GoFlex Net & GoFlex Home

[LeanJon]

I still have this thing in the box and I realized after seaching the web that I can't find the answer so I'm reluctant to open it as opposed to returning it.

I want to use this to store all of my families pictures and home videos for sharing.

I also want to use it to back up the computers on our home network.  

Question is ...how do I back up the "Personal" and "Public" files stored on the NAS?

[ntpntpntp]

I must admit it would be great if there were a "backup everything" button somewhere on the GF Home dashboard or the admin console, but there isn't. Maybe it could backup to a 2nd disk attached to the GF Home's USB port.

Here's what I do:

I bought a 2Tb Goflex Desk USB external disk to store the backups.

I bought a cheap 4 port gigabit ethernet switch.

I connected my GF Home to the gigabit switch (the GF Home has gigabit ethernet port).

I connected the gigabit switch to the rest of my network on my existing 10/100 ethernet wifi broadband router, to give all my household PCs and laptops access to the GF Home via wifi or homeplug (ethernet-over-mains) as appropriate.

When I want to back up my GF Home (roughly once a month if I remember to do it!), I hook my Windows 7 laptop (which has gigabit ethernet port) directly to the gigabit switch.

I plug the GF Desk drive into the USB on the laptop.

I run a batch file script I've written myself which uses "net use" and "robocopy" commands to connect to the GF Home as each user in turn and backup their personal and backup folders to the GF Desk drive (I know the GF Home password for everyone in the family). After backing up the personal folders, the public folder is then also backed up. 

The robocopy command is run in "mirror" mode so that next time I run a backup only the new or changed stuff is copied over - this speeds up the process. Using gigabit ethernet for the connection gives me the best possible copying speed, somewhere around 60Mb/s.

In between backups the GF Desk disk drive is kept locked up away from the house, just in case!

Hope this helps.  I know it's not a simple "one click" backup but it works for me.

[LeanJon]

Thanks for the response and the basics on how to do it.

In essence there is no simple way to do it that is straight forward for someone unless they can write some basic code.

For me the answer is then a no go.  Looks like it's going back to Costco until I can find a simpler solution.

Thanks again,

Jon

[djcalcutt]

you wrote,

I bought a 2Tb Goflex Desk USB external disk to store the backups.

I bought a cheap 4 port gigabit ethernet switch.

I connected my GF Home to the gigabit switch (the GF Home has gigabit ethernet port).

I connected the gigabit switch to the rest of my network on my existing 10/100 ethernet wifi broadband router, to give all my household PCs and laptops access to the GF Home via wifi or homeplug (ethernet-over-mains) as appropriate.

Connecting a gigabit switch to a 10/100 newtork defeats the whole gigabit speed.

Its al loe nothing.. in your case its 100 maximum.

Even if you comuter and GoFlex Home are connected to the gigabit switch, you still only have 100 mbps maximum, as you router (the device with the ARQ table, show what ip and AMC address is where, and how to get there), is 100 mbps. All data goes to the router and back.

when I copy files from one laptop to another, both connected to the same switch, my data takes the following route...

Laptop, swtich, switch, router, switch, switch, laptop.

TO get to my GoFlex, its Laptop, switch, switch, router, switch, switch, GoFlex.

I got quite the home network here, all TV, maedia player and printer computer and Go FLex are all gigabit.

[djcalcutt]

I have three GoFlex 3TB drives on line.

With over 49,000 pictue and and accounting software, and more to keep a back up of, its important for me to 'not to screw it up'.

Oh, did I menation I have over 3000 movies?

So, i use a free programm called ICE Mirror, in my schedualer.

Everynight my GoFLex Home accounting backup#2 goes to another Goflex Home as back up 3

Everynight my GoFlex Home#1 accounting back up#1, goes to GoFlex#2 as backup #2

Everynight my Laptop accounting goes to GoFlex1, as backup#1

Then i retain a son, father, grandfather backup system of the accounting.

As for pictures, its the same but different directories.

I also have a VPN set up with all my computers and my parents.

I back up all their photo too on my hard drive.

ICE Mirror only copies the files that have changed, or new only, or what ever your preferrences.

There is no need to reconfigure you devices to back back ups.

[ntpntpntp]

---

djcalcutt wrote:

Connecting a gigabit switch to a 10/100 newtork defeats the whole gigabit speed.

Its al loe nothing.. in your case its 100 maximum.

Even if you comuter and GoFlex Home are connected to the gigabit switch, you still only have 100 mbps maximum, as you router (the device with the ARQ table, show what ip and AMC address is where, and how to get there), is 100 mbps. All data goes to the router and back.

....

er... I did say it's a switch not a hub.  It has the intelligence to route stuff port-to-port without going out to the router.   As I noted, I get around 60MB/s transfer speed from the GF Home direct to the laptop via the switch, which is way more than 100mbps ethernet can support.  I did the same test plugged into the 10/100 router and got around 12MB/s which is as expected for 100mbps.    OK so 60MB/s is not up near the theoretical maximum 120MB/s for gigabit ethernet, but allowing for  probable bottlenecks in the GF Home, the laptop and definitely out through the USB port to the GF Desk drive I'm quite happy with the speed I get.

What sort of file transfer speed to/from the GF Home do you get on your all-gigabit network?

[edit] Well, to be fair it looks like I wrote 60Mb/s when I meant 60MB/s - typo! [/edit] 

[djcalcutt]

All my switches to back to the ARQ...

Just watch the blinking router.

[trying2know]

Glad to hear that you are having success with ICE Mirror as this is close to what I am trying to do - lots of files and lots of photos to back up.  I need redundency so I can move currently unused files off the main hard drive.  I am presuming that you are not using Seagate's Replica to backup the entire drive (OS and files and programs) and that you are just backing up files and directories.  Is this correct?  Do you hook up two drives at a time to the computer for backing up?  Thanks for any help.  I'm new at setting this up and Seagate's program isn't really what I think I need.  Do you leave all 3 online at all times when the computer is on?

[djcalcutt]

I leave all three GoFlex Home and three GoFlex Desk (plugged into the GoFlex Home units) on all the time.

All back up are done late at night 3-5 am

[DJraaj]

How do you back to the USB Desk drive if it is plugged in the GoFlex? Do you use Windows Backup? When I try, it asks me for a user and password but when I enter my admin username and password for the GFH, it gives me an error message...