May 31, 201313 yr I've had a thought recently that it would be nice if there was a plugin that could be configured via the GUI that could rsync/backup important/valuable parts of data. A few uses I can see for a plugin like this would be: 1) Backup the unraid flash drive. encase of failure or wanting to go back to a previous configuration "snapshot" ie. if everything was working one day and you made a change you could go back. 2) Extension of 1, allow snapshots of custom configuration folders (that may or may not be inside the unraid array) for the same reasons listed above. 3) A little more redundancy, I copy some of my stuff to multiple drives, so in the case of 2 drive failures the data is still on the third. Not the most bulletproof, but it takes advantage of unraid's design. Replicating data over multiple disks gives small additional security. I usually do this with personal photos and the like which don't take up much room. This of course is all doable from scripts but I think a plugin would allow more people to use rsync easily. Anyone willing to take this on? Edit: A little more calcification: Provide a backup of folders and configurations that are currently not backed up (out side of the unraid array). Done in a way that it provides the option to have daily/weekly/monthly snapshots (date stamped folders/prefix/suffix). Again, basically a straight GUI for rsync (unless there is something more suitable) Suggested parameters: -path of what you want backed up -where you want it to be backed up to -Sync, read only sync, don't delete files from source (that type of thing) -Frequency Which would then spit out a script, hook into cron, etc. And display a list of what is being backed up and where etc. in the GUI.
May 31, 201313 yr 1) Backup the unraid flash drive. encase of failure or wanting to go back to a previous configuration "snapshot" ie. if everything was working one day and you made a change you could go back. This is trivial to do from any of your client PC's => just copy the current contents of the flash drive to a folder on the PC. It's equally simple to automate if you wanted to have it done once/week, month, etc. by just setting up a schedule backup profile using any of the freely available sync utilities -- SyncBack, SyncToy, Replicator, etc. ... and it has the added advantage that the backed up flash drive wouldn't reside on the UnRAID PC ... so in the event of a catastrophic failure of that PC you'd still have your backup. 3) A little more redundancy, I copy some of my stuff to multiple drives, so in the case of 2 drive failures the data is still on the third. That's what backups are for !! :-) Backing up a system "on itself" is a poor backup practice !! You do need to be sure your important data (i.e. anything you don't want to lose) is backed up ... but not on the same system that contains the data !! UnRAID is NOT a backup ... it's a fault-tolerant system that will continue to run in the event of a drive failure; but that does not eliminate the need to have the data you keep on UnRAID backed up.
May 31, 201313 yr Author 1) Backup the unraid flash drive. encase of failure or wanting to go back to a previous configuration "snapshot" ie. if everything was working one day and you made a change you could go back. This is trivial to do from any of your client PC's => just copy the current contents of the flash drive to a folder on the PC. It's equally simple to automate if you wanted to have it done once/week, month, etc. by just setting up a schedule backup profile using any of the freely available sync utilities -- SyncBack, SyncToy, Replicator, etc. ... and it has the added advantage that the backed up flash drive wouldn't reside on the UnRAID PC ... so in the event of a catastrophic failure of that PC you'd still have your backup. I'm very aware of how to back up a folder. More so I already have it automatically backing up weekly via cron. The suggestion was to make it easier to setup so more people would be able to take advantage of it. I'm not so concerned about a catastrophic failure (whatever that is), since if if the whole thing went up in flames I don't think it would care about my drive configuration anymore..... It's to backup a flash drive (due to the fact that they do an will eventually fail) onto the redundant array that is unraid... And I don't see the point of running another entire PC for backing up a flash drive, that doesn't make sense. 3) A little more redundancy, I copy some of my stuff to multiple drives, so in the case of 2 drive failures the data is still on the third. That's what backups are for !! :-) Backing up a system "on itself" is a poor backup practice !! You do need to be sure your important data (i.e. anything you don't want to lose) is backed up ... but not on the same system that contains the data !! UnRAID is NOT a backup ... it's a fault-tolerant system that will continue to run in the event of a drive failure; but that does not eliminate the need to have the data you keep on UnRAID backed up. I don't get why soon as someone mentions away to have a little more security people go all nuts and tell everyone how to backup their data. Again I'm very aware unraid is not a backup, never said it was and I was trying to be clear that it only adds a small amount of additional protection against data lose. You can't tell me having a copy on a second disk does not add another small level of redundancy in an unraid environment. I also know for a fact my others also do this. And backups are rarely 100% up to date, unless you have another system at another location connected via the internet that is doing a constant syncs.
May 31, 201313 yr I don't see the point of running another entire PC for backing up a flash drive, that doesn't make sense. I certainly wasn't suggesting that !! I assume you USE your UnRAID system ... so you have SOME computer that you access it from ... and could simply store an occasional flash backup there. In most cases that's probably the computer you'd use if you ever needed to reconstruct it anyway. I'm very aware unraid is not a backup, never said it was ... You can't tell me having a copy on a second disk does not add another small level of redundancy in an unraid environment. Certainly you can add redundancy by storing your data on a bunch of different drives within UnRAID ... that indeed provides protection against some additional drive failures => but does nothing for a catastrophic failure (the system is hit by lightning; flooded; etc.) And there's really no need for the added redundancy if you have backups ... in the unlikely event of a dual drive failure before the rebuild is done, you just copy the lost data from your backups. And backups are rarely 100% up to date, unless you have another system at another location connected via the internet that is doing a constant syncs. Backups aren't much good if they're not up-to-date. My UnRAID data is never more than an hour out-of-sync with my backups. While it's true that any good corporate backup is actually in a different location (preferably another city altogether), for most of us a good backup at the other end of the house ... or on a cloud-based system that takes longer to get in sync ... is fine. If you have the upload bandwidth to make it practicable, a cloud-based system is excellent ... it keeps your backups off-site, and you don't have to worry about a backup disk failing. It does cost a bit to maintain a good backup strategy -- but I'd hate to lose my 40TB of data !!
June 1, 201313 yr Author Point of this plugin request: Provide a backup of folders and configurations that are currently not backed up (out side of the unraid array). Done in a way that it provides the option to have daily/weekly/monthly snapshots (date stamped folders/prefix/suffix). Again, basically a straight GUI for rsync (unless there is something more suitable) Suggested parameters: -path of what you want backed up -where you want it to be backed up to -Sync, read only sync, don't delete files from source (that type of thing) -Frequency Which would then spit out a script, hook into cron, etc. And display a list of what is being backed up and where etc. in the GUI. Lets get off the backup suggestions, I not suggesting this is a backup solution. Yes I do use the word backup but it needs to be taken in context. off topic (BTW, Gary your points are starting to contradict each other, you talk about catastrophic failures (lighting, fire, flood) yet you have an always-in-sync backup in the same house??? As you mentioned also cloud based backup is not feasible for everyone) And there's really no need for the added redundancy if you have backups ... in the unlikely event of a dual drive failure before the rebuild is done, you just copy the lost data from your backups. It does cost a bit to maintain a good backup strategy -- but I'd hate to lose my 40TB of data !! Adding redundancy for stuff the isn't backed up because its not critical to me makes sense in my books. Will I have some work ahead of me if my flash drive or folder with all my plugin configuration is lost, sure, is it worth me making backups to a different location, nope. You also say its unlikely of a dual drive failure, and I would agree, but it is possible. And there is still user neglect, if a failed drive isn't replaced right way the likelihood of a second failure goes up drastically. I think you missing the point of backups for 99% or users. I highly doubt many here have 40TB or family photos/videos. Most do not consider BR-rips critical as they can always be ripped again and therefore not backed up. I can see how you took what I said about making a separate copy of family photos within the same machine bad practice but in reality, if its easier but in bad form well most people will do that as apposed the slightly more difficult but proper approach. I'm sure there are many people without backups outside of unraid at all, is that good, not at all. But I couldn't hurt to have a little security of your "not backed up but should be data". Again that wasn't the purpose of this plugin but an outline on how it could be used. /off topic
June 1, 201313 yr (BTW, Gary your points are starting to contradict each other, you talk about catastrophic failures (lighting, fire, flood) yet you have an always-in-sync backup in the same house??? As you mentioned also cloud based backup is not feasible for everyone) Agree that backups in the same house aren't ideal. FWIW my backups are stored in a fireproof/waterproof safe at the other end of the house .. and in addition all important backups (i.e. not media, but pictures, documents, etc.) are actually stored on 5 different disks on 4 different computers, two of which are fault-tolerant; and all are in different parts of the home IN ADDITION to the copy stored on a static disk in the safe !! I'm definitely paranoid about backups ... but as a consequence I've NEVER lost anything as a result of a disk failure ... even before I had UnRAID servers.
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