I'm trying to set up a file sync system on my Linux machine. I have six HDDs total, but I usually use only three regularly for personal and work purposes. My drive configuration is as follows: Drive A is an 18TB NAS drive for my favorite movies, and I sync it to Drive B, which is another 18TB NAS drive. Drive D is synced to E, and F is synced to G. I've intentionally kept drives B, E, and G from being used often because I prefer to minimize their wear and tear. I should note that I'm not interested in combining these drives or using RAID in any form.
Since I plan to switch to Linux, I'm curious about how to sync these drives. Specifically, can I sync drives A to B, D to E, and F to G directly? If that's not feasible, would I need to sync specific subfolders instead, like F:Documents to G:Documents? If so, since they would have the same names on different drives, do I need to rename one of them to avoid confusion?
Additionally, all my drives are currently formatted NTFS. I've heard there are methods to use NTFS drives on Linux, but do I still need to consider switching to native Linux file systems like ext4, Btrfs, or XFS? Lastly, would any of this affect my choice of Linux distribution? Thanks for any advice!
2 Answers
As for switching to Linux, it's definitely recommended to migrate your drives to ext4 or similar. Even with the recent improvements to NTFS on Linux, there's still a risk of issues popping up since NTFS isn't natively designed for Linux environments. It's about ensuring your data stays safe and accessible without glitches. Regarding the distribution, this shouldn't affect your choice; most major distros will handle these file systems well. But if you're looking for ease of use, Ubuntu or Fedora might be good choices!
When syncing between drives on Linux, you should look into using tools like rsync or FreeFileSync, which can handle different directory structures. You can definitely sync A to B, D to E, and F to G directly using those tools. If you base it on folder paths, you can just point rsync to the correct directories on each drive without needing to worry about drive letters. Just make sure to differentiate the subfolders by keeping the paths clear, like using F/Documents and G/Documents.
As for your drives being NTFS, while it works, switching to a native file system like ext4 would give you better performance and less hassle in the long run. It's also more stable with Linux. But if you want to stick with NTFS for now, that's fine too, just know the risks and limitations.
That makes sense! I might just try syncing a couple of my folders first to see how it goes. I’ve heard good things about rsync.
Thanks for the reassurance! I guess it’s better to make the switch sooner rather than later.