Using QNAP’s RTRR with Windows Server

I have a lot of data.   So much so, that there are servers and multiple NAS on my network.  Not all people are like me, but if you are and you have a lot of important data, then backing it up may have become an issue.  Until recently, I had been using a bunch of external disks to do my backups, but when we got our hands on the QNAP TS-419P+, everything changed.  QNAP has bundled a featured called RTRR (real-time remote replication) into their firmware and it allows you to have your QNAP NAS schedule a sync or a backup either from an RTRR servers or through FTP.

RTRR can work in a number of ways.  It can be configured for any of the following:

• Local Folder to Remote folder – Synchronize files from a local folder to a remote folder.
• Remote folder to local folder – Synchronize files from a remote folder to a local folder
• Local folder to local folder/external drive – Synchronize files from a local folder to another local folder or external drive

For our purposes here at C.O.D. we wanted to have an offsite backup that mirrors exactly what we have on our in-house server.  Traditionally, that would mean that we would be carting external drives to and from the lab to make sure we had everything.  Since this was a time consuming task, there would be days between backups and sometimes, depending on how busy I am, it would go weeks.  With the RTRR service on QNAP’s NAS, we can have the QNAP mirror our server exactly very easily and with little work.

For this to work you are going to have to have an FTP server installed on your server or your home server.  We like FileZilla here and have a tutorial for installing it on WHS (it works for all Windows Server builds).  You will also need to figure out how you want your folder structure on your QNAP NAS.  We chose to mirror our folder structure exactly on both.  Basically, we set up our NAS to replace our Server in the event of a total System Failure.

Next, from your QNAP’s administration page, go to the Backup option and select Remote Replication.  You will notice two tabs at the top, one for RSYNC and one for RTRR (Remote Real Time Replication).

Choose the tab for RTRR and click Create New Replication Job on the right side of the page.

Step 1 of 11:  For our purposes here, we will blast through the Wizard welcome screen by hitting Next.

Step 2 of 11:  Since we want our data replicated from the Server to our QNAP offsite, we are going to choose the option for Remote Folder to local folder as our “Sync Locations”.  After we have our selection and hit Next.