Backups to Network Storage

  • Thread starter Thread starter G''Jim c):{-
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G''Jim c):{-

I am attempting to use a NAS for system backups. The NAS device is a Galaxy
4500 MGB Quad Bay Pro with 4 1TB hard-drives in RAID 5 configuration.

I have tried several backup programs, including the 4 top-rated programs
from this review:
http://data-backup-software-review.toptenreviews.com
plus several other programs.

I am backing up approx. 90GB of data.

All the programs exhibit one, or both, of the following problems:

1) Backups fail due to network timeout;
2) Backups take excessive time to execute (greater than 24 hours).

Regarding issue #2, I could understand the system taking 3-4 hours to backup
90GB of data - but 24-36 hours?????

Several of the packages allow one to reference the NAS as a mapped drive, a
network named drive, or using the IP address. These options don't seem to
have much effect on the two issue mentioned.

Anyone have any great ideas on what software to use, or settings that will
allow the backups to process error-free in a reasonable amount of time?

AtDhVaAnNkCsE

G'Jim c):{-
 
:

There is surprisingly little info available about the unit. I found
one customer review, where the unit stopped booting, pretty soon
after the owner set it up. I found one place selling it for $300,
and for that price, the thing had better "cure cancer and end
world hunger".

This site reviews NAS boxes, and there is about a factor of 20
between the fastest and the slowest. (Scroll down to the chart.)

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/component/option,com_nas/Itemid,190/

Before doing anything, I might use Wireshark, to have a look at
what kind of packet flow is going towards the box, what is coming
back and so on. You run Wireshark on the client computer, run
your backup, and see what wackiness exists in the packet flow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireshark

Next, I'd use the web browser, to go into the interface and
disable unnecessary services. The unit shouldn't be running
DHCP (your home router should be doing that). Have a look
around and eliminate any distractions from the primary task.
Perhaps the Wireshark trace will hint at what protocols
are still running.

You could also consider changing protocols. For example,
try testing using FTP. Send a big file to it via FTP.
(Open a Command Window and try "ftp 192.168.1.2" or whatever,
to talk to the NAS. Windows has an FTP client, and the NAS has
an FTP server available.)

Does the Wireshark trace look better ? What about the
megabytes/second ?

Your home networking setup may have something to do with it.

To test that theory, you could turn the DHCP back on again.
(Do this now, so you will be able to reach the box after
reconfiguring your cables.) Then, connect the client computer
directly to the NAS. Since the NAS has a gigabit interface,
you shouldn't need a crossover Ethernet cable. When you boot
the client, it should be able to get a network address from
the NAS. Then repeat the FTP test. Does it run faster now ?
Does your router influence file transfer performance significantly ?

Are you connected with totally gigabit equipment, or is
the path littered with 10/100BT connections ? At the very
least, you'd want your client to have a gigabit Ethernet
interface on it, so during the client <--> NAS test, you
can eliminate that aspect as being a limitation. I doubt
the NAS runs fast enough to justify buying another router,
but it is fun to pretend.

The box could be one of the slow ones, but you should try to
eliminate as many non-optimal elements from the setup first,
and then see what it can do.

When I needed to evaluate network performance on two of my
computers, I set up a RAM disk on each machine, and connected
the machines via gigabit Ethernet. (The RAM disk was to eliminate
the hard drive read/write from the picture.) I used FTP protocol,
setting up an FTP server on each machine (so I could test all possible
combinations). This was back in the Win2K era. I got about
40MB/sec best case, which appeared to be network stack limited
by the networking stack in Win2K. I understand WinXP can do better
than that, so I doubt that is your problem.

When you look at the LEDs on the unit, is the unit in the
middle of a RAID rebuilt ? If it fails to detect one of the
disks at startup, it may immediately start a rebuild. Check
your "blinkin LEDs" to see what status the unit has.
Presumably the web interface can also tell you if a
rebuild is stealing transfer performance from the unit.

http://www.galaxymetalgear.com/images/products/4500/4500MGB Quad bay pro.doc

Paul
Click to expand...

Thanks, Paul, for the info. I'll work through your suggestions.

I did fail to mention, in my original posting, some other pertinent info:

Router is Linksys WRT54G2, all network components are running at 100 Mbps,
no 10 Mbps components, no Giga-bit components - although most hardware is
capable of Giga-bit, except for router. May have to switch to Giga-bit
router.

G'Jim c):{-
 
G''Jim c):{- said:
:



Thanks, Paul, for the info. I'll work through your suggestions.

I did fail to mention, in my original posting, some other pertinent info:

Router is Linksys WRT54G2, all network components are running at 100 Mbps,
no 10 Mbps components, no Giga-bit components - although most hardware is
capable of Giga-bit, except for router. May have to switch to Giga-bit
router.

G'Jim c):{-
Click to expand...

I wouldn't waste the money on Gigabit, until you've proved the NAS
is worth it. If that is one of the slower NAS boxes, then investing
in Gigabit gear might not be worth it, or make any difference. In any
case, spend some time characterizing the performance, so you'll have
a better idea what you got for ~$300.

10/100BT can transfer up to 12.5MB/sec based on bit rate alone, and
if the NAS cannot manage that kind of performance, then switching
to Gigabit might not help. If it is a 4MB/sec box, then the 10/100BT
might be good enough for that.

It could be one setting in the web interface, and perhaps after that,
you'll get enough transfer speed to finish a backup.

Paul
 
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