To slim the focus down a bit, if I were to get a second PR-4100 what would the best way be to ‘copy’ or duplicate the existing unit to the new one? Connect the new unit to the local network and then copy the files over via windows? Would a command line operation be better?
Mass transfer will be limited by network speed.
For fastest speed. . .you want the two NAS units sitting on the same network.
WD tools for copying data from NAS to NAS are. . .non existent. In the past I have done;
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Used a windows PC with sleep mode disabled to conduct transfer (slow)
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Used SSH and WINSCP to perform file transfer operations. This cuts the PC out of the loop (therefore faster transfer); but still requires a PC window to be open to . . “facilitate” transfer.
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You can use WINSCP in conjunction with the NOHUP commands to allow you to shutdown PC after transfer is initialized.
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Last time I did this: Used a Sology NAS with the WD NAS drives mounted. . .then I could use the Sology file transfer tools to do the transfers with zero PC involvement.
not the fastest
but using USB Backup APP at least gives a backup and reloading gives a good stress test of the new system
NAS_user always has great advice - and glad for his help over the years.
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I think a missing element here is the frequency you need the 2 NAS’s to “sync”. How long are you willing to allow the 2 copies to remain out of sync? Are we talking “real time” or an hour, several hours, overnight? Are the files sizes typically small (word processor, spreadsheets, etc.)? Are they big (video, high res pictures, etc.)? Do you run any transactional apps (accounting, CRM, etc.) using storage on the NAS?
How often does the Elephant drive back up? Can you do a “backup” of the main office server, then a “restore” to the home office?
For the initial sync, as @NAS_user says, both units in the same local network. I’m not a fan of the WD backup software but since both are WD, the remote backup should work better. There is a synchronize setting as well. I’ve never used it so I can say how well (or poorly) it works. Perhaps @NAS_user’s comment give some insight.
Once split, a VPN connection (both ends) can keep them “talking”. How fast depends on both ISPs. Bear in mind that download and upload speeds are typically different depending on your plan.
So just some quick thoughts to throw out there.
Thanks for the replies- still commuting daily so its been hard to respond.
To answer a few questions-
How long are you willing to allow the 2 copies to remain out of sync?
Are we talking “real time” or an hour, several hours, overnight?
Ideally as close to real time as possible- but understand that is not realistic and dependent on many factors as mentioned below. Within the hour would likely be functional.
Are the files sizes typically small (word processor, spreadsheets, etc.)?
Are they big (video, high res pictures, etc.)?
We are an engineering/survey office so there can be large files (aerial photos, digital surfaces etc) but many are a few mb or less.
Do you run any transactional apps (accounting, CRM, etc.) using storage on the NAS?
We do use quick books but it operates on the office managers desktop and is backed up to the local server/NAS on their own share/folder/drive.
How often does the Elephant drive back up?
Currently set to continuous for main project share/folder and then some individual shares are set for late night/early morning.
Can you do a “backup” of the main office server, then a “restore” to the home office?
*Not certain- the Elephantdrive’s current storage is at 1.6 TB so trying to do so over an internet connection might take ‘forever’. I will contact them though just to check. *
Thanks again-
