Backup to NAS

Hi,

I´m using ATI 10 Home and I would like create my backups to a 160GB NAS.
The disk is formatted with FAT32 filesystem and the maximal filesize is 4GB.

I believe the most comfortable way to make backups with ATI 10 is by using
automatic tasks and by using so called backup-storage.

When I try to make a full backup of a partition to a "backup-storage", TrueImage10 completes operation with success, but the created file (*.tib)
is corrupt (something like "2007~~" remains as filename).

I think the problem is, that no max. filesize can be specified when backing up
into a "backup-storage".

Does anybody have some experiences with ATI and NAS?

Kind regards,
hurga88

 

The NAS boxes that I've tried have problems with very large files and corrupt them. The corruption varies but occurs with files over 1-2GB.

Try splitting your backup at either 700MB or 1GB and then try validating the image.

 

Exactly this is the main problem.

When specifying a "\\host\share\..." place for the backup, the user is asked
for a filename and the user is able to specify a max filesize (split value) for
the backup archive.

When specifying a "backup-storage" place for the backup it is neither possible
to specify a filename nor to specify a split value. TIH10 always tries to store
the backup into one huge *.tib file. This file becomes corrupt when filesize
exceeds 1-2 GB.

I think this is a bug in TIH10. It should be possible to specify a split-value
(max. filesize) also when using a "backup-storage" as backup place.

Harry

 

You have hit the nail on the head. Not being able to split the file means it won't be compatible/will be corrupted by the majority of the NAS boxes that I've seen.

I can't say it's a bug, but it's certainly a design error given the state of NAS devices today.

The only work-around I can suggest is to separat your frequent data backups from the system image backups. Unless you install new software or hardware, it's not essential to make another sytem backup except every three to six months. These can be made manually and split.

On the other hand, data backups are essential to preserve data as frequently as daily. You can control the size of a data backup by selecting only certain folders totaling less than 1-2GB or by making incremental or differential backups.

 

I regularly image my C:\ drive to NAS without splitting the .tib file and have restored from NAS a couple of times too.

The difference being my NAS is Linksys NSLU2 run and the HDDs are formatted in Linux Ext3 format.

Restoration of images is done using a BartPE boot disk with ATI and the necessary network drivers added (as the normal ATI backup methods still don't work with my Intel 965 Chipset).

 

Some brands of NAS handle large files better than others. It looks like the Linksys NSLU2 is one of them.

 

I believe it depends on the filesystem which is being used/supported by a NAS box.
The linksys NAS obviously supports Ext3 format, which supports files greater than 4GB.
But must NAS boxes support FAT32 only, so the NAS
(considered as black box) cannot provide more than the Filesystem itself.

But back to ATI10.
I've asked Acronis 2 times for support howto specify max. filesize for backups to be stored on "backup-storage" place on NAS, but I didn't get
answer till now.
What a poor support!

Ciao,

 

Hello hurga88,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

We are sorry for the delayed response.

Please notice that as stated in chapter 5.3.6 “Archive splitting” archives created in backup locations cannot be split. If you want us to change the behavior of Acronis True Image in any way or add some new features to this product, please feel free to post any of your suggestions in Acronis True Image WISH-LIST thread.
Please also notice that splitting would not solve the issue with images being corrupted on NAS – the source of the issue is poor performance of NAS on high data transfer speed.

Thank you.
--
Marat Setdikov

 

I don't agree with you that the source of the issue is the poor performance
of NAS.

Taking the same NAS and making backups by selecting destination, filename
(no backup storage!!) and split value, all backups do succeed.

So I don't think that it is a performance problem.

Kind regards,

 

are NAS boxes limited to FAT32? Just curious since I ma lookign for a external storage device. Which is faster USB 2 or NAS (100 speed)?

Why can't you just format the NAS to NTFS? Or do they not fucntion this way? I did a search on newegg.com and seems all the NAS drives they sell are FAT32??

Are NAS devices not preffered? Seems you could boot from one, but could not from USB so seems NAS would be a better appraoch than USB? thanks for the help!

 

No, NAS boxes aren't limited to FAT32. It depends on the firmware of the
box. Most boxes/firmwares support FAT32 only.

When the box is connected via USB, the you can format the disk to NTFS
of course, but then you cannot access the disk anymore via network.

In principle I would prefer NAS devices, because they can offer their storage
to all computers of the network in contrast to an USB drive.
This is the advantage of NAS.

 

The NAS boxes using EXT3 don't seem to have any file problems. My favorite is the Synology DS-106e ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822108004 ), a Linux-based server with a load of extra features and easy management and expandability.

FAT32 needs to join DOS in the rest home.