A blog about archives, storage and everything

Category: Backups

  • Good bye Rsync, hello open rsync

    So apparently I’ve missed the big story of Apple introducing BSD licensed open rsync in macOS 15 Sequoia back in the Fall of 2024. (Thanks to Rich Trouton’s recent blog post).

    Open Rysnc in macOS 15.4

    Openrsync it’s new. And I didn’t notice it, because I’ve been using a newer Apple silicon compiled rsync (see RSKgroup) because Apple hadn’t updated the included rsync 2.6.9 in decades and it was becoming a problem. It seems the big break of only shipping the newer openrsync happened in macOs 15.4 because until 15.4 Apple gave the option to use either the SAMBA or the new BSD licensed version with an environment variable.

    I use rsync a lot, for all my hand rolled artisanal backup scripts and the occasional push and sync between storage. Of course, for serious backups and archives I use Archiware P5 not the least because I need one dashboard to track backups, syncs, and archives, and more importantly I need to use LTO (tape backups) and Archiware is the best. As for useful terminal commands, rsync is often my go to for a lot of edge cases and quick storage comparisons.

    Apple’s open source GitHub for Rsync

    Open rsync was written by Kristaps Dzonsons in 2019 and is part of Open BSD but should run on all BSD or Linux distributions.

  • How To Securely Sync Your Synology NAS with P5

    Use Tailscale Mesh-VPN with P5 Backup and Sync

    In the old days we used to forward ports. On your router the traffic for a server or service went to a port (where a number represents a service, some which are defined, but can be arbitrary) and to a destination IP address. Well, wouldn’t you know it, if ssh is port 22 or web traffic is on port 80 then everyone and their port scanner comes knocking. So then your firewall is tested, and then auto-ban and geo-block and emails go out. What if we could avoid that and not open (or forward) any port to make services work across the internet?

    Tailscale is a mesh-VPN which uses WireGuard to securely establish a mesh (point to point) VPN of your devices. Suddenly your iPhone can securely send files to your Mac or raspberry Pi across the world. How cool is that? In today’s advanced lesson: you can backup and sync your Synology NAS using Archiware P5.

    Step 1: Setting up Tailscale on Synology

    It honestly used to be harder than this, these days you can simply add the Tailscale package via the Synology package center app and you’re done. Almost. There’s one more step.

    Step 2: Set up Outgoing VPN access via Tailscale which requires editing some files (which necessitate Terminal and remote login access). This only has to be done once but future updates may require fixes. This was tested in DSM 7. Pro tip: only allow remote access to a restricted and time limited account so you don’t leave it on accidentally.

    Step 3. Install Archiware P5 on Synology NAS

    Using Archiware P5 to Backup and Sync your NAS is a good thing if you’re already using Archiware P5 to backup and sync all the other things, then at least you have only one dashboard to look at. I use P5 with my clients to backup their shared storage to LTO and it makes sense to backup all the things no matter where they are with P5 also. With Synology NAS package center it’s a simple one-click install for P5. Add your P5 clients to your P5 server via Tailscale and you’ve got a secure setup.

    This post is just a quick overview of using Tailscale to set up your P5 clients (which is your Synology NAS in this case).

  • Best of 2018: FCPX and iMac Pro

    Part of a series of blog post on the “Best of 2018”

    Part 1: the iMac Pro and FCPX

    The year started off with the new iMac Pro and Final Cut Pro X 10.4. Both new hardware and software were released in December 2017. New awesome hardware and software to start of 2018.

    FCPX and the iMac Pro have proven themselves to be a great combination that has been amazing for FCPX editors everywhere. The new colour grading tools and other enhancements were warmly received in FCP X 10.4. The power of the iMac Pros was not exaggerated. Excellent pro hardware.

    FCPX works great on a MacBook Pro and internal storage, with Apple’s Xsan and fibre channel or with Lumaforge Jellyfish 10GbE over NFS. I worked with all different setups in 2018 and happy to report that editors kept editing and left the storage and backup worries to me (and I didn’t worry since I’ve got Archiware P5 watching my back).

    Working with the Jellyfish I installed the P5 Linux agent to backup and archive to tape. Getting the Jellyfish to back up to my P5 server running on a Mac Mini couldn’t have been easier. Through the year I worked with Archiware to make improvements in the P5 Archive app so that my editor clients can archive and restore more easily on their own. Works well and look forward to working more closely with both companies to help make awesome setups for FCPX editors and creative professionals everywhere.

    NAB and FCPX

    The week before NAB 2018, Apple announced a new version of Final Cut Pro X with support for closed captions, and the brand new ProRes RAW codec.

    NAB in April is always a busy month with announcements from all companies in the media production and media asset management world and Apple’s public talk at NAB showing off new features so soon after their last major release was unexpected but very warmly received.

    Of course there was one more major event in the 2018, in November there was the FCPX Creative Summit.

    I attended this year and it was awesome. Apple released a brand new version with 3rd party integration in the form of extensions. This is huge. This will be amazing for FCPX editors who want to stay in FCPX and do their editing work but integrate with other apps.

    What was the FCPX creative summit?

    ⁃ rendez-vous in Cupertino with Final Cut Pro editors, studio owners, plugin authors, creative apps vendors

    ⁃ Visit to Apple HQ. With Apple Pro Apps engineers, QA, managers and everyone involved.

    ⁃ In depth discussion of the next version of FCPX extensions which allow third party integration deep into the app for example: Frame IO for review and approve or Keyflow Pro or Cat DV media asset management apps.

    ⁃ Great team of people organizing. This event had multiple tracks and lots of great sessions for everyone. Well done. Enjoyed it immensely. Everyone using Final Cut Pro or involved in this creative universe should be there.

    2018 was great year for pro hardware and software. The iMac Pro and the constant stream of FCPX updates kept us grinning from ear to ear. Great stuff. Awesome year.

    Next up: best conferences of 2018