Point-in-time incremental backup strategy

[RackIt]

My home network is a Windows environment along with a Synology NAS. I want to be able to protect against ransomware so having incremental backups are important to me.

 

I've been looking at various methods other unraid users are using but they all seem too complex for the purpose.

 

I'm sure I'm not the first to consider this but I'm thinking of just using a 1U server to run FreeNAS so I can use daily ZFS snapshots and backup those snapshots locally and remotely.

 

I can then backup important files from my Windows Server NAS, Synology NAS, and unraid all to the FreeNAS server and perform simple backups of FreeNAS.

 

What are the holes in this strategy?

 

p.s. I've also tried Synology backup methods but I found them really unreliable. 

[Spyderturbo007]

Depending on the model of your Synology, have you looked at the Active Backup for Business?  You mentioned you tried the Synology ones, but this is newer than the terrible ones they had before and wasn't sure if you had seen it.  We use a much more robust imaging system at my office, but I spun it up on a few servers just for piece of mind and it's pretty reliable.  But not all models support the software.

 

https://www.synology.com/en-us/dsm/feature/active_backup_business

Edited June 5, 2020 by Spyderturbo007

[RackIt]

12 minutes ago, Spyderturbo007 said:

Depending on the model of your Synology, have you looked at the Active Backup for Business?  You mentioned you tried the Synology ones, but this is newer than the terrible ones they had before and wasn't sure if you had seen it.  We use a much more robust imaging system at my office, but I spun it up on a few servers just for piece of mind and it's pretty reliable.  But not all models support the software.

 

https://www.synology.com/en-us/dsm/feature/active_backup_business

Thanks and good suggestion and my DS916+ supports it. While I like Synology in general, I'm not really a fan being vendor locked with their backup solution. I don't think I'll be buying Synology devices in the future.

 

I'm still thinking I would prefer the robustness of ZFS as a backup server if what I outlined is sound. 

[Vr2Io]

5 hours ago, RackIt said:

I'm still thinking I would prefer the robustness of ZFS as a backup server if what I outlined is sound. 

I don't think so.

 

My solution are QNAP NAS use for private / small data / versioning storage, and Unarid for large media and all backup. So, Unraid is my last restore source.

 

In Unraid, some bays are reserve for backup purpose and backup disks have cage. When I need update backup, just plugin those disks.

Array disk always largest and new age, backup disk just retire from it, so I have unlimit backup storage theoretically.

 

Backup disk were group in RAID0, for example, I group four 6TB disk to form a 24TB storage, then it can backup two 12TB or three 8TB array disks or what ever. All handle in disk base instead share base should more easy.

 

So, all in one platform and manage in local instead network transfer, disk also on-the-fly changeable or portable. It also good in speed, I have handle 20TB transfer between 2 backup set in less then 24hrs.

 

Edited June 6, 2020 by Benson

[RackIt]

12 hours ago, Benson said:

My solution are QNAP NAS use for private / small data / versioning storage, and Unarid for large media and all backup. So, Unraid is my last restore source.

 

I currently do the same with a Synology for user storage that is versioned using BTRFS.

 

It looks like you have the local backup covered. You then could have remote backup by taking drives offsite.

 

I didn't outline every one of my goals, but one of my goals is to have fast versioned remote backup to the cloud. To get the versioning I could use a file-based backup application (of which I've used and tested many) or I'm thinking I could just use ZFS snapshots. Then just backup snapshots. 

 

I would also like to have the files verified by a hash check and I think ZFS would give me that.

 

I hope all that makes sense.

[Vr2Io]

My main goal are "simple straight forward" and "don't spend much time", so I haven't any versioning stuff in backup.

 

2 hours ago, RackIt said:

I would also like to have the files verified by a hash check and I think ZFS would give me that.

I use BTRFS and BTRFS have checksum too, but this not file related ( I think ZFS also ), I hash all file by Unraid plugin and then copy/import hash result to backup file, so I don't need hash backup file again.