Backups to Synology NAS

[Vitaliy S.]

Hi Jason, just to make sure I understand this request - do you suggest supporting containers or have native support for Synology as a backup repository?

[Regnor]

Is anyone currently using a Synology NAS as a NFS Backup Repository with the current Veeam and Synology versions?
I'm also experiencing the following error and wondered where it was introduced: [AP] (Client) error: /tmp/VeeamAgent7df2d6b6-dbb5-4de1-9408-922134962de3: line 1: syntax error: unexpected "("
(mentioned here: http://forums.veeam.com/veeam-backup-re ... 28772.html)

[Regnor]

Any update on this?
Is everyone using the Synology NAS as a SMB repository or do you use a device from a different vendor?

[jimbo_wa]

We're using Synology in a couple of different ways with Veeam:

• Local small office sites using ESXi (v5.1U3) host with a VM that's hosted on a Synology (RS2212RP+ or RS2414RP+) NFS data store linked via 2x1GB links for our local Veeam backup

• DC centralised Windows 2012R2 servers and iSCSI LUNs on a RS3614xs+ and trays connected via 10GB for Backup Copy jobs from all the smaller offices

No SMB at all I'm afraid.

[ITP-Stan]

We mostly use the Synology as SMB repository or iSCSI to the windows backup server. Never as a proxy or datamover.
For replica's (and very rarely backups) we sometimes use NFS or iSCSI to ESXi host, to create a VMWare datastore on the Synology.

[Kraken]

I followed the guide for adding Synology NAS (RS812 with latest DSM) as a Linux server/repository (intended as a target for Backup Copy job - secondary location). I was able to add the server, Veeam is able to log in with provided credentials (root), but repository rescan (or attempt to set it up as a Target for Backup Copy job) fails with the following message:

Failed to synchronize <sitename> Details: Timeout to start agent

On NAS itself I can see incoming traffic (uploading tarball) but nothing happens and I found no error messages in NAS logs.

I ran out of ideas

(Veeam Backup&Replication 8.0.0.2084)

[Vitaliy S.]

Yes, currently there are some issues with adding Synology box as a Linux server to the Veeam backup console, so you should be using any distribution of Linux and mount your NAS to this server. Thanks!

[Regnor]

@Kraken: I'm afraid that it won't work. I've also tried everything but couldn't get it to work. Perhaps we should contact Synology because they write that they support Veeam(at least v7).
https://www.synology.com/en-us/knowledgebase/faq/352
I thought about iSCSI but this would mean less performance and also more complexity.

Offtopic: I hope that Veeam will some time in the future release a standalone Veeam appliance based on Linux which handles proxy, transport and such.

[veremin]

I thought about iSCSI but this would mean less performance and also more complexity

Just out of curiosity - do you get decreased performance in cases when the given device is attached to Windows machine via ISCSI? Speaking about complexity, isn't it just a matter of connecting via ISCSI the said NAS to whatever Windows machine you happens to have in secondary location?

[Regnor]

From my experience especially the smaller Synology boxes have decreased performance when using iSCSI compared to using NFS.
Yeah it isn't that complex, but using NFS and SMB is still easier

[ITP-Stan]

You can use SMB with Synology fine, as long as you don't try to use the Synology as a linux target. Just configure an SMB repository.

[sbbots]

You can use SMB with Synology fine, as long as you don't try to use the Synology as a linux target. Just configure an SMB repository.

Amen.

SMB works fine for us on several Synology DS412+ boxes over 1GB. I get almost identical performance/throughput as I do with iSCSI (although mostly likely a limitation of the Synology than the protocols).

[Kraken]

Finally I used Synology as NAS attached storage. The point in this is the fact, that this storage is actually the offsite one (as a Backup Copy target) - connected by OpenVPN originated on Synology itself to site where backups take place. Yes I know this is not a recommended way, but it's the start point.

Also... has anyone any experience on Backup Copy to offsite location over asymmetric connection (like high write, but slow read speed)? Unfortunately, there is only the storage on other side (so no WAN accelerator or Backup Proxy server) - currently the best solution seems to be make a Backup Copy to local storage and then use script (using ie. robocopy /mirror) to make a "just write it there" copy to remote location. It's not an ideal way, but currently I don't know about any better (eg. "Veeam native" ones).

[foggy]

Seems you understand all the cons of such setup, including the fact that backup copy synthetic activity will happen over the network (unless you were able to add the NAS as a Linux backup repository).

[Regnor]

Hello everyone!
I've contacted Synology support and they're unware of any problems regarding NFS and Veeam.
Unfortunatly I'm not able to setup a lab at the moment, so I can't provide them any logs.

So I wanted to ask, if someone here in the community with the same NFS problems could open a case at Synology and provide them the necessary logs?
Please reference Ticket #683506.

Thanks

[Regnor]

Good news from Synology:
They did setup Veeam with a Synology NAS and NFS transport mode and were able to successfully backup a VM.
Now the bad news is, that there's an incompability with the ARM based models as the Veeam perl script is loading a x86 binary.

So x86 yeah, ARM no...

[geordi]

Hi together

At the moment we are using Synology NAS boxes for storing our backups via CIFS.
As mentioned by Gostev in his Digest, there is a way to directly run the data mover on this boxes. Is there anybody out there who can give me some hints regarding that?

Currently we have to deal with the situation that our synthetic full backups are taking some time due to the fact that we are using CIFS where all the traffic is going over LAN from the backup proxy.
What needs to be done to run that directly on the Synology NAS?

Regards,
Michael

[veremin]

Hi, Michael,

Your post has been merged into existing discussion, so, kindly, check the answers provided above.

Thanks.

[pdath]

I have recently been configuring a Synology RS815+ as a "Linux Repository" for Veeam. I found considerable information on Google that advised on doing a lot of things, especially making edits to the config onboard the NAS - that are completely unneeded.

To get it going this is all I had to do. From the Synology NAS web interface:
* Control Panel/Terminal & SNMP: Enable SSH
* Click on "Advanced Settings" and change the cipher strength to "Low" (Veeam doesn't support even the medium strength ciphers).
* Control Panel/File Services/FTP: Enable sFTP.
* Control Panel/User/Advanced: Enable the user home service.
* Control Panel/Shared Folder. Create a shared folder and grant "admin" access to it.
* Package Centre: Search for Perl. It will be listed under "Third Party". Click install.

Then in Veeam when you add the NAS, specify the IP address, tell it to login with the "admin" account. DO NOT select to use an elevated account, use sudo, or anything else. The "admin" account has access to everything it needs without any extra permissions.

Make sure when you select the directory in Veeam you select the same directory you created under "Control Panel/File Services" - the one that you granted "admin" access to.


Voila, everything is now working.

[foggy]

Philip, thanks for sharing, much appreciated! However, I admit this could depend on the device model/firmware, so might not be a solution applicable for all cases.

[NightBird]

A backup repository need 4GB of ram plus 4GB per concurrent job.

How do you meet this minimum requirement with this kind of nas ?

[pdath]

The RS815+ comes with 2GB of RAM. I bought an extra 4GB of Kingston memory for $25, taking it to 6GB. I only tested it with 6GB of RAM installed. Because maxing out the RAM only cost $25 it seemed crazy not to max it out straight away.

[pdath]

Philip, thanks for sharing, much appreciated! However, I admit this could depend on the device model/firmware, so might not be a solution applicable for all cases.

I think as long as you are running an x86 version and have an up to date DSM I don't see why it wouldn't work.

[ITP-Stan]

Lots of the 2bay and 4bay Synology devices are ARM models.
The RAM requirement described is for backup proxy, that's not the same as backup data mover.

[foggy]

Those are indeed RAM requirements for backup repository.

[B.F.]

We are also looking at Synology as a way to store VM backups offsite. I am a little confused by some of the terminology on this thread and was hoping for clarification. Data Mover I've seen in reference to Exagrid and also the Data Mover Service that is installed on the Veeam server and Veeam proxies. If the offsite location already has a proxy, would this "Data Mover" still need to be installed on Synology?

Is Synology even a good solution for offsite backups?

If it is, what models are recommended? It seems that being able to setup the Synology as a Linux Repository is the best method?

Thanks for the info!

[foggy]

Depending on the repository type used, data mover is installed either on the Synology itself (Linux repository, preferred) or the proxy/gateway server connected to it (CIFS/NFS).

[B.F.]

Based on your response on the memory requirements, RS815+ is not a good choice as a Linux Repository?

[Zew]

Just to note to others I've been using a Synology NAS for a cold site backup repo for a while. Works great.

HOWEVER, I do not directly manage the NAS as a managed server as Veeam sees it. instead I created a VM at my cold site to run Debian, (adjustable memory and other great VM stuff), with a NFS based connection from it to my NAS.

(Work) (Cold Site)
[SSH] --------------------------------------------------------------[SSH] [NFS] --------------------------------------[NFS]
Veeam ----(fw)---- (IP sec tunnel) ------(fw)-------- Debian managed server ----------[NFS]----------- Synolgy NAS

I haven't had a issue, besides once when I realized I provided to little RAM to my managed server (Debian) since its a VM I upped it easy enough.

[foggy]

Based on your response on the memory requirements, RS815+ is not a good choice as a Linux Repository?

Correct, the approach described in the post above is more preferred in this case.