Compression for FrontView Backup

[KILLI]

Hi,

I'm voting for a file compression option for FrontView Backup!
Reason is, I have a lot of executables and documents stored on the NAS (2100), as well as big iSCSI-files, which would all be heavily compressible. At the moment, I'm backing up to an ext3-formatted 2TB-USB-drive, which is getting too small if I can't compress during the backup.

Is an implementation planned for a future Raidiator-Release? I wouldn't mind increased backup times as a result of a slow NAS-CPU.
What do you think?

Thanks!

[KILLI]

Still looking forward to an anwer...

[KILLI]

Still looking forward to an anwer...

Up

[Mr47]

I certainly wouldn't find this a bad idea. Backups are the prime target for compression in my eyes...

[KILLI]

Any update on this one?
In my opinion, this would be a killer feature for an upcoming FrontView-release...

[gibxxi]

The only potential issue I can see with this is what format the compression would use. I would welcome such a feature, as long as the compression method used was cross-platform, and not some proprietry technique only the NAS could read.

[KILLI]

What about gzip/bzip or something like that?

[gibxxi]

I think standard ZIP or RAR would be a better idea for cross-platform compatibility, but there are tools out there on Windows that can uncompress gzip archives. I Think most recent versions of WinZip can even handle those.

[KILLI]

I was just thinking of the Linux-nature of the ReadyNAS' - therefore gzip etc. would be reasonable, I think.
If the NAS dies, you could hook up the backup disk (i.e. USB) to any Linux-System, even a Virtual Machine, and get access to your data.
So would I handle this case, as my backup disks are formatted EXT3 anyway.
But any standard or widespread archive-format would do; I would even accept Acronis *.tib or something like that.

[gibxxi]

Aye, I'm an Acronis user too. Any format I can read would be acceptable to me personally. But it wasn't personal circumstances I was considering when making the post. The thing Netgear would have to consider if such a feature were implemented is the ability of novice users to be able to use it. Having said that, looking at the permissions setup under the current system, i'm beginning to wonder...

[KILLI]

There are demo versions of Acronis Backup&Recovery, so any user should be able to get to his data without additional costs - if the NAS dies.
I was not just referring to my personal wishes, either...

They could make a sidenote to the option stating that "Compression is intended for advanced use - direct access to individual files is not possible. Use with care.", and refine it later on.

I'm getting sick looking at how many hundrets of GBs I'm wasting on my backup disks because there is no compression option available...

[gibxxi]

I know what you mean. Out of 5.4TB available space on my NAS, I'm using 26% (1,452GB) and backing this up to the drives in my PC is a PITA! However, I've also only got one free socket in the UPS, which is reserved for "occasional" devices like joysticks etc., so i don't really want an external drive's power brick connected to it 24/7. I've got a removable drive caddy in the main PC which I am planning to press into use as a singular backup target for the NAS. But £150 for a single hard drive is a lot of money, and neither of the companies that currently produce 3/4TB HD's (Seagate / Hitachi) I have a lot of confidence with. Which comes full circle back to the issue of saving space on the drives you use for frontview backups. I'm currently just using Microsoft's in-built drive compression, but this is slow and there are better solutions out there... If only the NAS could make use of them.