Configuring QNAP Hybrid Backup Sync 3 to use Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage

Configuring QNAP Hybrid Backup Sync 3 with Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage

Introduction

Welcome to the Backblaze guide for QNAP Hybrid Backup Sync 3.  Hybrid Backup Sync is a Backup and Sync application available for free on all QNAP NAS devices. With Backblaze B2 and Hybrid Backup Sync, you can set up jobs that allow you to run backups of your data to secure them offsite. The following guide explains how to set up Hybrid Backup Sync on your QNAP device.

Setup the Backblaze B2 bucket within Hybrid Backup Sync

Note: If you don’t have Hybrid Backup Sync installed already, it’s available for free in the QNAP App Center.

1. Launch Hybrid Backup Sync, and go to Storage Spaces, then click Create.

2. For type of CloudServer, select Backblaze B2

3. Enter a name for your storage space, and then enter your KeyID and Application Key, and click Create.

Now that our Storage Space is configured, we can use it with a Backup or Sync job within Hybrid Backup and Sync (HBS).  

Creating a Backup job in Hybrid Backup Sync

Here is an example of how to configure a Backup Job in HBS.

1. To create a Backup Job, click on Backup and Restore icon in the Hybrid Backup menu

2. Then click Backup Now -> New Backup Job

3. Now add the source folders we want to backup.

4. Now select Backblaze B2 storage space, and then the account you configured is highlighted by default.  Click Select.

5. Choose an existing B2 Bucket from the drop down menu or click to create a new bucket.  Then click Select.

6. Select a folder in the bucket to store the backup or create a new folder in the lower right corner of the menu, and click the folder with the plus sign.  Then click OK.

7. Enter a Job name and click Next.

8. Create a backup schedule to fit your needs, or just choose to run once or run immediately with the Backup Now option at the bottom of the menu.  Then click Next.

9. Next create any filters you wish, in case you exclude specific types of files or folders within your selected directories.  You can also choose to enable data compression or not, and decide to accept the QuDedup option or not based on your available system resources.  Click Next.

10. Review the job summary and then click Create.  

Your Hybrid Backup job is now configured to use Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage.

Creating a Sync Job in Hybrid Backup Sync

Here is an example of how to configure a Sync Job in HBS.  The beginning steps are very similar to setting up a backup job, but the configuration steps are very different.

1. To create a Backup Job, click on Backup and Restore icon in the Hybrid Backup menu

2. Click Sync Now, and then choose which type of Sync job.  In this example we will configure a One-way sync from QNAP into a B2 bucket.

3. Now select Backblaze B2 storage space, and then the account you configured is highlighted by default.  Click Select.

4. Choose an existing B2 Bucket from the drop down menu or click to create a new bucket.  Then click Select.

5. Next we need to give the Sync job a name, pick the action and set the local and remote directories to be synchronized.   Enter a Job name and for action, we are picking Mirror in this example.

6. Under Local NAS, click on the plus (+) sign next to “Add a personal folder”.  Select the local folder and then click OK.

7. Now under Backblaze B2, click on the plus (+) sign next to “Add a personal folder”.  

1. Click on the name of the bucket we will sync the local folder to, and then create a folder that it will synchronize with.  To do this enter a folder name in the lower right corner, and then click on the folder with the plux (+) sign.
2.  Then click OK.

3.  Repeat these steps if you want to include more multiple folders in one sync job.  When you are done, click Next.

8. Set up the Sync schedule to meet your needs.  Typically you would want the synchronization to happen periodically throughout the day to keep data in sync.  In this example we will set it to run every 10 mins.
9. Under Schedule, click the plus {+} sign on the right side to add a new schedule.
10.  Click on Periodic, and the default is 10 mins.  Adjust the time if you wish and then click OK.

11. On the main Schedule screen, scroll to the bottom and click “Sync Now” if you wish to start the sync immediately.  Then click Next.
12. Apply any Rules you wish on this page, including filtering out some files from the sync job, enabling data compression, encryption and more.  Review all options and also see the Tips section below for more details.  When done, click Next.

13. Review the Sync job settings and then click Create.  Your sync job will now start running.

Helpful Tips and Tricks

There are a few things of note if we would like to mention to ensure you have an optimized backup process. Depending on the power of the CPU and amount of RAM in your machine you can manipulate these settings to fully take advantage of them and thus your upload bandwidth.

IMPORTANT: A lot of these settings will cause backups to prematurely fail if not set correctly, manipulating them to optimal settings will require trial and error.

Tip #1:  Multipart Size

During the creation of the backup job, you see that the default Multipart Size is set to 100 MB. The Multipart Size setting dictates the size of the chunks that the backup job will split the data up in for uploading. If your Internet connection has a fast upload speed, then increasing this size will benefit upload speeds of large files like videos and disk images.  Increase this option one increment at a time and measure your results.

IMPORTANT: While it might be tempting to bump this setting up to large values keep in mind the backup job will load this data into system memory (RAM). Keep your memory availability in mind as the backup will fail if Hybrid Backup runs out of it.

Tip #2: Data Compression

Another option to choose during the creation of a backup job is if you want to use data compression or not. Enabling "data compression" allows the upload to transfer faster by minimizing the amount of data actually being sent.  You can click on the Settings option to set rules on when to compress data and when not to.  Options include excluding certain file types, setting a minimum size limit, and setting the compression ratio.

Tip #3: Encryption

During the job creation,  you have the option to enable client-side encryption.  This setting is on the Rules page, under Policies. The "Encryption" setting allows you to enter a password that essentially scrambles your data, preventing third parties from descrambling it. In case you need an extra layer of security this would be a useful setting.  

IMPORTANT: If you lose your encryption password there is no way to recover your data as it will stay permanently scrambled until the correct password is presented. We would recommend storing it somewhere safe,such as a password vault, so that this won't be an issue.

Tip #4:  Concurrent File Processing

Another way to increase your transfer speed is by increasing the number of files that are processed at the same time.  To review this setting, edit your backup job, and go to Rules, and then Options:

After the Error Handling rules, there is a setting called “Concurrent file processing”, with a default setting of 5.  You can increase this setting up to a maximum of 10.  Doing so increases the number of system resources being used during the backup, so if you decide to increase this number, do so increments of 1-2 and then review the results.