Wanting to provide networked Time Machine backups for a number of macs I decide to try the Iomega StorCenter ix2-200d. This has a wide feature set and a low entry price. Of course, you can build your self a FreeNAS based system that will offer much of the same functionality but the automatic support for Time Machine is what did it for me.

An alternative would be to configure a Ubuntu box to act as the backup device as described here.

Setup

The StorCenter and I didn't get off to a very good start. Out of the box it detected only one drive. Once configured, however, it started to rebuild the array using the other drive but this would halt at 5% completion with a worrisome error message and a nagging red light.

I took it apart, reseated the drives and tried again. No joy and soon I had that sinking feeling that this was just one of those devices that was not worth the investment and would only give endless trouble. All that remained was to try resetting the device to the factory settings. And what do you know, success. Both drives were detected and an OS X 10.6 networked Time Machine backup was successfully committed.

I attempted to secure a second mac but when an OS X 10.5 Time Machine backup was configured I was presented with a login sheet. This had not occurred with the first machine so I fiddled a bit, got nowhere, resolved to come back later and didn't. Somewhere along the line I upgraded the firmware to 2.1.25.229, but I still couldn't secure access from other networked macs.

Restore

So now my UPS goes heavenward, taking my development machine drive integrity with it. Time to attempt a restore. Of course, one is supposed to have previously verified the integrity of one's disaster recovery procedures. But in the 'one man does it all' world that I inhabit such things never seem to happen. So if the backup wasn't kosher the results would be thoroughly lachrymal.

First issue was that I couldn't locate my OS X 10.6 install disc. So I optimistically pulled out a 10.5 disc. The Time Machine backup image was located and seemingly restored. However, a failed reboot proved that such a union was never meant to be.

So now, after some hunting, the 10.6 disc lies before me. Restore from Time Machine backup I say. The network Time Machine storage is located and I am prompted for credentials. This looks familiar, I think. All authentication attempts fail. Hmm.

The StorCenter has optional security but I don't have it enabled. I can connect to the device shared storage from my development mac but there are way too many cannot connect warnings and prompts for guest authentication. All of which makes me think that the device default security settings are either flakey or easily misconfigured.

So yes, I have a backup, but simply cannot access it. The only option is to enable security on the StorCenter, stick in some credentials and hope for the best. And in this case that hope was not wasted. I was immediately able to access the backup and the restore proceeded without further issue. And some sixty minutes later I had a functioning installation once more.

Conclusion

The conclusion is that it does work. The StorCentre device was able to deliver a network based Time Machine restore after a catastrophic disk corruption. And now that security has been enabled I can access the device from other connected macs too. Working, yes. But a seamless performance, no.

Follow up

So, a couple of weeks later I decide to backup up 40Gb of data from an XP pc using the Iomega supplied Retrospect client.

The client is fairly minimal in an unimpressive sort of way. Configuration seems very limited. Anyhow, off we go.

33GB into the backup the NAS suddenly became unreachable, both as a target and via the web based interface. The only option was to withdraw power.

When the device restarted a rebuild was initiated. This completed after some 4 hours.

Persist I will, but this sort of behaviour in a primary backup device is distinctly unsettling.

Follow up 2

Another attempt at using the EMC Restrospect Express HD resulted in the Iomega NAS becoming unreachable again, from both the pc and the mac. So out goes the Restrospect client. I will try using Acronis True Image instead. This worked fine for attached disk storage so hopefully it will cut the mustard in this case too.

Time Machine Sparse Bundle Sizing

hdiutil can be called upon to limit the TimeMachine sparse bundle image size.

hdiutil resize -size 150g /Volumes/storage/TimeMachine/PowerBook-G4-2_000d933c3f54.sparsebundle

Trouble Creating Time Machine Backup on OS X 10.5

An Intel mac mini runs OS X 10.5 for development purposes. Attempts to initiate a backup to the Iomega NAS always failed as for some reason the sparse bundle could not be created.

This problem was resolved by creating the required Time Machine image manually on the Iomega NAS.

1. On the NAS Navigate to Backup and Restore -Time Machine
2. + to create a new image
3. Enter the OS X local network machine name (from System Preferences - Sharing)
4. Enter the Ethernet ID (from System Preferences - Network -Ethernet - Advanced - Ethernet) without the colons.

Once the image was established the Time Machine backup proceeded as normal.

A second attempt to backup a G5 with 10.5 installed exhibited the same behaviour. Solution was the same.

March 2010 - Another Follow up

Today the Iomega NAS suddenly lost contact with disk 2 several hours after it was booted. The email notification form the device stated:

The Iomega StorCenter device is degraded and data protection is at risk. A drive may have either failed or been removed from your Iomega StorCenter device. Visit the Dashboard on the management interface for details. To prevent possible data loss, this issue should be repaired as soon as possible.

A software restart was ineffective. A hardware restart initiated data reconstruction. The reconstruction took five hours.

This is disappointing. TimeMachine and PC derived backups (using Acronis) had been running well. If this disk complains again it might necessitate having to contact Iomega support.

8th April - More Problems

This morning the StorCenter is degraded again. Error report as the previous entry. The unit is connected to a UPS and always powered down correctly.

Perhaps this individual unit has ongoing personality issues. But it is deeply unimpressive for a network storage device.