Comments for The OS Quest http://www.theosquest.com A Frustrating Journey Wed, 09 May 2012 21:33:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Comment on Synology Time Machine Backup – The Quota Option by ray http://www.theosquest.com/2012/05/06/synology-time-machine-backup-the-quota-option/#comment-17256 ray Wed, 09 May 2012 21:33:41 +0000 http://www.theosquest.com/?p=2684#comment-17256 @Brendan - My wireless concern is the quality of the wifi and losing connections long enough to drop. TM is fairly complicated since it's a lot of pointers to files and much like a database. Similar concerns with similar backup apps. The other reason I wasn't using it is my virtual machine images would take too long to backup. I didn't want to leave my laptop on overnight for backups and I didn't want a constant file copy going on when I was working or when I was trying to stream video over wireless. Now I excluded the VMs and it's been fine. Thanks, Ray @Brendan – My wireless concern is the quality of the wifi and losing connections long enough to drop. TM is fairly complicated since it’s a lot of pointers to files and much like a database. Similar concerns with similar backup apps. The other reason I wasn’t using it is my virtual machine images would take too long to backup. I didn’t want to leave my laptop on overnight for backups and I didn’t want a constant file copy going on when I was working or when I was trying to stream video over wireless. Now I excluded the VMs and it’s been fine.

Thanks,
Ray

]]> Comment on Synology Time Machine Backup – The Quota Option by Brendan http://www.theosquest.com/2012/05/06/synology-time-machine-backup-the-quota-option/#comment-17255 Brendan Wed, 09 May 2012 21:21:42 +0000 http://www.theosquest.com/?p=2684#comment-17255 Thanks for the article. You've mentioned concerns about using Time Machine to the NAS over wifi. Is there any backup method that you would endorse over wifi? I'm a little puzzled about this issue. Unless my wifi is really spotty (losing it's connection) I don't see why wifi, however slow, should equate to this kind of task outright failing. The underlying protocol, TCP, has reliability/retry built in. and in the event that TCP does throw up an error, the backup software should retry. The job should get done, it's basically just a lot of large and small files. Must be something flakey about Time Machine, poor error handling? I've used carbon copy cloner to a NAS. Only downside is it requires that the target be a disk image. So before the backup begins, it must mount the .dmg on the NAS, then start reading/writing it. Since that's going to be a very large disk image, it may take a while. But it does work. Thanks for the article. You’ve mentioned concerns about using Time Machine to the NAS over wifi. Is there any backup method that you would endorse over wifi? I’m a little puzzled about this issue. Unless my wifi is really spotty (losing it’s connection) I don’t see why wifi, however slow, should equate to this kind of task outright failing. The underlying protocol, TCP, has reliability/retry built in. and in the event that TCP does throw up an error, the backup software should retry. The job should get done, it’s basically just a lot of large and small files. Must be something flakey about Time Machine, poor error handling?

I’ve used carbon copy cloner to a NAS. Only downside is it requires that the target be a disk image. So before the backup begins, it must mount the .dmg on the NAS, then start reading/writing it. Since that’s going to be a very large disk image, it may take a while. But it does work.

]]> Comment on Synology to Windows Home Server Using iSCSI by ray http://www.theosquest.com/2012/01/30/synology-to-windows-home-server-using-iscsi/#comment-17254 ray Tue, 08 May 2012 16:26:40 +0000 http://www.theosquest.com/?p=2553#comment-17254 @goran - I use it two ways. 1. I use it as a backup drive. 2. I use it as a way to put files on the NAS while creating the share within WHS. So all my drive mapping are to the WHS. A third potential reason (not one I use) is the drive can be moved to a different server. For example, while doing testing or if the server hardware fails. Thanks Ray Performance would be better if the drives were SATA drives on the server itself and this is probably true for most home networks. @goran – I use it two ways.
1. I use it as a backup drive.
2. I use it as a way to put files on the NAS while creating the share within WHS. So all my drive mapping are to the WHS.

A third potential reason (not one I use) is the drive can be moved to a different server. For example, while doing testing or if the server hardware fails.

Thanks
Ray

Performance would be better if the drives were SATA drives on the server itself and this is probably true for most home networks.

]]> Comment on Synology to Windows Home Server Using iSCSI by Goran http://www.theosquest.com/2012/01/30/synology-to-windows-home-server-using-iscsi/#comment-17253 Goran Tue, 08 May 2012 15:59:33 +0000 http://www.theosquest.com/?p=2553#comment-17253 A question from a beginner when it comes to servers... is this the way to be able to use the Synology NAS as backup drive to the WHS2011? If not, what is the purpose behind this connection? drive extension only? A question from a beginner when it comes to servers… is this the way to be able to use the Synology NAS as backup drive to the WHS2011? If not, what is the purpose behind this connection? drive extension only?

]]> Comment on Time Machine Backups To A Synology NAS by ray http://www.theosquest.com/2012/01/25/time-machine-backups-to-a-synology-nas/#comment-17251 ray Sun, 06 May 2012 16:02:38 +0000 http://www.theosquest.com/?p=2536#comment-17251 @Greg - Hi. Yes, the Synology NAS can only use one share/folder for time machine. (This seems to be a common trait across TM servers I've seen). For me, wireless TM isn't a good option due to the amount of data that would go from my laptop, so I just have one Mac doing TM backup. And like you, I read about a lot of wireless related problems with TM. I did set up a quick test using quotas and it seems to be a viable option. I have a 500GB volume which is empty. I set up my Time Machine share on that. I set up an ID specific to my Mac Mini Time machine and gave it a 1 GB quota on the volume. I pointed TM to it and it did see the limitations (saying 1GB of 1GB free) and when it started the backup it failed due to not enough space. It needed 65GB. Since the volume could handle it, it does appear to respect the quota. I could also connect to another share using my regular ID and see the full available space on the volume. There is a bit of a potential issue as setting a quota is not the same as reserving the space. So the regular share could take volume away from time machine. Also, each users quota would be cumulative and could be cumbersome to manage if there's a lot of machines. I'll set up TM on my laptop and see how it does. I set the quotas just a little bigger than the backup and I'll see how well it does when it hits the quota. I don't expect any problems sharing the TM server between Macs. I haven't used WiFi in that situation, but have never had an issue in that case. Thanks for stopping by. Ray [Updated 5/7: I posted about my initial quota testing <a href="http://www.theosquest.com/2012/05/06/synology-time-machine-backup-the-quota-option/" rel="nofollow">here</a>.] @Greg – Hi. Yes, the Synology NAS can only use one share/folder for time machine. (This seems to be a common trait across TM servers I’ve seen). For me, wireless TM isn’t a good option due to the amount of data that would go from my laptop, so I just have one Mac doing TM backup. And like you, I read about a lot of wireless related problems with TM.

I did set up a quick test using quotas and it seems to be a viable option. I have a 500GB volume which is empty. I set up my Time Machine share on that. I set up an ID specific to my Mac Mini Time machine and gave it a 1 GB quota on the volume. I pointed TM to it and it did see the limitations (saying 1GB of 1GB free) and when it started the backup it failed due to not enough space. It needed 65GB. Since the volume could handle it, it does appear to respect the quota. I could also connect to another share using my regular ID and see the full available space on the volume.

There is a bit of a potential issue as setting a quota is not the same as reserving the space. So the regular share could take volume away from time machine. Also, each users quota would be cumulative and could be cumbersome to manage if there’s a lot of machines.

I’ll set up TM on my laptop and see how it does. I set the quotas just a little bigger than the backup and I’ll see how well it does when it hits the quota. I don’t expect any problems sharing the TM server between Macs. I haven’t used WiFi in that situation, but have never had an issue in that case.

Thanks for stopping by.
Ray

[Updated 5/7: I posted about my initial quota testing here.]

]]> Comment on Time Machine Backups To A Synology NAS by Greg http://www.theosquest.com/2012/01/25/time-machine-backups-to-a-synology-nas/#comment-17250 Greg Sun, 06 May 2012 09:50:10 +0000 http://www.theosquest.com/?p=2536#comment-17250 Hi Ray, I just bought the same DS212J and am uncertain how to approach setting it up for Time machine backup of 2 MACs. The user manual and help files suggest using personal quotas rather than separate volumes to limit the disk space allocated. Like you, I'm inclined to use a separate volume. Partly, this is because I've read lots of forum threads discussing problems with TM operation over WiFi and a number of people seem to suspect the space allocation. Even with a separate volume I'm nervous about how the two MACs' TM sparse bundles will interact when they've filled up the volume. This is because when I've tested setting quota limits, my MAC still recognises the full folder size rather than the quota allocated. That doesn't fill me with confidence. I'd ideally like to use one volume each, but the NAS seems to be acting as a special TM server that you can only point to one folder. In the absence of decent Synology overview literature, can you shed any light on how and why the NAS creates a special TM server (if that's what it's doing) ? Since you're sharing a single volume (and folder?) have you tried using separate USERs for each MAC so that you can allocate space between them ? What are your thoughts please ? Hi Ray,
I just bought the same DS212J and am uncertain how to approach setting it up for Time machine backup of 2 MACs. The user manual and help files suggest using personal quotas rather than separate volumes to limit the disk space allocated. Like you, I’m inclined to use a separate volume. Partly, this is because I’ve read lots of forum threads discussing problems with TM operation over WiFi and a number of people seem to suspect the space allocation. Even with a separate volume I’m nervous about how the two MACs’ TM sparse bundles will interact when they’ve filled up the volume. This is because when I’ve tested setting quota limits, my MAC still recognises the full folder size rather than the quota allocated. That doesn’t fill me with confidence. I’d ideally like to use one volume each, but the NAS seems to be acting as a special TM server that you can only point to one folder. In the absence of decent Synology overview literature, can you shed any light on how and why the NAS creates a special TM server (if that’s what it’s doing) ? Since you’re sharing a single volume (and folder?) have you tried using separate USERs for each MAC so that you can allocate space between them ? What are your thoughts please ?

]]> Comment on Swapping HP MicroServer Hardware by ray http://www.theosquest.com/2012/04/16/swapping-hp-microserver-hardware/#comment-17246 ray Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:52:10 +0000 http://www.theosquest.com/?p=2644#comment-17246 @Ross Don't know what messed up the drive priority. Thought it was a bad nic but the hardware is working fine with my test drives in it. I hate it when this happens. Thanks for stopping by. Ray @Ross
Don’t know what messed up the drive priority. Thought it was a bad nic but the hardware is working fine with my test drives in it. I hate it when this happens.

Thanks for stopping by.

Ray

]]> Comment on Swapping HP MicroServer Hardware by Ross http://www.theosquest.com/2012/04/16/swapping-hp-microserver-hardware/#comment-17245 Ross Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:04:19 +0000 http://www.theosquest.com/?p=2644#comment-17245 So what was the problem with the original MicroServer??? The suspense is killing me :) Great blog by the way. I very much enjoy reading about your endeavors. Thanks. So what was the problem with the original MicroServer??? The suspense is killing me :)

Great blog by the way. I very much enjoy reading about your endeavors. Thanks.

]]> Comment on Time Machine Backups To A Synology NAS by peter http://www.theosquest.com/2012/01/25/time-machine-backups-to-a-synology-nas/#comment-17244 peter Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:19:23 +0000 http://www.theosquest.com/?p=2536#comment-17244 I own WHS (1st version) and like the ability to pull disk and connect to any windows, to see the files.. ( in case of hardware failure on WHS) If synology hardware fails ( not hard drive).. can you connect internal disk to another Linux machine or add the drive to NEW synology product and see old file and back up? I own WHS (1st version) and like the ability to pull disk and connect to any windows, to see the files.. ( in case of hardware failure on WHS)

If synology hardware fails ( not hard drive).. can you connect internal disk to another Linux machine or add the drive to NEW synology product and see old file and back up?

]]> Comment on Synology to Windows Home Server Using iSCSI by Andrew http://www.theosquest.com/2012/01/30/synology-to-windows-home-server-using-iscsi/#comment-17243 Andrew Sun, 08 Apr 2012 09:42:44 +0000 http://www.theosquest.com/?p=2553#comment-17243 Thanks for this info on the Synology DS212J and iSCSI. Your article helped me setup up SBS 2011 with this same unit. I had no idea of the required steps. Cheers Andrew Thanks for this info on the Synology DS212J and iSCSI. Your article helped me setup up SBS 2011 with this same unit. I had no idea of the required steps.

Cheers
Andrew

]]> Comment on RAID Rant: RAID is NOT Backup! by Seth http://www.theosquest.com/2011/04/21/raid-rant-raid-is-not-backup/#comment-17241 Seth Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:10:21 +0000 http://www.theosquest.com/?p=2220#comment-17241 Really appreciated your clear explanation of the issue, a very well-written article. Thanks, Ray! Really appreciated your clear explanation of the issue, a very well-written article. Thanks, Ray!

]]> Comment on First Day: Instacast by ray http://www.theosquest.com/2012/03/28/first-day-instacast/#comment-17236 ray Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:40:04 +0000 http://www.theosquest.com/?p=2633#comment-17236 @Dave - I want to like Instacast but another nuance (appropriate word) it sprung on me today was only showing downloaded podcasts. I can see that's a logical conclusion based on my auto download settings, except it's wrong as it keeps me from listening to older podcasts. Plus, even after going back to default settings I'm download only. It did download new podcasts and they show up so it's not because it thinks I'm offline. I just can't find any reference to this. I just installed Downcast and will give that a try today. Update: Found that there's a download filter, must have tapped it by mistake. I like Stitcher too, but for me it it wasn't a complete podcast management app that would free me from iTunes. Completely random screenshot (really). If I had planned it BYOB would have been in there too, then you'd really like it :) - Ray @Dave – I want to like Instacast but another nuance (appropriate word) it sprung on me today was only showing downloaded podcasts. I can see that’s a logical conclusion based on my auto download settings, except it’s wrong as it keeps me from listening to older podcasts. Plus, even after going back to default settings I’m download only. It did download new podcasts and they show up so it’s not because it thinks I’m offline. I just can’t find any reference to this. I just installed Downcast and will give that a try today. Update: Found that there’s a download filter, must have tapped it by mistake.

I like Stitcher too, but for me it it wasn’t a complete podcast management app that would free me from iTunes.

Completely random screenshot (really). If I had planned it BYOB would have been in there too, then you’d really like it :)

- Ray

]]> Comment on First Day: Instacast by David McCabe http://www.theosquest.com/2012/03/28/first-day-instacast/#comment-17235 David McCabe Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:23:59 +0000 http://www.theosquest.com/?p=2633#comment-17235 I've been using Instacast on the iPhone for over a year now and really like it. I've not experienced the exact same issues but every once in a while there is a nuance about it that is frustrating. One good thing I have seen with the app is the developer(s) update it frequently. Improvements, fixes, etc. I also use Stitcher which has its ups and downs as well. Excellent choice of podcasts in your graphic by the way! Dave I’ve been using Instacast on the iPhone for over a year now and really like it. I’ve not experienced the exact same issues but every once in a while there is a nuance about it that is frustrating. One good thing I have seen with the app is the developer(s) update it frequently. Improvements, fixes, etc. I also use Stitcher which has its ups and downs as well.

Excellent choice of podcasts in your graphic by the way!

Dave

]]> Comment on Time Machine Backups To A Synology NAS by ray http://www.theosquest.com/2012/01/25/time-machine-backups-to-a-synology-nas/#comment-17233 ray Sun, 25 Mar 2012 14:41:38 +0000 http://www.theosquest.com/?p=2536#comment-17233 @Sy - No that wouldn't be possible. For RAID you need two physical disks (or more for the Synology models that allow more). In Synology terminology the "volumes" aren't linked/connected. They are created on the underlying disks and would require more than two drives for RAID. You can mix RAID and non-RAID volume types on the NAS. Thanks for stopping by. -Ray @Sy – No that wouldn’t be possible. For RAID you need two physical disks (or more for the Synology models that allow more). In Synology terminology the “volumes” aren’t linked/connected. They are created on the underlying disks and would require more than two drives for RAID.
You can mix RAID and non-RAID volume types on the NAS. Thanks for stopping by. -Ray

]]> Comment on Time Machine Backups To A Synology NAS by Sy http://www.theosquest.com/2012/01/25/time-machine-backups-to-a-synology-nas/#comment-17232 Sy Sun, 25 Mar 2012 14:25:11 +0000 http://www.theosquest.com/?p=2536#comment-17232 Hi Ray, Great article. I have one question, if you create two volumes on one disk is the use of RAID still possible? Hi Ray,

Great article. I have one question, if you create two volumes on one disk is the use of RAID still possible?

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