TS-269 Pro Replacement; Migration and Relocation

[MarkH000]

I'll preface this post with a note that I am not very familiar with QNAP.

A small firm I am doing some work for has a TS-269 Pro (2 x 2TB WD Red drives RAID-1 - firmware 4.1.4) in their main office working as a general office file server (incl some large-ish imaging, mapping and data files). They are opening a satellite office in another city and want to have a sync-ed QNAP device in that office. The current TS-269 Pro, installed in 2015, is running fine for capacity and performance (CPU in the 40s; plenty of free RAM). I believe the TS-269 Pro is at end of life for firmware (latest level 4.3.4)?

My thoughts are as follows:

1. Buy a new QNAP for the primary office (more people) slightly upgraded (and modernised) from the TS-269 Pro. What model would people suggest? I note the TS-253B (or TS-253Be) or maybe a 4-bay model? Use 2 x 3TB or 2 x 4TB drives RAID-1?

2. Copy data from original to new and switch the main office to the new QNAP. What is the best way to copy the data? Will the remote backup to Elephant Vault have to "start again" or will it keep going with just the differences?

3. Ship the TS-269 Pro to the satellite office. One-way sync the new QNAP to the relocated TS-269 Pro before handing it over. Will the sync code be compatible between a 5-year old box and the new box? Would life be easier if we purchased two identical new QNAP devices?

4. Setup 2-way sync to keep the two QNAPs in line with each other.

Any better suggestions as to approach? Any thoughts on the best new model? Any traps to watch out for?

[Trexx]

Here are a few thoughts.

I would probably recommend getting 2 new boxes to start with as both of those are fairly old HW and will not be compatible with some of the newer software such as HBS 3, etc. I would recommend going with probably 4 drive model as that will allow for you to start with a Raid-1 configuration and grown into a Raid-5/6 down the road as your storage needs increase. Assuming you don't need 10GbE, even some of the basic ARM units would be sufficient for just a file server. If you do need bigger capabilities, the TS-453Be is a good model.

In terms of getting data from the old ones to the new ones, you could use RTRR or Rsync (via HybridBackupSync) as a starting point. I would do that locally on your LAN, from your current main unit to start with.

Your biggest issue really is going to be around the 2-way syncing. If both offices have their own "OFFICE1" & "OFFICE2" folder, then cross-syncing those isn't a big deal to do (I assume you have a VPN between the offices or direct connection via a telco). The big issue is if you only have a single "OFFICE" folder and you want both offices to have read/write capabilities in it. So need more clarification on this point.

If is is 2 "office" folders, then there are many ways you can deal with that. HBS3 has several options, you could even look into QTS 4.4.1's new cache mount capability too as a potential option.

[MarkH000]

Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful response Trexx.

Given the prices of these boxes, I think it is viable to have two new boxes as that also makes migrations easier (with the 3rd box).

So you are suggesting products like the TS-431P2 / TS231-P2 as "basic ARM models" rather than the TS-453B/TS-253B? I don't think 10GbE is required.

On the folder arrangement, it is probably a hybrid of what you describe. There will be some shared folders as OFFICE and then working folders as OFFICE1 and OFFICE2 like you describe. I have gained the impression that the shared files (OFFICE) are likely to be generally new files (additional mapping/image files) rather than the result of files being editted or updated. My understanding is that it will be a VPN between the offices but it is important I clarify that.

On that basis, you are suggesting keeping to 1-way sync (or not even have sync) on most folders (OFFICE1 and OFFICE2) and restricting the 2-way sync as much as possible?

I like the look of HBS3 as a solution going forward once we move to the two new model QNAPs.

And finally, it sounds like I'll have to start with the prime copy of the remote backup (using Elephant Vault)?