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Products => Solved Storage Threads => : newprometheus September 15, 2009, 10:15:13 PM

: Linkstation Pro Duo: External Drive Options?
: newprometheus September 15, 2009, 10:15:13 PM
   

I am writing because I am seeking some guidance on connecting a spare external drive to my Linkstation via USB.

 

I am running a Buffalo LinkStation Pro Duo (2TB model LS-WTGL/R1-V3) with firmware version 3.07 in a RAID 1 mirrored configuration for redundancy so that I have approximately 1TB of effective disk capacity.  One of the two USB ports on the Linkstation is being used for connectivity with a UPS unit, leaving one USB port available. I also have a spare Western Digital 1TB external drive (My Book Home Edition model WD10000H1CS-00) which I am considering connecting to the Linkstation via USB.

 

It appears that I can either attach the external drive for additional disk capacity or I can configure it to serve as an external backup for the data on the Linkstation.

 

Is this correct?  If this is correct, then I'm a bit confused about how this would work with the RAID array that I've already established.  Could you please clarify?

 

Do you have any recommendations or suggestions?

 

Thank you!

: Re: Linkstation Pro Duo: External Drive Options?
: newprometheus September 21, 2009, 05:06:32 PM
   

Hi again!

 

So, I've connected my Western Digital 1TB external drive to the Linkstation via USB.  Since the 2TB Linkstation is in a RAID 1 configuration with only 1TB of effective capacity, my intent is to configure the Linkstation to periodically backup the entire Linkstation to the external drive.  How do I do that?

 

Thank you!

: Re: Linkstation Pro Duo: External Drive Options?
: PCPiranha September 21, 2009, 10:49:19 PM
Just use the disk backup feature in the linkstations web interface.  Click on the orange tab next to one of the jobs, select the backup type and time, followed by the source (linkstation) and the destination (external USB)
: Re: Linkstation Pro Duo: External Drive Options?
: newprometheus September 22, 2009, 02:17:08 PM
   

Thanks for the response, PCPiranha!

 

I will need to format the external USB drive.  While the RAID array in the Linkstation is XFS, I would prefer the external USB drive to be FAT or FAT32 so that it can be read easily on other systems.  It is actually FAT right now (which is strange I think since I didn't think FAT could go up to 1TB -- perhaps I'm wrong).  So, what do I need to know about the format of the external USB drive?  Can I keep it as FAT (or perhaps FAT32) and use it as a "backup destination" for my RAID array in the Linkstation?

 

Thanks much!

: Re: Linkstation Pro Duo: External Drive Options?
: newprometheus September 22, 2009, 02:30:05 PM
   

Hi again,

 

I just read some pertinent help notes in the admin web interface:

 

"To use a USB hard drive as your backup destination, its file system must be either FAT32, XFS, or EXT3. FAT32 has a maximum file size of 2GB. XFS or EXT3 is recommended for backup hard drives."

 

So, it sounds like FAT32 will work, but since it's not actually recommended, I have to ask, what are the cons/risks to using FAT32 instead of XFS or EXT3?

 

Thanks!

: Re: Linkstation Pro Duo: External Drive Options?
: PCPiranha September 22, 2009, 02:35:50 PM
I wouldn't recommend it because of the file size limit, but it will work otherwise.
: Re: Linkstation Pro Duo: External Drive Options?
: newprometheus September 22, 2009, 04:45:32 PM
   

It seems I'm at an impasse and I need some guidance please.

 

I have tried twice to format the external USB drive to FAT32 but after the format is complete, the file format is indicated as FAT in the admin web interface.

 

Specifically:

 

On the Disk Management > Disk Format page, I selected the target to be the external USB drive, and I selected the file system to be FAT32.  I then go through the confirmation process and eventually it completes the format.  Then I checked the file format on the Disk Management > Drive Properties page, and on the System Status >  Drive Properties page.

 

Lastly, I went through the above process TWICE just to make sure I wasn't being daft.  Both times, the file format after formating the disk indicates FAT instead of FAT32.

 

So, what gives?  Am I doing something stupid, or is this a bug?  If it is a bug, is it a known bug?  Is it fixed by a more recent firmware version?

 

Your assistance is appreciated!

 

Thank you.

: Re: Linkstation Pro Duo: External Drive Options?
: PCPiranha September 22, 2009, 05:03:07 PM
Can you backup to it?  I haven't tested for this yet but it may just be a typo.
: Re: Linkstation Pro Duo: External Drive Options?
: newprometheus September 22, 2009, 10:59:25 PM
   

Okay, I'm trying to configure the Linkstation to backup the internal RAID array to the external USB drive every week on Sunday at 5 AM, but I think I've run into another bug and I need some guidance please:

 

On the Disk Backup > Disk Backup page when attempting to create a new backup job, I am presented with a drop-down selection box for the Backup Operation Mode.  Specifically, the options are:

 

 

Please note that the second option is repeated TWICE.  What gives?  Is this a known bug, and if so, was it addressed in a more recent firmware?

 

Lastly, having read the "HELP" on the page indicated, I'm still somewhat confused as to how to achieve my intent.  I would like to configure the Linkstation to backup it's internal RAID array to the external USB drive in the most efficient way possible.  Please correct me if I am wrong, but I would think that the most efficient way would be to take a full backup every week AND to take differential backups every day.  How do I configure this?  Do you have any other recommendations?

 

Thank you!

: Re: Linkstation Pro Duo: External Drive Options?
: newprometheus September 24, 2009, 02:03:19 AM
   

PCPiranha asked:

>Can you backup to it?

 

I don't know.  I haven't been able to set up a backup job for it yet.

 

Your help is appreciated.

 

Thanks!

: Re: Linkstation Pro Duo: External Drive Options?
: JoshC September 24, 2009, 08:06:03 AM

http://forums.buffalotech.com/buffalo/board/message?board.id=0101&message.id=916&query.id=37145#M916

 

 

Depending on what your trying to back up and how it up to you.  Go to the link and it explains in great detail which each one is.

: Re: Linkstation Pro Duo: External Drive Options?
: PCPiranha September 24, 2009, 02:23:50 PM

"Normal Backup": Saves as "yyyymmddhhmm\sourcename\data". Makes a new folder for each backup.

 

"Overwrite Backup (Complete/Append)": Saves as"_backups\sourcename\data". Does a complete backup every time, if afile is on the destination that is not on the source, it will not bedeleted.

 

"Overwrite Backup (Complete/Differential)": Saves as"_backups\sourcename\data". Does a complete backup every time, if afile is on the destination that is not on the source, it will bedeleted.

 

"Overwrite Backup (Append)": Saves as"_backups\sourcename\data". Does a complete backup the first time,subsequent backups only send the changes. If a file is on thedestination that is not on the source, it will not be deleted.

 

"Overwrite Backup (Differential)": Saves as"_backups\sourcename\data". Does a complete backup the first time,subsequent backups only send the changes. If a file is on thedestination that is not on the source, it will be deleted.

 

 

Yes the complete/differential being listed twice is a typo.  It should be complete/append for the first complete/differential that's listed.  I do not believe this has been fixed in the new firmware.  I will send a request up for you.

: Re: Linkstation Pro Duo: External Drive Options?
: newprometheus September 24, 2009, 04:15:52 PM
   

Thank you, but there appears to be a problem.

 

In creating a backup job, I selected the Schedule to be "immediately".  I also selected the Backup Operation Mode to be the second "Overwrite Backup (Complete/Differential)".  I unchecked the option the create a folder inside of the backup target.  I checked the option to create a backup log file.  Okay, so far so good, right?

 

Then, I attempted to select a "Destination Backup Shared Folder", but the drop-down selection box for this only has one option: "ARCHIVE@usbdisk2".  I'm not sure what this is supposed to mean, but "archive" is the hostname of the Linkstation, and there is no "usbdisk2".   The second USB port is connected to my UPS.  The external USB drive is connected to the first USB port and shows up as "usbdisk1".  I'm guessing that this problem may have something to do with the earlier problem where the Linkstation did not seem able to format my external USB drive to FAT32, but rather, just FAT.

 

Please advise.

 

Thank you!

 

: Re: Linkstation Pro Duo: External Drive Options?
: newprometheus October 07, 2009, 12:04:14 AM
   

I guess I answered my own question and thereby solved my own problem.  Kudos to me! :)

 

I connected my 1TB external USB drive to USB port 1 on the Linkstation.  I then managed to reformat it to EXT3.  I still found that it was not shown as a "Destination Backup Shared Folder".   After countless hours, I discovered that one must also check the box called "Disk Backup" for USB Disk 1 on the tab entitled "Shared Folders Setup" under the heading "Shared Folders".

 

So now my backup job is configured.  We shall see if it actually works!  Wish me luck -- if history is any indication, I'm going to need it!

: Re: Linkstation Pro Duo: External Drive Options?
: newprometheus October 07, 2009, 06:03:41 PM
   

Holy slowness, batman!

 

The backup seems to be working, but wow, it seems really slow...

 

I guess maybe I've got a lot of data.  I keep trying to remind myself "patience, grasshoppa" ;)

: Re: Linkstation Pro Duo: External Drive Options?
: Gargamel2003 October 10, 2010, 04:37:41 PM

you can do the backups at night. The good thing is: you don't have to run your PC during the backups. So time is not very important.

My LinkStation Pro Duo is running 24 hours a day for two years now.

: Re: Linkstation Pro Duo: External Drive Options?
: newprometheus October 10, 2010, 06:46:17 PM

Well, its a good thing that the Linkstation Pro Duo can run 24 hours a day for two years, because your reply came just over a year after my last post on the subject.  Not exactly what I would call a timely response there Gargamel... ;)

: Re: Linkstation Pro Duo: External Drive Options?
: davo October 11, 2010, 07:25:57 AM

Yeah, he seems to have a habit of doing that by the looks of things!

: Re: Linkstation Pro Duo: External Drive Options?
: yoshi2000 October 11, 2010, 10:29:39 PM

 

I am trying to do the same by attaching an external USB Hard drive to the NAS. Everything works fine. The drive was detected. I was able to create backup jobs for each of the shared folders in the NAS - using differential backup. Drive was formated in FAT32.

 

But when I checked the backup result, the backup job didn't create the foldername. It just dumps the whole directory under each shared folder to the drive. And when it goes to the next backup job, the whole drive is wiped out and populated with the content from the next shared folder.

 

I don't know whether it's because of the way I created the shared folder in the NAS. I didn't put all folders under one shared folder ie. /shared/photos, /shared/ebooks, /shared/etc. Instead, I created the shared folders directly ie. /photos, /ebooks, etc...

 

So when creating the backup job, the source selected is /photos and the backup folder is /usbdisk1, /ebooks to /usbdisk1. And that goes for the rest of the folders. I can't choose a separate folder under /usbdisk1. Could it be that the target backup is the same /usbdisk1 that it overwrites it for each backup job?


What I want to achieve is to dump the contents of /photos, /ebooks in the NAS to /usbdisk1/photos and /usbdisk1/ebooks in the ext. drive respectively.

 

Any help is appreciated.