rsync Replication of multiple NAS to one backup

[peridian]

Hi,

I have two NAS boxes, one with 4TB, the other with 8TB. I then have a single backup NAS with 12TB (naturally, available storage space is less).

In order to backup the first two to the third, I'm pretty sure I need to use rsync to replicate/snapshot the NAS to the backup.

Does this work if I am backing up both NAS to the same backup? Does replication perform this literally from the root up? I.e. I need a 4/8TB NAS for each of the originals for backup purposes.

Regards,
Rob.

 

[anodos]

Post hardware specs for servers, disk spaced used, OS version, basic network topology, etc.

 

[peridian]

All of the NAS boxes are in a RAID0 stripe, and are running FreeNAS 9.3 STABLE (Jan 2015).

Backup NAS

CPU: Intel G3220 3.0GHz
M/B: Asus H87I-Plus
RAM: 16Gb
HDD: 4x Western Digital Green SATA3 3TB

NAS1
CPU: Intel G3220 3.0GHz
M/B: Asus H87I-Plus
RAM: 16Gb
HDD: 4x Western Digital Green SATA2 1TB

NAS2
CPU: Intel i5 4670 3.4GHz
M/B: Asus H97I-Plus
RAM: 16Gb
HDD: 4x Hitachi Deskstar SATA2 2TB

Network - All gigabit ethernet - pfSense router to 2 GS108T switches. Each NAS on separate VLANs on the switches, with firewall allowing data ports between them.

Let me know if you require anything else?

Regards,
Rob.

 

[anodos]

In this situation I believe ZFS replication is your best option. See documentation here: http://doc.freenas.org/9.3/freenas_storage.html#replication-tasks

That being said, I hope this setup is just in a home lab /testing environment. Your configuration lacks the ability to fix data corruption (you typically need RAIDZ or mirrors to do this), and non-ECC RAM poses it's own risks. See stickies for reference.

 

[peridian]

Yes, this is at home, I chose to do without RAIDZ to increase storage capacity, on the grounds that I would be replicating the data between two devices anyway, and all truly critical data (~500GB) gets backed up onto a 1TB USB drive about once a month anyway as a tertiary backup.

I am aware of the arguments for ECC RAM and generally agree with them, but the systems that support it tend to cost more and/or take up more space than these boxes do. For home purposes, these will do. I have been using non-ECC RAM in systems that have lasted for donkey's years without RAM failures, and the whole purpose of having a backup strategy is to help prevent data loss.

Thanks for the link, that helps a lot.

Regards,
Rob.