is a "true" incremental backup possible

[f_at_lo]

I was wondering: can a RedayNAS be configured to run a "true" incremental backup, i.e. a backup which contains only the changes since the last incremental backup. Or a "true differential" backup which contains the changes since the last full backup. (I adopted the "true" definitions from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_backup)

As I see it, the RND mixes the full backup with its increments, i.e. files which haven't changed their names are overwritten with the new version and new files or folder are added to the ones which were already present in the full backup.

Any feedback is welcome ...

Olaf

[TeknoJnky]

RN can act as both rsync client or server.

I backup/sync my media from windows using deltacopy to nv+ rysnc share.

[f_at_lo]

Thanks for the tip, TeknoJnky.

"Deltacopy" seems like a good idea, so far I didn't realize it existed. In the end, I would prefer to run a job within the RND. To copy data from the NAS via a PC to the NAS does not seem like a "lean" solution ...

Alas, I am already running Windows Vista. I'll give "deltacopy" a try though, maybe it'll run on my virtual WinXP machine which I have set up under Vista with Microsoft Virtual PC.

Thanks again for your suggestion!

Olaf

[TeknoJnky]

deltacopy runs on vista, and it includes both the client and server/service.

theoretically you could have the nas connect to the pc with rsync service running and pull data from it (the pc) to the nas.

Other than rsync, the rn does not (to my knowledge) have a 'true incremental' backup service, where it can pull data from pc's and store them with incremental snapshots, although it might be possible to combine rsync and the snapshots feature to provide a similar result.

I would guess the best/simplest solution would be for a normal pc backup software to do backups to a share on the nas, this way the pc backup would control the backup sets and just dump them to the nas.

Maybe others will chime with their solution(s).

[jjames]

as I just went through a learning process of learning to use delta copy, thought i would share what worked for me (I do not use ssh yet)

I am still learning, so if anyone sees anything that needs changed or a better set of exclude files, please share as these are just bits and pieces I have found scatter around the net put into one place

install delta copy
I used the zip version "Without Installer" from here
http://www.aboutmyip.com/AboutMyXApp/DeltaCopy.jsp

I installed to C:\MYApplications\DeltaCopy

for the client I used this for the additional parameters
-p --chmod=Dugo+rwx,Fugo+rwx --exclude-from="/cygdrive/c/MYApplications/DeltaCopy/excludexp.file"

for the server I used this for my .conf file

I have my deltacd.conf set up as follows

######## deltacd.conf ###########
use chroot = false
strict modes = false
hosts allow = 192.168.1.150
log file = rsyncd.log

[cdrive]
path = /cygdrive/c/
comment =
read only = true
auth users = your-backup-userid
secrets file = /cygdrive/c/MYApplications/DeltaCopy/secrets/cdrive.secret
transfer logging = yes
ignore nonreadable = yes
exclude from = /cygdrive/c/MYApplications/DeltaCopy/excludexp.file
outgoing chmod = Dugo+rwx,Fugo+rwx

############################

don't forget to change the
auth users = your-backup-userid to whatever userid you are using, I do this in the
DeltaS.exe as it does it for you

change the line above if using vista
exclude from = /cygdrive/c/MYApplications/DeltaCopy/excludexp.file
to
exclude from = /cygdrive/c/MYApplications/DeltaCopy/excludevista.file

I use the below to exclude files from Vista

######## excludevista.file #########
#Junction points
/Users/All?Users
/Users/Users/Default?User
/Users/Users/All?Users/Application?Data
/Users/Users/All?Users/Desktop
/Users/All?Users/Documents
/Users/All?Users/Favorites
/Users/All?Users/Start?Menu
/Users/All?Users/Templates
/Users/Public/Documents/My?Music
/Users/Public/Documents/My?Pictures
/Users/Public/Documents/My?Videos
#Excludes these junction points common to every user profile
/Users/*/Application?Data
/Users/*/Cookies
/Users/*/Local?Settings
/Users/*/My?Documents
/Users/*/NetHood
/Users/*/PrintHood
/Users/*/Recent
/Users/*/SendTo
/Users/*/Start?Menu
/Users/*/Templates
/Users/*/AppData/Local/Application?Data
/Users/*/AppData/Local/History
/Users/*/AppData/Local/Temporary?Internet?Files
/Users/*/Documents/My?Music
/Users/*/Documents/My?Pictures
/Users/*/Documents/My?Videos
####
/Users/*/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary?Internet?Files
/Users/*/AppData/Local/Temp
/Users/*/NTUSER.DAT
/Users/*/ntuser.dat.LOG1
/Users/*/ntuser.dat.LOG2
/Users/*/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/UsrClass.dat
/Users/*/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/UsrClass.dat.LOG1
/Users/*/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/UsrClass.dat.LOG2
/Users/*/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows?Defender/FileTracker
/Users/*/AppData/Local/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/*/Cache
/Users/*/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/Windows/Recent
/Users/Default?User
/Config.Msi
/ProgramData/Microsoft
*.lock
###
/PerfLogs
*/WER
/$Recycle.Bin
/$RECYCLE.BIN
/MSOCache
/System?Volume?Information
/autoexec.bat
/bootmgr
/BOOTSECT.BAK
/config.sys
/hiberfil.sys
/pagefile.sys
/Boot/
###
NTUSER.DAT
ntuser.dat.LOG
UsrClass.dat
UsrClass.dat.LOG
*.log
*.edb
/Temp/
MyWeb/parent.lock
/MYPASS2.pwt
/Cache
/Lenovo?News-Shop
/Symantec
/LiveUpdate
/Documents?and?Settings
Application?Data
Symantec?Shared
/ProgramData/Application?Data
/ProgramData/Desktop
/ProgramData/Documents
/ProgramData/Favorites
/ProgramData/Start?Menu
/ProgramData/Templates
/ProgramData/Symantec
/Windows
/Users/*/AppData/Roaming/Symantec
/RRbackups

############################

I use this one to exclude on XP

######## excludexp.file #########
****?WINDOWS?XP?EXCLUDE
/WINDOWS
/Windows
/Documents?and?Settings/*/Local?Settings/Temp
/Documents?and?Settings/*/Local?Settings/Temporary?Internet?Files
*.lock
/$Recycle.Bin
/MSOCache
/System?Volume?Information
/autoexec.bat
/bootmgr
/BOOTSECT.BAK
/config.sys
/hiberfil.sys
/pagefile.sys
/Boot
*/NTUSER.DAT
*/NTUSER.DAT.LOG
*/ntuser.dat.LOG
*/UsrClass.dat
*/UsrClass.dat.LOG
*.log
*.edb
*.tmp
/Temp/
MyWeb/parent.lock
*/MYPASS2.pwt
*/Cache
*/Lenovo?News-Shop
*/Symantec
*/LiveUpdate
#*/Documents?and?Settings
*/Symantec?Shared
*/Symantec AntiVirus
*/places.sqlite-journal

############################

to start server on windows run DeltaS.exe <-- use if plan to backup windows from the ReadyNAS
to start client on windows run DeltaC.exe <-- use this if plan to back up from windows to the ReadyNAS

once you have all set up is easy to copy to a new machine and just use it without going through the set up all over again, I like it, easy to use... once you figure it out

this is where I found info on the exclude files
http://codydunne.blogspot.com/

[bru]

This is a question I am dealing with right now. I have two ReadyNAS boxes. One is the master
with 2TB and the other is the slave that I back up to.

I use the rsync backup option and I think this used to work well. I qualify this by saying the
speedup was a very high number and the backup would finish very quickly.

I only have about 500GB data to copy, and most of that, almost all of it does not change
from day to day, yet it seems to be getting copied when backups happen anyway?

What I want to happen is for rsync to compare dates and checksums of the file and
to not backup files that have not changed so that the network does not get hit very
hard and the disks to not get too much usage.

Is there any docs or recommendations for Readynas to be able to do this? I swear
on the first version of firmware this used to happen. I am on the latest version, checked
yesterday and my backups regularly run into each other - which should not happen.

[ewok]

What I want to happen is for rsync to compare dates and checksums of the file and
to not backup files that have not changed so that the network does not get hit very
hard and the disks to not get too much usage.

That's what rsync does, using timestamp and filesize to check if a file needs to be transferred. Using checksums would be very slow.

Can you manually verify that the timestamps and filesizes match between the files that were transferred when they weren't supposed to be copied.

[simong]

I have RN pro and a windows 2003 sbs server and wish to sync one folder between the 2 devices.

I have installed delta copy - can anyone provide info on extra settings required ?

all i get is an error connecting to the server when i test the link

if netgear respond to these posts - how can i sync between a ready nas and windows server - thought it would have been a pretyt common question

[ewok]

I have RN pro and a windows 2003 sbs server and wish to sync one folder between the 2 devices.

I have installed delta copy - can anyone provide info on extra settings required ?

all i get is an error connecting to the server when i test the link

if netgear respond to these posts - how can i sync between a ready nas and windows server - thought it would have been a pretyt common question

What are your current settings? Are you using Deltacopy as the client or server?