How To Back Up NAS to NAS - Part 2

Introduction

In Part 1, I described using rsync to back up files from a NETGEAR ReadyNAS NV+ that I am retiring to a Synology DS109+. This time, I'll be setting up rsync between the DS109+ and a QNAP TS-109 Pro.

Synology to NETGEAR

But first, a reader asked if I could describe how to do the opposite of the backup described in the previous article, i.e. rsync from the DS109+ to the NV+. So here it is.

First, we need to add a share on the NV+, then enable the rsync service for it. Figure 1 shows the share named test that I created. Clicking on the Rsync icon brings up the edit window for services shown in Figure 2.

Figure 1: Enabling rsync for a ReadyNAS NV+ folder

Figure 2 illustrates one of the continuing annoyances of the ReadyNAS admin interface—its fixed height window. You can see the setting for Default Access permission at the top and the Share Access Restrictions, which let you limit access to specific hosts / IP addresses for additional security. But you can only see the top of the Rsync Password Option portion of the form, which provides room for three users' login credentials.

Figure 2: Editing rsync settings

You will need to establish a username and password for the rsync target folder, because the Synology won't rsync to a public folder. With the NV+ set up, I moved over to the DS109+ and used the Backup wizard to set up the backup. But I'll use the edit window to show you what I did.

Figure 3: Synology Backup to NV+ settings

In Figure 3, I've circled the key information in this screen that I had to ferret out of the ReadyNAS documentation—the rsync module name. Once you have enabled rsync for a ReadyNAS folder, its name can be used as the rsync module name. So that's what I entered in Figure 3, i.e. test, along with the username and password that I established for it over on the NV+.

I won't show the other tabs, since the Backup folder tab just presents a list of DS109+ shares and checkboxes to select them for backup, the Application tab provides backup selects for the Synology's MySQL, Photo Station and Blog databases and the Scheduled Backup tab is self-explanatory.

Again, the tricky part was figuring out the ReadyNAS rsync module name. But once that was done, and everything was set up, the Synology to NV+ rsync ran just fine.