SOLVED Storage for INCOMING CrashPlan Backups

[nello]

Would someone please elaborate a bit on adding storage for the CrashPlan Plugin? I'm referring to this dialog:

I Presume that Source and Destination paths refer to the direction of the backup:

• Source path is for “Outgoing Backups,” i.e., backups of FreeNAS to other computers; and that
• Destination path is for “Incoming Backups,” i.e., backups of other computers to FreeNAS.

I plan to do only Incoming Backups so I'm focused on the Destination path, right?

According to the 9.2.1 manual:

• Source: is the directory or dataset on the FreeNAS® system you would like to gain access to from the jail. This directory must reside outside of the volume or dataset being used by the jail. This is why it is recommended to create a separate dataset to store jails, as the dataset holding the jails will always be separate from any datasets used for storage on the FreeNAS® system.
• Destination: select the directory within the jail which will be linked to the “Source” storage area.

In N00b's guide to CrashPlan on FreeNAS I get the sense that the Jail's storage should be used for Incoming Backups.

But I'm finding just the opposite advice elsewhere:

Add Storage for incoming backups
At this point Crashplan will accept incoming backups, but it will store those backups within the jail filesystem. This is probably not desirable, so instead, configure the destination to be a path within your main ZFS pool.

1. From the left hand tree pane, select Jails->crashplan_1->Storage->Add Storage
2. Add the Source path within your FreeNAS pool and a Destination path, usually "/mnt/incoming". Do not tick "read-only" but do tick "Create directory"

Source: http://techflow.io/blog/crashplan-plugin-for-freenas​

And then, of course, CrashPlan itself allows setting the Destination too:

I'd like answers to the following questions:

1. What factors should be considered in choosing the Source and Destination paths for a CrashPlan Jail?
2. What is the relationship between the settings in FreeNAS's Jail Destination and the CrashPlan's Destination?

Thank you.

- nello

 

[nello]

Please reply with comments/suggestions/questions regarding better ways of setting up the CrashPlan Plugin for Inbound Backups.

After reading the manual as well as these articles, I (think) I've correctly implemented an Incoming CrashPlan service on my FreeNAS box.

• FreeNAS Jails
• The FreeNAS Plugin Section of The Ars NAS distribution shootout: FreeNAS vs NAS4Free

CrashPlan Plugin

• Within the CrashPlan Jail, I created under /mnt a directory (backupArchive) that will serve as CrashPlan's Destination
• Within FreeNAS Storage, I created a Dataset (crashPlanPlugin) for the backups
• Within the CrashPlan Jail, I Added Storage to link backupArchive (Destination) with crashPlanPlugin (Source) as shown here:
  
  
  

CrashPlan Application

• Check "Accept inbound backups"
• Set the archive location as /mnt/backupArchive (within the Jail)

 

[SweetAndLow]

So you might have career in writing documentation! Your posts are awesome and you set up crash plan just fine for incoming backups. One thing you might want to double check is who owns the files after they are backed up on freenas and if you are OK with who ever owns them.

 

[nello]

So you might have career in writing documentation! Your posts are awesome and you set up crash plan just fine for incoming backups.

Thank you.

I am very nervous about doing this correctly. There's no good way to test a backup short of a restore but I don't know how I'd do this without overwriting my original, which doesn't work out so well if there's a problem with the backup. :)

One thing you might want to double check is who owns the files after they are backed up on freenas and if you are OK with who ever owns them.

I presume that you're referring to the permissions on the FreeNAS file system; I'll take a look.

Thank you again.

 

[SweetAndLow]

So in the crashplan UI you can look at your files you have backed up. That is one way to make sure things are configured correctly and you can also restore files with different settings. Things you can toggle include which version, current/original premissions, which folder to restore the file to and rename or overwrite the file. I think the one that might interest you is the restore to a folder option. This will allow you to restore your files to a temporary folder so you can verify that you can restore if something bad happens. All of this should be done using the crashplan gui that is running on the computer being backed up not the crashplan gui used to configure freenas crashplan. Does that make sense?

One other thing that just came to mind was that it could be easy for crashplan to fill up your pool with data and you not know about it. Quota's might be something else you could think about configuring once you get everything settled in and working properly. Remember one thing at a time so the complexity does become to much. I view FreeNAS as an ever evolving appliance, when it is working just the way I want it I look to add one more thing to it so it works better(Quota's are next on the list for me).

 

[nello]

So in the crashplan UI you can look at your files you have backed up. That is one way to make sure things are configured correctly and you can also restore files with different settings. Things you can toggle include which version, current/original premissions, which folder to restore the file to and rename or overwrite the file. I think the one that might interest you is the restore to a folder option. This will allow you to restore your files to a temporary folder so you can verify that you can restore if something bad happens. All of this should be done using the crashplan gui that is running on the computer being backed up not the crashplan gui used to configure freenas crashplan. Does that make sense?

Yes, I'd plan to do this once my initial (2.5TB) backup finishes, but after four days it's still not done. I was going to make changes in the files, trigger a CrashPlan update, and then make sure I see an additional version in the archive.

But, I consider this just kicking the tires. It's not as comprehensive as doing a restore and then checking the file count of the original vs. the restore.

I'm open to additional, more robust techniques to verify that the backup is complete.

One other thing that just came to mind was that it could be easy for crashplan to fill up your pool with data and you not know about it. Quota's might be something else you could think about configuring once you get everything settled in and working properly. Remember one thing at a time so the complexity does become to much. I view FreeNAS as an ever evolving appliance, when it is working just the way I want it I look to add one more thing to it so it works better(Quota's are next on the list for me).

I set up a huge pool (10TB RAIDZ2) relative to the size of my data (2.5TB) so I think I'll be alright with this.

My FreeNAS box doesn't do much. I set it up for the sole purpose of holding automated backups.

For the past year, I've run CrashPlan on an iMac that mounted FreeNAS via an AFP share. I opened port 4242 on my Internet firewall and forwarded it to this iMac so that family members outside my LAN could also backup to FreeNAS using CrashPlan running on their computers. The problem with this approach is that my iMac was routing all the CrashPlan traffic and became a single point of failure for everyone's backup.

This month, I installed a UPS in my network closet. In addition to keeping my DSL modem, router, and switch up, it also powers my FreeNAS box. But, with the iMac in another room responsible for routing CrashPlan traffic, backups were still vulnerable to power outages.

So, I installed the CrashPlan Plugin on my FreeNAS box. Now backups run independently of the iMac and can continue despite temporary power glitches.