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[mrwd40]

We use our DNS-323 to store automated backups at our office.  The DNS-323 has two 1TB drives and has been setup in a RAID 1 configuration so the 2nd HDD is an exact clone of 1st HDD.  Once a month we shut down the system and swap the 2nd HDD with a 3rd one that we keep offsite at all times, and then let the DNS-323 rebuild the 2nd HDD. 

So we're basically using the 2nd HDD to clone the 1st HDD and use it to backup our data and keep the backup offsite.

Question:  How do I verify/access the data stored on the cloned drive.  When the HDD is offsite, there is no DNS-323 available, how can I boot the drive and see/access those files?  Is there a way to do that? 

Any help would be greatly apprecaited!

[fordem]

You can either mount the drive in a linux system - or use Windows an an installable ext2/3 file system driver.

Be warned - swapping the drives in and out of the DNS-323 as you are doing it is a recipe for disaster - you WILL loose data, and sooner rather than later.

[gunrunnerjohn]

Have to agree with fordem here, this is a REALLY BAD IDEA!  Since the rebuild takes forever with a new drive, why not just fire up a complete backup on an attached computer to a pair of USB drives that you swap out at regular intervals.

Once you put those disks in and get the RAID working, leave it alone!

[mrwd40]

I appreciate the feedback/input.  Not exactly sure how I should go about modifying the current setup to archive the same results though.  There are 11 computers in our office that automatically back up to the DNS-323 once a week.  If I attached 2 USB drives to a PC and had all the backup data sent to one of those drives, how would I set up the second USB drive to be an exact replica of the main drive?  And when I bring in a 3rd off-site drive once a month to swap with the 2nd drive, how does that new 2nd drive get updated with to mirror the main backup drive? 

[gunrunnerjohn]

Well, I can tell you how I accomplish a similar result.

I use a program called Beyond Compare (www.scootersoftware.com) and run it on my main system.

Connect the USB drive, and fire up a canned profile using Beyond Compare.  It copies all the data from my NAS that has changed from the previous copy to the USB drive and removes old files no longer on the NAS.  I end up with a mirror image of the NAS, and it only has to copy the changed/added files.

I use Beyond Compare with task scheduler to backup my main NAS, a Synology DS209, to my secondary NAS, a D-Link DNS-323 the same way.  I end up with a mirror image of the contents of the main NAS.