Hi there,

I recently convinced a friend that unRAID was definitely a better option for him than a new NAS, and have set him up with a neat little HP Microserver much like my own.

He has a 200 Mb fibre connection, and only has two disks in his server at the moment, so I thought I'd take up one of his bays with a disk of my own, and use it as off-site backup for my music and photos.

I have two questions:

It'll be a 2TB disk, and the initial copy will be just north of 1 TB of data. Obviously I don't want to do this over the internet if I can avoid it.

Is it possible, then, to attach the disk to my unRAID server, format it, copy over the initial data, then bring the disk over to his place and install it?

If so, what's the procedure? How do I remove it from my array, then correct the parity? And how do I install it in his array, then correct the parity?

 

My next question is:

What's the best way to keep two remote servers in-sync? I don't mean real-time: I'm happy to manually run a script/command every so often, or set one to trigger periodically, but I don't know what would be best to run.

I was thinking of installing a Raspberry Pi at his place and running OpenVPN on it (super easy using this: http://www.pivpn.io/), which would also be handy for remote management if he comes across a problem he can't fix (I'm aware that we can run OpenVPN as a Docker, but I'd rather have it as a separate device), or for him to shut down/boot up his server while he's away.

So, with this setup, would I be able to VPN into his network (via Tunnelblick on my Mac), SSH into his server (using Terminal, obvs), then just run an rsync command? Or do I run the command from my server?

What would be the best rsync command(s) if I want to populate changes from two of my shares (including deletions) to my disk in his array?

And should I set up an identical user account to my own on his server?

 

Sorry for all the noobness, and thanks for your help.

I'd recommend using CrashPlan on the source and destination box as a docker. If you want a fast initial sync have your friend bring it to your house for the initial if there is a lot of data. 200Mb fiber can't beat 1Gb copper. Then link them together through crashplan.

I'd recommend using CrashPlan on the source and destination box as a docker. If you want a fast initial sync have your friend bring it to your house for the initial if there is a lot of data. 200Mb fiber can't beat 1Gb copper. Then link them together through crashplan.

 

CrashPlan is something I'd not considered, thanks. I'll look into that.

Bringing the servers together is not really possible, as neither of us have cars (1 hour via public transport carrying a server...) and I'd rather avoid spending the £25 on an Uber.

With a 200Mb fiber connection I'd just do the sync across the net ... yes, it'll take a while, but not all THAT long.  And it'll certainly confirm that you've got Crashplan set up correctly 

... In fact, assuming you sync between the systems with parity, 200Mb isn't all that much slower than a 1Gb connection would be => the system likely doesn't write any faster than 30-40MB/s with parity enabled.  200Mb = 25MB, so it's not all that much slower.

 

The real limit is probably YOUR upload speed -- you didn't indicate what kind of connection YOU have.  If it's appreciably slower than your friend's, then that would be the real bottleneck in the process.  But unless your upload speed is really slow, I'd still just let it sync across the net.

... In fact, assuming you sync between the systems with parity, 200Mb isn't all that much slower than a 1Gb connection would be => the system likely doesn't write any faster than 30-40MB/s with parity enabled.  200Mb = 25MB, so it's not all that much slower.

 

The real limit is probably YOUR upload speed -- you didn't indicate what kind of connection YOU have.  If it's appreciably slower than your friend's, then that would be the real bottleneck in the process.  But unless your upload speed is really slow, I'd still just let it sync across the net.

 

My upload is about 18 Mbps, so yeah, I'd rather avoid it.

Actually 18Mb isn't bad at all => that's over 2MB/s = 120MB/min = 7.2GB/hr = 172.8GB/day

 

... so a full 1TB would finish in under a week.  With no "hassle" of running at risk (no parity) for either system; transporting the drive; etc.

 

But if you really don't want to do that; then you can attach the drive in your system using the "unattached devices" plugin; copy all of the data to it;  then take it to your friend's;  put it in the system and do a New Config which includes his current data drives plus your drive; and then let it do a parity sync.    His system will not be parity protected during that time; but you'll eliminate the remote transfer you don't want to do.

 

Cheers for the advice.

Looking at Crashplan now, it does look rather simple - and actually much cheaper than I expected (for a single computer) for the cloud offering.

Plus, his housemates have a habit of cutting power to his server (he's still educating them... and also saving up for a UPS), so the assumed interruptability and automatic start-againness (call me Shakespeare) of CrashPlan, as well as its easily scheduling, would be ideal for this situation. Set and forget, baby!

So I reckon I'll start with the free version, and then decide on if the paid version is worth the extra, given its ease of use and access.

Thanks again!

his housemates have a habit of cutting power to his server

This is a recipe for disaster. If it doesn't change, I predict corrupted filesystems and lost data is in his future, especially if he has any BTRFS formatted drives.

... Plus, his housemates have a habit of cutting power to his server (he's still educating them... and also saving up for a UPS) ...

 

Two comments r.e. this ...

 

(1)  Cutting power (as opposed to doing an orderly shutdown) is a BAD idea -- he'll almost certainly end up with corrupted data

 

(2)  A UPS is IMHO a MANDATORY part of a server.  Not having one begs for data loss even if you don't have housemates who are likely to cause what's effectively a "power loss"

 

... Plus, his housemates have a habit of cutting power to his server (he's still educating them... and also saving up for a UPS) ...

 

Two comments r.e. this ...

 

(1)  Cutting power (as opposed to doing an orderly shutdown) is a BAD idea -- he'll almost certainly end up with corrupted data

 

(2)  A UPS is IMHO a MANDATORY part of a server.  Not having one begs for data loss even if you don't have housemates who are likely to cause what's effectively a "power loss"

 

 

Yeah, I understand both those things (I use a UPS) and told him as much.

And keep telling him.

He understands it, too.

I should be a bit more honest - it's not really the housemates, although they don't know how to shutdown the server, which is a concern if he's not around (thus me saying he should install a RPi VPN).

The few times (well, sort of 'few' - it happened three times in the week between me installing and pre-clearing it and coming back to finish setting it up) it's happened is because servicemen have either cut the house power to repair something while he's not around (twice), or the cleaner disconnected it (once).

So yeah, hopefully those were all isolated incidents, and a power loss won't happen before the time comes where he gets himself a cheap UPS.

...  a power loss won't happen before the time comes where he gets himself a cheap UPS.

 

It's also a bad idea to buy "... a cheap UPS."  => As a minimum, the UPS should have automatic voltage regulation (AVR).  The lowest price units do not have this feature.    I suppose any UPS is probably better than no UPS -- but it's really not a good idea to go cheap on your power protection.

 

...  a power loss won't happen before the time comes where he gets himself a cheap UPS.

 

It's also a bad idea to buy "... a cheap UPS."  => As a minimum, the UPS should have automatic voltage regulation (AVR).  The lowest price units do not have this feature.    I suppose any UPS is probably better than no UPS -- but it's really not a good idea to go cheap on your power protection.

 

I splurged for a good pure sine wave one, but I'll be sure to make sure that one he picks has AVR.

Cheers again for the info.