On a dual HDD NAS can I use the 2nd HDD as the backup destination of the 1st HDD on Odroid HC4?

1st Official Post

    Thats great. Thank you. I've never heard of rsnashop before.

    Sorry if this is obvious but is backing up to a HDD on the same NAS a dumb strategy?

    * Cloud backups are not an option due to broadband.
    * External USB HDD are all shingled SMR drives.
    I've seen some SMR horror stories of transfer rates dropping off a cliff after a while.


    * I also considered two Odroid HC2 networked together with the second solely as a backup for the first, but that's wasteful and expensive.

    Then the Odroid HC4 was announced.

    Seems like a good idea to backup one HDD to the other: no USB (or network) slowness and no SMR issues.

    Am I missing anything?

    Quote from viewmo

    Sorry if this is obvious but is backing up to a HDD on the same NAS a dumb strategy?

    No not at all! But you should consider an additional offsite backup (maybe only for the most valuable data) in case your machine gets destroyed, for example by a fire.

    Quote from viewmo

    I also considered two Odroid HC2 networked together with the second solely as a backup for the first, but that's wasteful and expensive.

    That’s how I do it actually. The second device adds a little more security against encryption viruses by pulling the backups. But this scenario seems unlikely. I don’t think it’s too expensive or wasteful. Also I have a backup machine in case the main one dies. That’s a matter of taste I guess.


    The bandwidth problems a mitigated by doing incremental backups.

    • Official Post

    Having the backup drive in the same NAS makes backups really fast. Much faster than over the network.


    This means that you can setup OMV to automatically backup more often than weekly. Perhaps daily or even hourly. If you use rsnapshot or rsync, only new files, or files that have changed since the last backup, are actually copied over.

    • Official Post
    Quote from viewmo

    * I also considered two Odroid HC2 networked together with the second solely as a backup for the first, but that's wasteful and expensive.

    If you put the second HC2 in a different location (work, friends, family) you have a rather cheap offsite backup.

    Quote

    in case your machine gets destroyed, for example by a fire

    Yeah, that's the main downside that came to mind: a local catastrophic failure.

    Quote from Morlan

    That’s how I do it actually.


    Quote from macom

    If you put the second HC2 in a different location...


    Quote from Morlan

    I have a third hc2 at my mothers house...

    Ha, there was me thinking I was being extravagant! I must have a bit of a puritanical streak in me. So a double HC2 isn't that outlandish after all... hmm. I'll have to think about that again.

    I really don't think my internet connection will be any good for offsite backups. But a 2nd local HC2 is quite plausible.

    Quote from Adoby

    Having the backup drive in the same NAS makes backups really fast. Much faster than over the network.

    This is the huge upside. I guess it comes down to this versus the risk of a catastrophic failure of the HC4 and it's drives.


    There was one other potential downside to the HC4: the HDD's just sitting loose in the case. A knock or a jolt could unseat one causing data loss. Maybe a couple of wraps if electrical insulating tape could hold them secure?


    Thanks guys. Very helpful.

  • viewmo

    Added the Label resolved
    Quote from viewmo

    So a double HC2 isn't that outlandish after all... hmm. I'll have to think about that again.

    Well this is the setup I build on the beginning of 2019. Today the HC2's are getting a little out of date. The HC4 is a little more up to date.

    Also one time when I rebuild the server it was tiresome, that you can only connect a 2nd storage device over the slow USB 2.0 port. There the HC4 offers more flexibility.


    Quote from viewmo

    But a 2nd local HC2 is quite plausible.

    Will also burn down in case of a fire ;)


    Quote from viewmo

    I really don't think my internet connection will be any good for offsite backups.

    My connection also struggled sometimes. But since only incremental updates are done it works fine.


    To sum it up, today I would probably go for the HC4 or a RPi4 with HDD's in a separate enclosure.

    Its a nice looking rig alright and is ARM based. Very cool. At first glance I thought it was amd64. But at $295 it's a bit over my budget. I couldn't really justify it for my needs (that damn puritanical streak strikes again!)

    • Official Post

    I'm surprised no one has mentioned the NanoPi M4. With a sata hat and a four (or five) bay drive cage you can have a pretty nice set up with four sata drives. Of course you have to add a heat sync and a power source (Mean Well LRS-100-12), not to mention the hard drives and a couple of SD cards, but for around $100 U.S. you have a pretty nice rig. I like the hc2's too, even though they are only 32 bit.

    Here's a few pics of my M4 and a couple of hc2's:

    System Backup Typo alert: Under the Linux section the command should be sudo umount /dev/sda1 NOT sudo unmount /dev/sda1

    Backup Data Disk to Backup Disk on Same Machine: In a Scheduled Job:rsync -av --delete /srv/dev-disk-by-uuid-f8814ed9-9a5c-4e1c-8830-426968c20ea3/ /srv/dev-disk-by-uuid-e67439d5-00a3-4942-bd5f-b84ab86aa850/ Don't forget trailing slashes, and BE CAREFUL. (HT: Getting Started with OMV5)

    Equipment - Thinkserver TS140, NanoPi M4 (v.1), Odroid XU4 (Using DietPi): PiHole

    Edited once, last by Agricola: In parenthesis I added the specs on the power supply I use. Wanted to use this in my signature, so I wanted that info in the post. ().

    Thanks 2

    That's a really decent SBC and the HDD cage is a great idea. I don't think it'll work for me though. I'll get hit with import duty and VAT (and a collection fee too) shipping from China. On top of that this year postal services from China have been dire.


    There's a couple of listings on Amazon UK but its already £99 (~$130) just for the SBC. Add in all the rest and its pretty much outside my budget. I don't think I really need more than two HDDs. I'm not sure my electrical skills are up to figuring out how to power it either! I'm a real beginner.


    But it's a really cool setup. I didn't know HDD cages like that were available. Thanks for the photos.

    This is a bit off topic, feel free to ignore, but maybe some here might know. Armbian for the Odorid HC4 is listed as 'WIP - Work I Progress'. Is that a major thing?


    I know its a new board and it'll take a bit of time for some of the major bugs to be fixed. I don't mind waiting a month or two or three if I have to, but I wouldn't like to be waiting 12 months. The Armiban forum is a bit terse and technical for my abilities. I have Armbian running on an Orange Pi already. Armbian isn't a problem for me. Compiling custom kernels would be.


    Is WIP serious?

    Quote from geaves

    The question is then what's your budget..

    Pretty much the £92! And just to add a little more fun for me, I'm in Ireland. So I'm trying to buy this before Brexit kills my buying opportunities stone dead. Already I'm hoping Cummings leaving No 10 yesterday doesn't cause a significant rise in the pound.

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