Before I pester Ken

[sebastiantombs]

Well, I finally found out what's wrong. Hardware failure. I'm not sure, yet, if it's the mobo, processor or memory but kind of think it's the mobo given what's been going on with BI and sounds as well as losing connection to a USB port or two. I'm trying a re-install of Windows but it seems to have stalled, it''s going on a platter drive to preserve the information on the M2 drive, so it's taking some time and I'm going to bed. Won't know for sure until tomorrow morning.

 

[eeeeesh]

Does Synology use the MS Volume Shadow Services copy like Windows Server Backup does? The latter does bare metal restore as well and is included with the Windows Server OS.

I found this:
"The CBT technology adopted in Active Backup for Business leverages VSS to take snapshots for devices and identify the changed block between snapshots "

Here is a link to the admin manual for further info

https://communities.vmware.com/wbsdv95928/attachments/wbsdv95928/2004/15330/1/Syno_AdministratorsGuide_ActiveBackup_Business_enu.pdf

I started with HomeServer 2003 and was using Server 2012 r2 Essentials when I decided to transition to the Synology NAS instead. Keep in mind that Active Backup for Business is free with most of their devices and their is no licensing fee. The Synology dashboard is a lot easier than the Windows Server version, I used to have problems connecting the Windows agent to the server and had to jump through some hoops to initially get it setup and every so often a Windows update would break it again.

Bottom line - the Synology ABB works for me an I think is better than Server 2012 r2 Essentials, I have used it several times for bare metal restores, never had a problems and you can't beat the price

Active Backup for Business Quick Start Guide - Synology Knowledge Center

Synology Knowledge Center offers comprehensive support, providing answers to frequently asked questions, troubleshooting steps, software tutorials, and all the technical documentation you may need.

kb.synology.com