Drobo Gen 1 replacement

Unfortunately, Arq is Mac and Windows only, there is no version for Linux based systems. Therefore I mount the Synology shares on my Mac Mini server which does the Arq backup.

In another thread, someone posted about running a Windows VM on their Synology and having that run Arq. It’s a clever idea assuming you can mount the BTRFS formatted Synology shares into the Windows VM reliably via AND Arq in Windows properly handles MacOS file metadata.

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Is there a reason you use Arq to backup your Synology instead of Cloud Sync to B2 on the Synology? Just curious as I use Cloud Sync for the Synology to backup different shared folders to different buckets then I use an individual bucket with Arq to backup each Mac and I’m wondering if there is an advantage to using Arq for the Synology as well.

Odd Man Out here! (I’ve had the exact opposite experience)

I bought the Synology DiskStation DS416j because is sounded like @katiefloyd and @MacSparky were enjoying their Drobo 5D’s at the time but I felt like I wasn’t ready to spend that much, so settled on the DS416j.

My goal was to replace an old Mac Pro 1,1 that had become a repository for my archived photos and music (streaming media was an added bonus).

I’m no programmer or developer, but I’m a pretty techie guy (and a certified MPU listener) and though I followed all the instructions and troubleshooting literature I could find, I couldn’t get very far beyond loading the NAS with a portion of my media before I started encountering issues.

How I wish this forum was up then!

The whole process of loading approx 3TB was so cumbersome to do over and over after I’d forced reset the Synology that I abandoned the whole thing. It sat there for a bit over a year when I decided that I would just get the Drobo 5D and my experience was night and day!

I loaded the 3TB much quicker due to the faster direct connection and the software was straightforward I didn’t have to give it much thought (it just worked).

I might still be in the honeymoon period but it’s doing its thing and I back it up to Backblaze, so I’m happy.

That’s my Odd Man Out POV.

(This is my first ever post on a forum)

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@joshsullivan:

I set up the Cloud Sync service on my synology tonight to see how it might work.

It is easy enough to set up a one-way sync, encrypt the remote site, and tell the service not to delete files from the cloud site when they are deleted locally. That much seems straightforward.

My concern is over the ease of restoring files. I would suppose that if the Synology were to die, you would have to set up a new Synology, set up a new sync task (with the cloud site as the source and the local Synology as the target, again a one way sync) and wait for everything to download.

However, I don’t see what the mechanism is for retrieving deleted files or previous versions of files that were changed.

With Arq that is (relatively) easy to do.

Have you experimented with this and can you provide some guidance?

With Arq, I could just connect to the Arq store on B2 from ANY of my computers and retrieve whatever files I want, which is really very convenient.

I guess I hadn’t really thought of recovering the individual files from BackBlaze, but now that you mention it, it is rather helpful. Last time I luckily had just backed up my Synology to an external drive and was able to plug it in and grab the file. I’m going to start with 1 shared folder on my Synology with Arq and see how it goes.

Do you use a script to make sure the volume is mounted before backup or does Arq mount it if it is a network drive?

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Big difference is that the Synology is a NAS and you likely used a network connection while the Drobo 5D has a Thunderbolt connection witch is by definition faster :slight_smile:

Arq does not automatically mount a network share, as do other apps like CarbonCopyCloner.

I use a script to mount the share.

My approach is to have a separate Arq task for each synology share. Then I attach a specific script to each task to mount the appropriate share.

The script is straightforward and I actually just grabbed the one offered on Arq’s blog. If you have trouble finding it I can post it here.

I am thinking of buying AutoMounter in the App Store instead…not sure as of yet.

Hi Katie,

Does synology have any data redundancy options like drobo? I too am looking for a drobo replacement but I am not sure if Synology is a good option for me.

Yes, it has in the form of a “Recycle” folder where you can set how many versions of a file will be retained and who has access to that “Recycle” folder.

If you are thinking about hardware redundancy it can survive 2 simultaneous hard drive failures and there is an option to put one or more drives in a “hot swap” position meaning that a failing drive will automatically replace by the “hot swap” without you having to run over and physically install a new drive.

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That’s why I have a 5D. And since I like to have uniformity, complemented by 5Ns.

But I am already thinking of the next step. If I replace the Drobos, I will go for NAS only (probably Synology). Since I need speed, I will try to go the 10GBase-T route.

True. There’s Duplicati for Linux that might run on Synology to use in place of Arq.

@Jonathan_Davis:

Good point. I have looked at Duplicati in the past. I don’t know that there was any good reason why I didn’t try it out.

I don’t know if there is a Synology package for it. I probably don’t want to invest the time in making it work on a Synology if it is not supported either by Synology or Duplicati, because every time there is an update I then have to make it work again…I want my backups to be less maintenance intensive to the extend possible.

Fair enough, backups being less maintenance and hands off is key. I’ll be dabbling in using UnRaid so I’ll have some experimenting to do before it being sufficient and hands off. I’m sure the UnRaid forums can provide some assistance and thoughts to me.