Make the file backup process automatic

Zatni Arbi, Contributor, Jakarta

I have a small network at home: My wife has her own PC and so does my daughter.

In fact, my daughter has the fastest processor in the house. All three are connected with Ethernet cables to a Compex router. My Pentium III desktop PC, which is the slowest of all, also serves as the Internet gateway. Connected with a parallel cable to my HP LaserJet 6L Gold, it is also a printer server.

To back up my important files, which have been stored in two mirroring IBM RAID hard disks, I use an external USB hard disk.

It is a manual task. I have always wanted to make the backup process automatic to maximize data security. Then I came across a small Network Attached Storage, or NAS, that did a very good job as a backup server.

Called a Disk Station DS-101 3-in-1 Server, it costs US$300 (about Rp 2.8 million) without a hard disk. The company that made it had a rather curious name: Synology.

Needless to say, we tend to confuse it with Cynology, which, my Merriam-Webster dictionary says, is "the study of dogs". By the way, Synology Disk Station DS-101 is distributed by Astrindo Senayasa, the same company that represents Asustech in Indonesia.

Setting up

Unrelated to canines in any way, the DS-101 is actually three servers in one. It is a file server, a print server and, most importantly, a backup server.

It is bigger and thicker than my USB external hard disk, has three USB ports (two at the back and one in front), an Ethernet (RJ-45) port at the back and an external power adaptor.

Keeping the power adaptor outside the case makes the inside of the disk station much cooler, of course. There is no fan, so the device is as quiet as the interior of a Lexus. The two plastic covers have uniquely designed ventilation grills that allow cool air to circulate freely.

There are only two control buttons on the front panel: One is for power and the other is the Copy button. Press the latter if you want to back up the content of a USB device, including a thumb drive.

This server is sold as a bare-bones system, so it does not have a hard disk. So, the first step was to install an IDE hard disk. In Dusit Mangga Dua, West Jakarta, I was able to find an 80 GB Seagate, which cost me around $70. My work does not involve much multimedia stuff, so an 80 GB hard disk is already too big for me.

Unfortunately, as you should also know, it is not easy to find a brand-new hard disk with smaller capacity and an acceptable price/capacity ratio.

The DS-101 came with all the brackets and the screws to fix the hard disk to the chassis inside the box. No configuration was necessary. Once the cover was back in place, I plugged the power cord, powered up the server and pressed the hidden reset button to format the hard disk. This device uses a proprietary file system, so you always have to reformat the hard disk if it has been formatted using other file systems.

Software makes it tick The software, including the DSAssistant, came in a CD-ROM, which can be run on a Windows PC as well as a Mac. The utility helped me find the server on the network. If the hardware has been set up properly, it will be recognized right away. If a lot of storage space is required, you can add more than one DS-101 server to your network.

In my case, as the server setup was not complete yet, the DS Wizard loaded straight away. This utility helped me finish the basic configuration such as specifying the server's name, the password for the administrator, the users and their individual password and then the network setting.

It also mapped the drive in the server and assigned Z: to it.

To activate the backup service, you need to run the Data Replicator client utility. You can specify which folders on which drives to be backed up regularly, and the backup will work in real time while you continue to work.

As a file server, the DS-101 can be used as for common file storage that my wife, my daughter and I can share. Of course, each of the users or groups of users -- if you have set them up -- can be password-protected.

If the 80 GB hard disk that I have put in it should become full, I can still expand the capacity by attaching a USB hard disk to the server. The same hard disk can also serve as the backup storage for DS-101, just in case the Seagate hard disk is damaged.

The server also supports File Transfer Protocol, or FTP. This enables you to download files from the Internet directly onto the hard disk. Furthermore, the server can be configured to automatically send an e-mail alert to the administrator in case the hard disk has a problem. For example, it will send an alert if the hard disk is almost full.

Incidentally, next week I am going to test-drive a LaserJet 3015, a Multifunction Printer (MFP) from Hewlett-Packard. I will connect it to the DS-101 and see how printer-sharing across my home network will work.

Ideal for data security The DS-101 meets the needs of a family or a small office. A friend told me that, with US$ 300 for the bare-bones server and $70 for the hard disk, I could have bought a PC. He was right, except that the DS-101 is both hardware and software. It comes with the backup software that would cost a heap if bought separately.

The DS-101 is also a great solution for those who need to keep their data locked in a safe place. All they have to do is turn it off, unplug all the cables and put it in their locked safety box.

In fact, due to its flexibility, there are a lot of uses for these devices. The main strength, however, is its software utilities.

If you are worried about the safety of your critical data, take a serious look at the Synology DS-101.