NAS for Data Backup?

[Cavalry Canuck]

The other day I asked about how to set up a couple RAID configurations for my PC. It was suggested I back up my data regardless of the RAID configuration I used. I think I know where I want to go with this, but I have many questions.

 

Can I use a NAS as my data backup?

 

If so, can and/or should I use it to back up multiple different machines?

 

Is it possible to build one into my network rack?

 

Can I do a home built one, or would I be better off purchasing one off the shelf?

 

If I were to ever accidentally back up my PC whilst it was already infected, what can I do to prevent the NAS from being infected? How can I prevent it from being infected via other devices on the network (cellphone, someone got onto the wireless, etc)? Is there a program or device that would effectively act as a final firewall when all other network security has failed?

 

My storage needs aren’t huge. 2.5TB would be adequate space for the foreseeable future. I assume that backing up via a web service would be cheaper. But this way is more fun.

 

Thanks for your time,

Matthew

[Windows7ge]

5 minutes ago, Cavalry Canuck said:

Can I use a NAS as my data backup?

Yes. It's a common use-case people use them for.

5 minutes ago, Cavalry Canuck said:

If so, can and/or should I use it to back up multiple different machines?

Yes. Depending on your choice of software you could back-up any number of directories or full system images to the NAS over the network.

6 minutes ago, Cavalry Canuck said:

Is it possible to build one into my network rack?

Standard 19" wide rack? They make shelfs that take up 1U that you could rest a NAS on or mount a 1U/2U/4U etc server chassis.

 

7 minutes ago, Cavalry Canuck said:

Can I do a home built one, or would I be better off purchasing one off the shelf?

This is really up to you.

1. Do you want to build it and are willing to repair it if something goes wrong?
   1. Then yes.
2. Do you just want something you plug into the wall and it's ready to go with low to zero maintenance?
   1. Then pre-build is also an option yes.

11 minutes ago, Cavalry Canuck said:

If I were to ever accidentally back up my PC whilst it was already infected, what can I do to prevent the NAS from being infected? How can I prevent it from being infected via other devices on the network (cellphone, someone got onto the wireless, etc)? Is there a program or device that would effectively act as a final firewall when all other network security has failed?

Entirely dependent on the Virus/Malware/Trojan/Worm/Etc you could mitigate risk to the network appliance by not running Windows on it. There are many things that can still infect the network appliance but as most are meant to affect Windows that'd be a great step in the right direction.

 

And you're thinking of a Firewall. Something like pfSense can act as one. You can also isolate networks with VLANs if it's of real concern.

[Cavalry Canuck]

13 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Yes. It's a common use-case people use them for.

 

 

Well, that was easy.

 

15 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Yes. Depending on your choice of software you could back-up any number of directories or full system images to the NAS over the network.

 

I’d want to do a misc. directory, as well as full system images for each PC.

19 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Standard 19" wide rack? They make shelfs that take up 1U that you could rest a NAS on or mount a 1U/2U/4U etc server chassis.

 

This is really up to you.

1. Do you want to build it and are willing to repair it if something goes wrong?
   1. Then yes.
2. Do you just want something you plug into the wall and it's ready to go with low to zero maintenance?
   1. Then pre-build is also an option yes.

Are there how-to guides? I’d only have room for a 1U or 2U setup.

 

22 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Entirely dependent on the Virus/Malware/Trojan/Worm/Etc you could mitigate risk to the network appliance by not running Windows on it. There are many things that can still infect the network appliance but as most are meant to affect Windows that'd be a great step in the right direction.

 

And you're thinking of a Firewall. Something like pfSense can act as one. You can also isolate networks with VLANs if it's of real concern.

I’m as much concerned about infecting the device as I am about downloading an already-infected system image onto it. I’d hate to download a system image that then infects the other images and the NAS itself (if that’s even a thing?).

[Windows7ge]

14 minutes ago, Cavalry Canuck said:

I’d want to do a misc. directory, as well as full system images for each PC.

For misc directories you might like to check-out FreeFileSync. I can't comment on full system images though. I've never needed them myself.

 

18 minutes ago, Cavalry Canuck said:

Are there how-to guides? I’d only have room for a 1U or 2U setup.

If there were guides there wouldn't be much to them. Buy a chassis, buy rails that are supported by the chassis, install. You can pick-up 1U servers on eBay if you're strapped for space in the rack. Install your own CPU/RAM/Storage.

[Cavalry Canuck]

3 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

For misc directories you might like to check-out FreeFileSync. I can't comment on full system images though. I've never needed them myself.

 

If there were guides there wouldn't be much to them. Buy a chassis, buy rails that are supported by the chassis, install. You can pick-up 1U servers on eBay if you're strapped for space in the rack. Install your own CPU/RAM/Storage.

Perfect, thanks for your advice.

[Windows7ge]

22 minutes ago, Cavalry Canuck said:

I’m as much concerned about infecting the device as I am about downloading an already-infected system image onto it. I’d hate to download a system image that then infects the other images and the NAS itself (if that’s even a thing?).

Theoretically possible but not a practical concern. Assuming you produced the system images and saved them to the NAS even if a virus were on one of the images it's not executable while in the image. Plus if it's on a system that doesn't support the format then there's no way for it to spread while contained in the system image.

[Net Runner]

On 3/11/2020 at 12:18 AM, Cavalry Canuck said:

I assume that backing up via a web service would be cheaper. But this way is more fun.

That is true but I would strongly recommend using some kind of a cloud tier anyways. According to the 3-2-1 rule storing all the data in one single location can not be considered as backup https://www.vmwareblog.org/3-2-1-backup-rule-data-will-always-survive/. 

While choosing an operating system for your NAS just make sure it has some options to upload your backups to the cloud if not right away then as a consideration for the future. Of course, these should not be the most popular and expensive clouds like Azure or AWS

[Lady Fitzgerald]

First, for data to be reasonably safe, it must exist in at least three separate places. For most people, this will be on the computer, on an external onsite backup drive, and on an external offsite backup drive. For a drive to be a backup drive, it must be kept disconnected from the computer, powered down, and stored away from the computer.

 

Second, there is a difference between redundancy and a backup. A RAID is an example of redundancy but there are other foirms of redundancy. Redundancy will only protect data from loss due to drive failure (up to the failure tolerance of the RAID or other redundancy scheme) and allow a computer to keep on running after one or more drives fail (the number depending on the failure tolerance). However, if data has been lost from the array, it cannot be recovered from the array.

 

Drive failure is not the only way one can lose data. Data can also be lost due to viruses and other malware, fire, flood, theft, human error (such as accidental deletion or formatting), power surges (such as nearby lightning strike on the mains) blowing through any surge protection you might have and frying everything plugged into the mains), etc. Redundancy will not protect your data from any of these. Only backups can protect your data from these.

 

A backup, on the other hand, is a separate copy of the data so, if data on any copy of the data gets lost, it can be recovered from another copy.

 

A NAS can be used as a backup but only if the NAS is located away from the computer, is kept shut down, and is disconnected from the network (and, thus, the computer) at all times except while updating the backup. If the NAS is on at all times and can be accessed by the computer at all times, then it is redundancy, not a backup. Also, the NAS would be only one backup. You would still need an offsite backup.

 

Frankly, using a NAS to backup only 2.5TB of data is not only overkill, it adds unnecessary complication and expense. It would be simpler and far less expensive just to get a couple of 4TB drives and use one for an external onsite backup drive and the other for an external offsite backup drive. You can use ready made external drives for backup drives but the drives inside of them are usually inferior quality. Batter quality can be had by using internal type bare drives. You can put each one in its own enclosure or you can use a dock or hot swap bay to put the drives into while updating the backup.

 

Someone mentioned a concern of accidentally including a virus or other malware when updating a backup. This can be avoided by using antivirus and other antimalware programs to hopefully keep the nasties off the computer in the first place and to run scans of your data to make reasonably sure none managed to sneak in before connecting a backup drive for updating. This is far less of a problem for Linux users since Linux is far less susceptible to being infected with malware.

[Cavalry Canuck]

On 3/12/2020 at 12:13 PM, Lady Fitzgerald said:

First, for data to be reasonably safe, it must exist in at least three separate places. For most people, this will be on the computer, on an external onsite backup drive, and on an external offsite backup drive. For a drive to be a backup drive, it must be kept disconnected from the computer, powered down, and stored away from the computer.

 

Second, there is a difference between redundancy and a backup. A RAID is an example of redundancy but there are other foirms of redundancy. Redundancy will only protect data from loss due to drive failure (up to the failure tolerance of the RAID or other redundancy scheme) and allow a computer to keep on running after one or more drives fail (the number depending on the failure tolerance). However, if data has been lost from the array, it cannot be recovered from the array.

 

Drive failure is not the only way one can lose data. Data can also be lost due to viruses and other malware, fire, flood, theft, human error (such as accidental deletion or formatting), power surges (such as nearby lightning strike on the mains) blowing through any surge protection you might have and frying everything plugged into the mains), etc. Redundancy will not protect your data from any of these. Only backups can protect your data from these.

 

A backup, on the other hand, is a separate copy of the data so, if data on any copy of the data gets lost, it can be recovered from another copy.

 

A NAS can be used as a backup but only if the NAS is located away from the computer, is kept shut down, and is disconnected from the network (and, thus, the computer) at all times except while updating the backup. If the NAS is on at all times and can be accessed by the computer at all times, then it is redundancy, not a backup. Also, the NAS would be only one backup. You would still need an offsite backup.

 

Frankly, using a NAS to backup only 2.5TB of data is not only overkill, it adds unnecessary complication and expense. It would be simpler and far less expensive just to get a couple of 4TB drives and use one for an external onsite backup drive and the other for an external offsite backup drive. You can use ready made external drives for backup drives but the drives inside of them are usually inferior quality. Batter quality can be had by using internal type bare drives. You can put each one in its own enclosure or you can use a dock or hot swap bay to put the drives into while updating the backup.

 

Someone mentioned a concern of accidentally including a virus or other malware when updating a backup. This can be avoided by using antivirus and other antimalware programs to hopefully keep the nasties off the computer in the first place and to run scans of your data to make reasonably sure none managed to sneak in before connecting a backup drive for updating. This is far less of a problem for Linux users since Linux is far less susceptible to being infected with malware.

I intend on renting this house out. So in the long term, this will be my offsite, as well as the offsite for a number of other users. 2.5TB is the start, but I suspect my storage capacity will have to grow over time.