how to build a backup server with FreeNAS?

[yashiharu]

I am currently using backupPC on CentOS(ext4) at office
to backup all remote linux web servers and local PCs
4 Incremental and 2 full backup @ 7x24 schedule backup
easy to restore from single file to all data partition (not OS)

I would like to do the similar things at home:
1) backup all Macs (data, not OS)
2) backup htpc (data, not OS)
3) backup remote webmin server (email, ftp and web, not OS)
4) backup itself to remote server (identical)

I got 2 HP gen8 mini servers, one for local, one for remote
3TB x 4: total 12TB
All 1-3): total about 6TB now

Should i config as the following?
share space on FreeNAS as time-machine for Macs (which is full & incremental backup)
share space on FreeNAS as windows backup for htpc (which is full & incremental backup)
ftp on FreeNAS for the remote webmin backup

OR
Never use ZFS, RAID-Z, ZFS Snapshots
a) full & incremental backup? versioning?
b) how to restore single files or all data?
c) Any GUI for backup and restore?

finally, a redundant server for backup server
I have no idea how does it work with FreeNAS

thanks

 

[Nick2253]

First off, FreeNAS is a storage appliance, not a backup appliance, so it won't manage backups for you. So, if you want to do backups to FreeNAS, you're going to need something else to manage those backups.

It sounds like you understand this, and plan on using Time Machine, Windows Backup, etc. to handle your backups to FreeNAS. This works, and many people here do similar things. Or, you could use backup software like BackupPC to do the backups. Honestly, FreeNAS doesn't really care how you put data on it.

To go from local to remote server, you'll most likely want to use ZFS replication.

There are some good stickies that explain what ZFS, RAIDZ, snapshots, and replication are. I suggest you read those to bring you up to speed.

 

[yashiharu]

thanks for the quick reply!

last question:
which of the following upgrade is better?
a) FreeNAS on a SSD with 8GB ecc ram
c) FreeNAS on a USB 3.0 stick with 16GB ecc ram

coz i am planning to try ESXi with pfsense + FreeNAS in the future

 

[Nick2253]

Your option C would be much better.

Be aware that an SSD will be better than a USB stick, but those benefits are far outweighed by the RAM gains. Your USB drive will fail, it's just a matter of when. Make sure you backup your config file regularly (there's some posts on doing this automatically), and get a backup USB stick. It doesn't have to be the same, just large enough for FreeNAS.

Doing ESXi with both pfSense and FreeNAS is not for the faint of heart: there are a lot of ways to screw up in this setup. Also, if you go the ESXi route, you'll really want to go mirrored drives for redundancy.

 

[DifferentStrokes]

Your USB drive will fail, it's just a matter of when. Make sure you backup your config file regularly (there's some posts on doing this automatically), and get a backup USB stick. It doesn't have to be the same, just large enough for FreeNAS..

You can also mirror 2 USB drives so that if one fails you can keep running without any downtime. When one of the drives fails you can replace it without even rebooting the server. Had to do that to a machine this weekend. No one even noticed.

 

[yashiharu]

thanks

seems USB stick OS is not a usual & reliable practise with FreeNAS ...
where should i install the OS for safe?

 

[SweetAndLow]

USB stick is the correct place. Mine has been running for 2 years now and hasn't shown any signs of failing. Knock on wood...

 

[Fuganater]

If you use a USB stick, USB 2.0 v USB 3.0 offer no benefits as you must use USB 2.0 ports. FreeNAS does not like USB 3.0 yet. (IDK what v10 will do). You can get 2x small SSD and mirror your install on them.

 

[Fuganater]

USB stick is the correct place. Mine has been running for 2 years now and hasn't shown any signs of failing. Knock on wood...

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand crash

 

[lothar123]

I've tried multiple times and with different server OS' but have never had much luck with TimeMachine and netatalk servers. I bought an Airport (Apple) router with an external USB drive for this.

What I have found to work nicely is CrashPlan installed on my Macbook, PC, and Linux systems which all backup to a share on my Freenas box. Note: I don't use the plug-in but CIFS shares. I grew tired of having to reconfigured the headless plugin with each upgrade of the plugin (at least it seemed like that).

CrashPlan itself is free, which is nice, but I do pay for a subscription for files which really need to be backed up offsite.




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[yashiharu]

I've tried multiple times and with different server OS' but have never had much luck with TimeMachine and netatalk servers. I bought an Airport (Apple) router with an external USB drive for this.

What I have found to work nicely is CrashPlan installed on my Macbook, PC, and Linux systems which all backup to a share on my Freenas box. Note: I don't use the plug-in but CIFS shares. I grew tired of having to reconfigured the headless plugin with each upgrade of the plugin (at least it seemed like that).

CrashPlan itself is free, which is nice, but I do pay for a subscription for files which really need to be backed up offsite.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

CrashPlan cost $5 per user per month
CrashPlan + storage cost $10 per user per month

 

[lothar123]

Only if you use their 'cloud storage' option. You can install and backup on your own computers for free.


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[yashiharu]

finally, i bought HP ML10 v2 with 16GB ecc ram cost euro 300

why would everybody need RAID on FreeNAS?
RAID is not backup, it's redundancy, it didn't protection data from like human error.
am i wrong?

 

[danb35]

why would everybody need RAID on FreeNAS?

Because hard drives fail and they don't want to lose their data.

 

[yashiharu]

Because hard drives fail and they don't want to lose their data.

but as i knew, RAID is not a backup
RAID is for quick recover and bootup

if you delete a file, all the harddisk in RAID will delete the same file at the same time.
backup is something time-based with versioning

right?

 

[Jailer]

if you delete a file, all the harddisk in RAID will delete the same file at the same time.

Yes but that's what snapshots are for.

 

[yashiharu]

Yes but that's what snapshots are for.

then if someone want real backup solution with FreeNAS
it should be ZFS snapshot or versioning backup by windows or mac or linux clients, instead of RAID?

 

[depasseg]

then if someone want real backup solution with FreeNAS
it should be ZFS snapshot or versioning backup by windows or mac or linux clients, instead of RAID?

While that statement is true (backup is snapshots (plus replication), it assumes a user only wants a BACKUP. In reality, I would say that most users use ZFS & RAID for data protection (from corruption and disk failure). A smaller percentage use it for backup.

 

[danb35]

Why are you treating RAID and backup software as though they are mutually exclusive? They aren't, and you'd usually want both.

 

[yashiharu]

Why are you treating RAID and backup software as though they are mutually exclusive? They aren't, and you'd usually want both.

To me, it's reasonable to use RAID for OS and backup for Data (quicker system back online)
like those above suggested, mirrored USB stick for FreeNAS OS. (i feel amazing that it doesn't required reboot for switch between them)

I don't understand why RAID is recommend for Data backup
why not using that harddisk for snaphosts storage instead of RAID

is snapshot restoration not reliable / can be problematic?


BTW, not want to argue about RAID and backup
coz i saw every of you guys are running RAID, even for Data
just want to clarify before i start to build mine
thx