Backing up to NAS

Bristolian

Bristolian

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4,428
Name
Steve
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi folks,

I have the following computer setup - PC running W10 with 250GB M.2 drive for OS and applications, 250GB Samsung SSD plus a 1TB HDD for storage of edited images. There are two external HDD permanently connected via USB3 and a Synology DS220j NAS connected via wired LAN. I also have a large external SSD (ESSD) that is kept off-site.

When i download image files from my camera I use Nikon Transfer to copy the files from the SD card onto a Samsung SSD in the computer and directly into my masters folder on one of the external hard drives (EHD1). So straight away I have two copies of each image - one to work on and one as a master. Once I have culled, imported into LR and edited the images on the SSD they are moved into a structured folder system onto the 1TB HDD mounted inside the PC - this is my edited files storage. The Samsung SSD also has my LR folder with catalogue, preview files, caches, etc., on it.

My current backup routine is:
1. Master files and edited images are copied to the NAS
2. LR folder is copied from Samsung SSD to NAS
3. Edited images are copied to EHD1
4. Master files and edited images on EHD1 are copied to the second external HDD (EHD2)
5. Master files are copied from EHD1 to my Amazon Drive account
6. Master and edited files are copied from EHD1 to ESSD which is kept off-site - this is only done monthly.

With the exception of 6 above, the backup routines run every Saturday night - 1 & 2 above are done automatically using the Synology Drive app. 3, 4 & 6 are done automatically using the Windows SyncToy app. 5 is done entirely manually.

I am wondering if I'm making the best use of the Synology backup apps available for the DS220j or if there is a more efficient way to achieve the same result? The other Synology apps that are available for the DS220j are Cloud Sync and Hyper Backup but with my limited understanding of how these work or the terminology Synology uses in its guides I'm not sure if they are suitable.

I know that Synology is a popular make on here so thought I would ask for some advice or personal experience on this. All suggestions and comments would be appreciated.
 
It was possible to use Cloud Sync to mirror in real time from a Synology NAS to Amazon Drive, but Amazon discontinued that facility last November. Presently, I'm using Cloud Sync to backup various files to different cloud providers and it works fine. I also use Hyperbackup to backup photos and other items from the NAS to an external HDD connected to one of the Synology's USB ports. Hyperbackup does incremental backups weekly and gives the option to retrieve accidentally deleted files from the deltas created by the backup process by using Synology's Hyperbackup Explorer. I've set it up to keep 100 versions, so can retrieve deleted files from over a year ago. Prior to using Hyperbackup, I had a Robosync task running to copy from the NAS to the USB HDD weekly, but Hyperbackup is a much more elegant solution. Like yourself, I also use SyncToy to automatically backup from my PC to the NAS.
 
Hi Dave,

Thanks for your information. I wasn't aware Amazon had dropped their support for Cloud Sync - that was very inconsiderate of them :(

I will take another look at Hyperbackup. How much eatra hard drive space does it take to keep 100 versions?
 
Required space depends on your data churn between versions. The more files you delete, the more space is used to retain them in earlier versions. It's difficult to compute the amount of space required for each version as Hyperbackup uses data deduplication on cross-version backups as well as files that are renamed or duplicated, thereby saving space. My backup HDD is less than half full, so when I set up Hyperbackup, I just changed the number of versions from the default 256 to 100 without much thought or planning. Do I really need 2 years worth of versions? Probably not and if I start running low on space, I can reduce the number of versions
 
When I was looking for a new NAS to replace the bl00dy awful WD Cloud Home I thought I though 4TB of hard drive space (2 x 4TB drives in Synolgy SHR mode) would be plenty but I'm already using 3TB :(

I back up lots of other stuff onto the NAS, as does my wife for her greetings cards business, so I may have to rethink my non-photography strategy.
 
Just to conclude this thread. I have decided to stick with things the way I have them set up as it does what I need.

I have refined what gets backed up from Lightroom and now don't bother with the previews as LR would rebuild those anyway. That saves many tens of thousands of files being checked and potentially copied to the NAS.

Thanks to Dave for his comments and assistance :)
 
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