Using Wake-on-LAN for a NAS backup
Power Saver

Lead Image © Ledda Maria Rita, 123RF.com
Put your backup server to sleep when you don't need it and then wake it on demand using the Wake-on-LAN feature built into network adapters.
After recently upgrading my main storage server bit by bit, I found myself with a pile of parts that basically added up to another storage server. I had a capable Network Attached Storage (NAS) solution for files and media, but I needed a second server running on-site as a backup for the main NAS. What I did not want, however, was to pay for a second server running 24/7 gobbling up energy. This article explains how to set up a pair of servers in a primary/backup configuration so that the backup will synchronize itself with the primary server each day, week, month, or however often you like. Once the two are synced, the backup server will turn back off until needed again, thus saving most of the energy costs. This approach has an added benefit in the event of a ransomware encryption attack, because the backup server will most likely be turned off at the time of the attack, making it more likely to escape encryption.
Hardware Configuration
The two servers I describe in this article are used in a home lab and are non-critical. If you are using servers for a business, school, or professional agency, you will have different needs and, ideally, a more expansive budget that could point you toward a different solution. This article is intended as a proof of concept – and as a way to explore some of the tools available in the Linux environment. This basic approach might very well be feasible for other secondary or off-site backups with slight modifications.
The main NAS server has six 6TB HGST SATA drives in a RAIDZ2 pool with approximately 24TB of usable storage space (Figure 1). The pool can lose two drives and still retain all of the data, but obviously doing this means 33 percent of the disks' raw space is unavailable. Being in a RAID array means that there is redundancy, but redundancy is not the same as a backup. Both servers have 10Gb networking, and the primary NAS runs a Proxmox virtual environment [1], which uses SMB to share to the backup.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Cairo Dock 3.6 Now Available for More Compositors
If you're a fan of third-party desktop docks, then the latest release of Cairo Dock with Wayland support is for you.
-
System76 Unleashes Pop!_OS 24.04 Beta
System76's first beta of Pop!_OS 24.04 is an impressive feat.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 is Available
Linus Torvalds has announced that the latest kernel has been released with plenty of core improvements and even more hardware support.
-
Kali Linux 2025.3 Released with New Hacking Tools
If you're a Kali Linux fan, you'll be glad to know that the third release of this famous pen-testing distribution is now available with updates for key components.
-
Zorin OS 18 Beta Available for Testing
The latest release from the team behind Zorin OS is ready for public testing, and it includes plenty of improvements to make it more powerful, user-friendly, and productive.
-
Fedora Linux 43 Beta Now Available for Testing
Fedora Linux 43 Beta ships with Gnome 49 and KDE Plasma 6.4 (and other goodies).
-
USB4 Maintainer Leaves Intel
Michael Jamet, one of the primary maintainers of USB4 and Thunderbolt drivers, has left Intel, leaving a gaping hole for the Linux community to deal with.
-
Budgie 10.9.3 Now Available
The latest version of this elegant and configurable Linux desktop aligns with changes in Gnome 49.
-
KDE Linux Alpha Available for Daring Users
It's official, KDE Linux has arrived, but it's not quite ready for prime time.
-
AMD Initiates Graphics Driver Updates for Linux Kernel 6.18
This new AMD update focuses on power management, display handling, and hardware support for Radeon GPUs.