Thecus N8800 Backup to USB
We have a Thecus N8800 NAS and would like to see if it is possible to backup folders directly from the N8800 to an external USB drive attached to the N8800. I know you can drag data from the NAS to the external USB drive connected to another computer, but this is extremely slow when you are talking about 1TB or more. Surely it must be possible to copy directly within the unit either via the web interface or another program or command. I have installed the USBCopy module from their website (per their tech support suggestion), but that hasn't helped. The firmware version I have on this NAS is 2.01.09.
Do more with
EXPERT OFFICE® is a registered trademark of EXPERTS EXCHANGE®
First of all, USB 2.0 is slow, whether you backup to a USB port on your PC or on the Thecus wouldn't cause any speed difference, as the Thecus only has USB 2. Second, it also has GBit Ethernet, that is much faster, so provided your switches are also Gigabit and the NIC's on your PC's too, and if you had a USB3 port and USB3 capable external Disk on your PC, a backup via LAN to the External Disk would be much faster than if you did the backup on the Thecus directly to the USB disk.
I've checked the manual for your device, and it includes an "nSync" tool which allows you to sync it's data to another Thecus via the LAN. That would be the best option to use. This tool won't work for backups to USB disks connected to the Thecus though.
What you can do is to connect the USB disk to the Thecus, then on a connected PC run a backup software that backs up to that USB Disk. A normal backup utility, if configured correctly, will make a full backup the first time, so that first backup will take a long time, and after that it does differential or incremental backups, that means it only backs up files that have changed since the last full backup, or the last backup, so those following backups will be much faster. Never use "Drag'n'Drop" for backing up, that is just a "Copy", and not a backup!
I've checked the manual for your device, and it includes an "nSync" tool which allows you to sync it's data to another Thecus via the LAN. That would be the best option to use. This tool won't work for backups to USB disks connected to the Thecus though.
What you can do is to connect the USB disk to the Thecus, then on a connected PC run a backup software that backs up to that USB Disk. A normal backup utility, if configured correctly, will make a full backup the first time, so that first backup will take a long time, and after that it does differential or incremental backups, that means it only backs up files that have changed since the last full backup, or the last backup, so those following backups will be much faster. Never use "Drag'n'Drop" for backing up, that is just a "Copy", and not a backup!
Hi, thanks for the reply. Let me expand a little on what I am trying to do. The NAS is the storage location for the backups that run nightly (Symantec Backup Exec). We currently backup one of the nightly backups to tape for offsite storage. Instead of using tape for offsite storage, I want to change over to an external USB/eSata drive that we can just disconnect and take offsite. The files that I would copy to the USB are .bkf files created by backup exec. This is only as a precaution should the building burn down. The USB drives are the regular 2TB $100 ones you get at NewEgg and the like. Copying the data across the network (even with a 1GB network and switch) is slower because it still has to go through the computer's architecture and BUS which will slow it down, not to mention whatever processes and programs that are running on that computer will also affect the copy speed. Now you throw in network traffic and the speed drops significantly. If there was a way to do it directly on the Thecus then there would be no need to depend on another computer and no worries about network congestion and other issues. The nSynch tool isn't any help since it is just for Thecus to Thecus ... only have one. Thanks for you input. I think this is a problem with the Thecus. There is no way to talk to someone in tech support over there ... e-mail only. Not too impressed with that part of the product. The NAS itself has been pretty reliable and have no complaints.
Actually I've not been able to get any support at all from thecus. A customer had one with an error, so he couldn't connect. I tried to find out from thecus what that error meant and what could be done to remedy it, but never got any replies to my requests. I will never recommend any Thecus products in the future.
Use eSata, you should be able to mount the disk and then just copy the data to that mounted folder on the thecus. It'll be much faster than USB.You will still have to use a PC though as the thecus doesn't have any tool with which you can do that natively.
Use eSata, you should be able to mount the disk and then just copy the data to that mounted folder on the thecus. It'll be much faster than USB.You will still have to use a PC though as the thecus doesn't have any tool with which you can do that natively.
Premium Content
You need an Expert Office subscription to comment.Start Free Trial