Mounting the Backup of a directory on a NAS
Hi there,
I am hoping someone can help me out with a slight problem:
I have a need to do the following:
1. A directory on NAS1 holds numerous files
2. On a nightly basis, a job running on desktop1 should backup this directory to NAS2
3. Occasionally, an older version of the backup produced in step 2, needs to be mounted as a drive on desktop1. (This would allow me to compare the current version of a given file in the directory described in step 1 above with an earlier version of the same file without actually having to recover the entire directory).
I have in the past tried out Acronis Backup to accomplish these tasks but found the following:
I can backup a LOCAL directory to NAS2 and then mount this backup.
I can backup a directory residing on NAS1 to NAS2 but I seem to be unable to then mount that backup at a later time. In order to compare different versions of a file, I would have to do a full restore of the backup which is far too time consuming.
Am I just missing something? Can Acronis Backup somehow accomplish what I need it to do? (Step 3 above). If Acronis Backup cannot accomplish those tasks, does Acronis have a different product that can accomplish what I need to do?
Thanks for your help!
My apologies: You are correct: The Local Backup I WAS able to mount as a drive, was a backup of an entire local partition. The Backup I was NOT able to mount as a drive was a backup of a SHARE on the NAS.
(On my NAS I just have one RAID 5 volume consisting of 3 x 3TB drives for a total of about 7TB usable space. I have never tried to partition a NAS - I don't know if that is even possible)
NAS can't be backed up as volumes, only as files it exposes at the network.
I don't want to back up the entire volume anyway: that would mean backing up 7TB with all shares. I want to back up a single share. I have defined several shares on the volume which I want to use as the equivalent of partitions. So what currently is the "Source" Drive on my desktop is supposed to become the "Source" share on NAS1 and all machines on the network can then map that share as a drive. The problem is, as long as it is a local drive, I can take a backup (to NAS2) and, if necessary, mount any version of that backup. If I am dealing with a network share instead, I can still take a backup (to NAS2), but I am not able to later mount that backup. I'm afraid I don't quite understand your last comment: "...the NAS can only be backed up as files it exposes to the network" : The TIB file created by the backup job IS visible on the network: I can define the "Backup" share of NAS2 as a mapped drive on my desktop and can then find the appropriate TIB file but I cannot mount that TIB file as a drive.
The attached image "Explorer.jpg" shows the TIB file - visible from within Windows Explorer.
The attached image "Acronis.jpg" shows an attempt at accessing the same TIB file from within Acronis. Note that the "Mount" option is greyed out / unavailable.
I mean that when you backup files from the NAS, you always get a file backup, and file backups can't be mounted. Browsing archive content within Explorer uses a different principle and works for file archives too.
Rats! Not the the answer I wanted to hear.
I guess I have to keep a copy of my Network drive on the desktop.
Part of my plan was, to free up some space on the desktop and this will now not be possible.
Unfortunately I am not just dealing with a single drive but with several of them. So now the extra 6TB+ I was hoping to free up on the desktop, will still be needed. But, if the "Main" version of each drive resides on the NAS, other members of the network can access the drive on the NAS.
Periodically I can then run a job to synchronize the NAS drive to the copy on the desktop and then backup the desktop copy instead.
It's a pain in the rear but if there is no other way - well - so be it.
Thanks for your help!