FreeNAS - Can I synchronize my desktop folders?

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DrStein99

If it does not exist ? I am probably building it.
Feb 3, 2018
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Are there utilities built into the FreeNas to synrchonize my windows folders? Yes / no - what are they called, please?
 

Rand__

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Mar 6, 2014
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What do you mean by sync windows folders?
You can export SMB shares as user home directories similar to a AD Server and that one would be mapped to you local user folder on several windows boxes if set up correctly...
Else you could run sth like bittorrent sync or own/nextcloud in a vm on top of freenas...
 
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DrStein99

If it does not exist ? I am probably building it.
Feb 3, 2018
115
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New Jersey, USA
What do you mean by sync windows folders?
The data folders on my local workstation, backed-up / synchroized with ones stored on the NAS. I do not wish to back up my c:\windows directories or operating system files.

What do you mean by sync windows folders?
You can export SMB shares as user home directories similar to a AD Server and that one would be mapped to you local user folder on several windows boxes if set up correctly...
Else you could run sth like bittorrent sync or own/nextcloud in a vm on top of freenas...
This is over my head, I am not familiar with "ad server" or "STH". I use bittorrent for downloading large files (and have been known to download a video or two - lol). I know what a VM is, I do not know what I would use that for if FREENAS itself is a file-serving appliance. "nextcloud" sounds like to me something like off-site storage backup, which I want to do eventually after I am confident my freeNas has been optimized and configured tightly.

There is a SMB share my NAS now. I store all the data I do not need fast access to, archives etc... The data on my local hard drive stays here, working on CAD projects for speed purposes. I wish to keep backup copies on the server in the event of a mistake or local hard drive failure.

I know I can make a simple batch-script to execute nightly, copy whatever directories I want. I thought between freeNAS, linux, and windows there would be some archiving service/function I can setup to do this task. We had something at my office years ago, where I logged into it and it kept a 7-day round-robin rotation of all the files and changes, and was setup to auto-update offsite storage (now adays I guess it's called "cloud"?). I don't remember what that was called, someone else set it up and it just worked perfect.

you can also rsync the document folder to your freenas server.
Ok, thank you. I do not know what rsync is yet, but I can look up what that is and how to use it. Thank you for suggestion.
 

Rand__

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Mar 6, 2014
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Ok.
1. AD server = Active Directory server (Windows Domain controller)
2. sth = something
3. Bittorrent Sync is now Resilio as I see (Resilio: Fastest and Most Reliable Way to Move Data - P2P File Transfer and Synchronization) , no endorsement just an option similar to a nextcloud based solution.

Nectcloud/Resilio and many others are programs designed/capable to keep local folders in sync with folders on servers or other client computers, that why I thought it might be an option for you (if there for example were multiple users).

With the added explanation it sounds basically as if a simple backup tool to the SMB Share you have would be sufficient. I use Nakivo at the moment for windows based backups, but there are thousands of tools.
As you stated you could also use a batch script and a tool like robocopy (or the mentioned rsync) to keep the folders in sync (manually triggered when you are done for the day or automatically via AT/scheduler at certain intervals or times).
 
Last edited:

gea

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Dec 31, 2010
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Use robocopy, a tool part of Windows

Connect your NAS (can be automated with "reconnect automatically")

Create a textfile on Windows, ex sync.cmd with a content like
Robocopy "C:\Folder" "\\nas\Folder" /MIR

Execute this file
(mouse right click -> run as administrator)
This will keep the local folder and the nas folder in sync

opt. Set it as a planned Windows task


Robocopy and a Few Examples - TechNet Articles - United States (English) - TechNet Wiki
 

DrStein99

If it does not exist ? I am probably building it.
Feb 3, 2018
115
4
18
50
New Jersey, USA
Yea I guess your right - a simple task scheduler that I write my self is probably the easyist, light-weight and frustration free.

returns:

Code:
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The resource cannot be found.
Description: HTTP 404. The resource you are looking for (or one of its dependencies) could have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.  Please review the following URL and make sure that it is spelled correctly.

Requested URL: /wiki/contents/articles/1073.robocopy-and-a-few-examples.aspx
 

Joel

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Jan 30, 2015
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Nectcloud/Resilio and many others are programs designed/capable to keep local folders in sync with folders on servers or other client computers, that why I thought it might be an option for you (if there for example were multiple users).
The way I like to think of Owncloud/Nextcloud is that it's just like Dropbox, Google Drive, etc., except the backend storage IS your NAS. The only real hiccup is that since it's 100% open source, there's no easy prebuilt web address that you can point to that always works. Not a huge issue for folks like us to setup Dynamic DNS and open a port on your firewall, but it's not as friendly to the "end user" types.

Also, I'd recommend using these services for your user folders, but not to actually backup Windows files.