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[holoperson]

I'm using the 320L to do a remote backup from a Linux machine. The target folder (on the 320L) is called "mybackups".

Here's what happens.
1   On a local PC (same LAN as the 320L) I have Windows Explorer looking at Volume_1. I can see the mybackups folder listed, as well as other folders.
2   Using the web GUI, I manually start the remote backup.
3   Immediately, the mybackups folder vanishes from the Windows Explorer list.
4   Using the GUI, I select Management - Users/Groups, and modify a user (doesn't matter which) - the mybackups folder has vanished from folder listings
5   The same if I select Network Shares.
6   However, mybackups is visible and browseable in Home - My Files - I can confirm that the backed up files are in the mybackups folder, so the backup itself was successful.

The workaround is to restart the 320L; the mybackups folder then reappears in the 320L Management lists and Windows Explorer - until the next remote backup.

Is there a fix for this? My 320L is running firmware 1.00; would an upgrade fix the problem? I won't upgrade unless I have to. Everything else is working fine.

Thanks
holo
 

[FurryNutz]

v1.07 is available, you might try to upgrade, factory reset then set up from scratch and configure the DNS...

[ivan]

A little more information please.

1) I assume you are using the local/remote backup feature built into the NAS and have tested the connection to your Linux machine.  If not what are you using?
2) what version of windows are you using?
3) when the backup completes and you refresh windows explorer does the folder reappear?
4) does the folder appear under 'My Network Places' --> 'Volume_1 on DNS-320L' when Volume_1 is expanded?
5) have you tried creating a new folder wit a different name for the backup (sometimes windows considers folders start with My to be exclusive property of the OS and strange things happen when they are not)?

[holoperson]

Thanks for the quick replies!

Furrynutz,

I'd prefer not to upgrade, as this can cause problems. There's no mention in the changelogs (that I can find) that my disappearing folders problem - or indeed any remote access problems - are fixed in later versions of 320L system software.

Ivan, here's some more info:

1   Yes, I'm using the 320L's remote backup, with encryption turned on. The backup runs successfully (see my OP point 6)
2   Win 10. However, Windows is not involved in the transfer, so the version of Win should make no difference. It is an rsync/ssh transfer from one Linux machine to another (320L runs Linux). The local Win 10 PC is only looking at the mybackups folder; it plays no part in the transfer.
3   No, the folder does not reappear. Of course Windows takes about 5 - 10 minutes to refresh network shares, unless you reboot. Even after a reboot the folder does not appear. Also see my next point:
4   No, it does not appear in My Network Places. In any case, it has disappeared - as a network share - from the 320L, (my OP point 4) so it is unlikely to appear in Windows.
5   I used "mybackups" to make my OP easier to understand. The target folder is actually called "tech". However, Window's likes or dislikes for folder names should be irrelevant - see point 2 above.

My own gut feeling about the disappearing folder is that ownership and permissions on the NAS backup target folder (mybackups or tech or whatever) are changed by the transfer, such that all of the 320L's users have "access denied" rights to the folder. Somehow, restarting the 320L fixes this. (Perhaps the NAS detects "foreign" ownership or permissions and changes them to some default value.) Unfortunately there's no way to examine Linux folder or file ownership and permissions on the 320L. There's also no way to see what rsync switches the 320L is using when it runs the transfer.
In theory, ownership or permissions shouldn't be changed. The remote Linux PC has a user, "tech", with a password. The same username and password are set up on the 320L. This is the username and password used in the 320L's remote transfer settings. The remote Linux PC has private and public RSA keys set up for user tech. I presume these are used in the transfer, which is *successful* (see my OP point 6). However, although the 320L may be logging into the remote Linux PC as tech, it may be running the transfer (ie, the 320L's SSH/rsync programs) as root.

The fact that the backup folder can be seen in "My Files" is probably because I am  "admin" when I look at "My Files". I am not any of the users I've set up on the 320L. On the other hand, I'm "admin" when I examine/modify a user in Management - Account Management, or examine Network Shares, but the backup folder has vanished (my OP point 4).  All very mysterious.

Over to you...

[ivan]

I will ask my service people if they have any ideas and see if we can duplicate what you are seeing (that way we should be able to find a cure for the problem (we might have a little delay because we need to borrow a win10 machine - we don't use windows and neither do our clients).

Another thing, if you use an FTP client like FileZilla on your win10 machine and have the NAS ftp server active does the backup folder disappear from the FTP client (FileZilla will also show the permissions of the folder and files)?

[holoperson]

Some background: for three years the NAS was a file server at the remote site. I have done FTP transfers to the remote  NAS with no problems. I could map a folder on it so it appears as an FTP drive in File Explorer. All worked as it should. There is now a Linux file server at the remote site, so the NAS was retired. Now, I brought the NAS to my house, and I planned to use it to remotely back up some folders at the remote site - thus providing an offsite backup.

 I have done some more tests:

Today I experimented with Linux. I used a local Linux PC to open the 320L's web interface dashboard; I also opened the Linux file manager to look at the backup folder "tech". For good measure I had a local Win 10 PC looking at the same folder.

I started a transfer using the 320L's remote backup - exactly as I did yesterday (from remote Linux server to the NAS). Immediately the tech folder became unavailable on both PCs - connection to it was lost.

In the 320L's dashboard, however, the tech folder remained visible in the Management menu, and its submenus (User/Groups, Network Shares). Yesterday it vanished. It was also visible in "My Files", just like yesterday.  The fix was to restart the 320L - again like yesterday. The tech folder became accessible again on the Win10 and Linux PCs, without having to do anything on these machines (reboots not required).

So the situation was better than yesterday - I've no idea why.

I can see that you provide a great deal of help to forum members - please do not go out of your way for me. Using the NAS for remote transfers was really an experiment on my part - I thought the wizard would make it all easy. I have now set up a Linux PC at home to do the remote transfers, and it is working perfectly.

The NAS worked perfectly for three years 24/7 in an all-Windows LAN; however it doesn't work well with a mixture of Windows and Linux PCs (at least, I couldn't get it to work) - it doesn't seem to handle Linux - Windows file permission translations properly. Ironic, given that it runs Linux. Maybe it uses ACLs rather than standard Linux permissions. In any case, as described above, I set up a Linux server and retired the NAS. I understand that if I upgrade the 320L's firmware (to 1.6, not 1.7) I can access a command line terminal on the NAS, and examine permissions, users etc - is this correct?  I might carry out some more experiments one day. For the time being, the NAS will go back into retirement. Unless you enjoy solving obscure problems, or tracking down possible bugs in the 320L, we can let the matter rest.

[ivan]

I have to say that, apart from my wanting to know why things go wrong, I do have an ulterior motive, I use these problems to keep my staff on their toes (we are a company that offers engineering and IT services to the engineering community and my field people need to be able to think on their feet when out on a job).  Sometimes our work is easy, other times it is rather obscure and the problem appears to defy logic, that is when trying to solve some of the problems seen on these forums is a great help.

I will shelve your problem at the moment because we don't really have the time at the moment.  I would ask that if you solve the problem please to put a note about it here so that others might learn.