Remote rsync host

Once you have created a backup job, you can modify its settings using the Manage screen's Edit option. This allows you to change selections that were made when the job was created. There are also options that are not available when you create a backup job.

To modify a backup job:

1. Select BackupAssist's Backup tab
2. Select Manage Backup Jobs
3. Select the backup job that you want to change.
4. Select Edit from the top menu
5. Select the part of the job you want to change from the list on the left
6. Once you have made the required changes, select Apply changes

There are 8 common options in the list, similar to the steps completed during the back job creation. There is also a option specific to each backup type.

Rsync server

Input the Rsync server name or IP address directly in the Rsync Server field.

When backing up to a NAS device you need to specify both the server name of the NAS, as well as the backup path where the backup files should be stored.

Server type

Choose the Rsync Server type using the available drop-down menu:

BackupAssist supports three types of Rsync server modes:

• Rsync over SSH – encrypts all communication “over the wire”
• Rsync Daemon – non-encrypted transfer for servers running Rsync in Daemon mode.
• Rsync daemon over SSH tunnel - provided for backups to certain standalone NAS devices.

Where possible, we recommend Rsync over SSH. Rsync Daemon mode is only provided for compatibility reasons, in order to support devices or Rsync Servers that do not have SSH enabled.

For SSH communication, we use a public / private key method of authentication meaning that you will only be asked for your password once (when registering with the server), and your public key will be uploaded to the server, enabling BackupAssist to log into the server in the future in a secure, password-less manner. For more information on public / private key authentication, visit the following Wikipedia article.

For Daemon mode, your password is stored in encrypted format by BackupAssist and provided every time the backup runs. When running in Daemon mode, traffic will be unencrypted. For this reason, we recommend that you only use this closed network environments, such as LANs or WANs connected by a secure VPN. Note that VPNs inherently encrypt communication between nodes, so using Rsync in Daemon mode over a VPN is still secure.

Port

This field is for the Port number for your Rsync Server

Path on server

This field is for the backup path by typing it directly into the Path on server field.

Username

This field is for the Rsync username and password (Rsync daemon connection only) generated when setting up your Rsync server and click Register with server.

For instructions on how to set up a Rsync Server, see Rsync host setup

Register with server

If you change your host details, you will need to re-register the backup job with the rsync host . You will be prompted to enter the password. BackupAssist will then create a public/private key pair to authenticate you to the data host.

Seed backup

Seeding is the process of performing your first (and full) backup to your Rsync Server. Rsync backups are in-file delta incremental backups, where only data that has changed since the last backup is transferred to the Rsync Server.

Test connection

Click Test connection to ensure that your Rsync server has been correctly configured

Enabling Single Instance Store

Single Instance Store is enabled by default, which is the recommended setup. To disable/enable Single Instance Store:

Uncheck or check Use the Single Instance Store.

Note: Single Instance Store is disabled a duplicate of each file will be stored in every backup set and each duplicate will take up separate disk space. Backups will take longer to complete and use more disk space.

About Single instance store

Single Instance Store is only available in the File Protection engine. If Single Instance Store is enabled only one unique copy of each file will be stored on your backup device. Single Instance Store is similar to an incremental backup, because only new or modified files are actually copied to your backup device each time a backup runs after the initial full backup. This saves both time and disk space.

The powerful difference of Single Instance Store, however, is that the process is totally transparent. If no previous backup exists on the backup device BackupAssist will first perform a full backup of the selected files and folders; but for future backups, if files are modified or new ones created, such changes will be merged into a new and complete backup set on your backup device, rather than the creation of a smaller set of just the modified and new files. So you will see a complete list of all files selected for backup within each backup set, even though only one unique copy of each file actually exists in terms of disk space on your backup device. In other words, the same file can appear within four different backup sets, but still only be stored once on the backup device.

With each backup set looking like a complete full backup, restoration is easy and does not require any proprietary software. If Single Instance Store is enabled you can potentially keep hundreds of day's worth of backup history with minimal storage requirements; and because each backup only copies new or modified files, backups are extremely fast.

The media usage report is part of the overall report generated for each backup. It outlines how much disk space has been used by backups on the backup destination and how much free space is available using totals and percentages.

Depending on the destination you are backing up to as well as the number of backup sets that are present, the media usage report can take several minutes to generate.

The Warn when backups exceed [90%] of the total capacity of the destination setting allows you to set a threshold that will add an additional condition to the backup report if the backup usage goes over that value.