Question Synology BeeDrive? Looking for linux/android/win compatibility though

zahnu

Junior Member
Aug 8, 2023
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I saw this reviewed on youtube recently and was curious about it.

I'm basically looking for an external drive I can plug into my phone/tablet (android), laptop (win 7), and desktop (linux). The fastest port is 3.1 gen 2. Only usb A ports on my computerrs. Currently I drag and drop files for backup, would like to start automating the process, and be able to revert to prior versions of files, and sync.

The beedrive software looked easy enough to use, can restore old versions of files, and it appears to sync between all devices (though doesn't appear to support linux). At least from what I saw in the review video.

The issue for me is the lack of linux support, I'm in the process of migrating from windows 7 to linux (in the future plan to run windows in a vm when I need it). I'm working on both machines now, as it's taking some time to adjust to linux. Some things I've adapted to in linux, some things I still need to do in windows. The windows machine is unreliable, so if it dies, then I'm permanently on the desktop. If I need to be portable I may try to work with the android tablet.

As for alternatives, not sure that there's much that supports linux so far, saw that the Crucial X8 doesn't support linux, but the X9 does. So that might be good. Not sure what backup software it uses, Acronis? Not sure how it works for android/linux. It looks like it only takes usb c to c cable, so I will need an adapter or usb a to c cable also, hopefully that doesn't create issues with data transfer. Also it seems to be pretty new, and I prefer to wait a bit and hear from others and see how things go. I guess I'll keep an eye on it and see.

The WD passport seems another option, but I see no mention of android or linux, and not sure if the WD Discovery software would work with either. I haven't heard great things about them though.

Saw some issues about the sandisk extreme so will avoid those.

Seagate seems to have a long term bad reputation as not being reliable.

Other than that I read a bit of the nvme enclosure thread... that was, a lot. From what I understand though sounds like if I go that route, I should go with a gen 3 drive that so it doesn't overheat. I wasn't really clear on what enclosures would work well with linux, at one point saw someone having issues with Trim (that went a bit over my head) on the orico enclosure.

Also I've seen comments that you can't use HMB over usb, so I guess I need a drive with DRAM? My vague understanding is that this is the map for files on the drive and helps it run faster. I'm not quite sure what TLC is, but I guess it's cache to load stuff in a buffer before it's written.

I guess the SAMSUNG 970 EVO Plus would be an option? Not sure if they've solved the recent issues, I think this was one of the affected drives? And I'm not sure if you can update the firmware over USB (or linux?).

I looked at the crucial p5 plus for an enclosure, because, unless I missed it, that was the only company I haven't heard anything bad about. It seems that WD/Sandisk, Seagate, and Samsung have had their issues. It looks like that's gen 4, so probably not a good option for external if it gets hot. Sounds like heat can be an issue in terms of throttling or damage to the drive over time, causing premature failure. But I think that might be partly due to going faster speeds.

From an enclosure standpoint it seems like the samsung evo would be best, at least I think they have DRAM, I have to double check. Not sure if all the issues are resolved with them.
 

Tech Junky

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2022
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I use an Acasis enclosure with a sn770 drive and it works great. Since the enclosure is TB it hits 3GB/s. I haven't tested it with a phone or tablet though.

I think you're better off getting these off Amazon so if they don't work as expected it's an easy return. Depending on how much space you need will impact overall cost though. I just picked up some Lexar 4tb drives for under $200/ea. The Acasis enclosure was $100.

When it comes to data though being cheap isn't always a good thing to strive for unless you have multiple copies. For s USB enclosure though I have a pluggable that hits max speeds and those are usually around $50 or less. For cables I use a nekteck and it tests out at 20gbps and they're relatively cheap but sturdy.
 

mxnerd

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2007
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Just buy Synology NAS, install Synology Drive Server on NAS and Synology Drive Client on devices and sync to every device and different OSs.

 

zahnu

Junior Member
Aug 8, 2023
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0
6
I use an Acasis enclosure with a sn770 drive and it works great. Since the enclosure is TB it hits 3GB/s. I haven't tested it with a phone or tablet though.

I think you're better off getting these off Amazon so if they don't work as expected it's an easy return. Depending on how much space you need will impact overall cost though. I just picked up some Lexar 4tb drives for under $200/ea. The Acasis enclosure was $100.

When it comes to data though being cheap isn't always a good thing to strive for unless you have multiple copies. For s USB enclosure though I have a pluggable that hits max speeds and those are usually around $50 or less. For cables I use a nekteck and it tests out at 20gbps and they're relatively cheap but sturdy.


What OSes are you backing up with the Acasis and Pluggable?
 

Tech Junky

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2022
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What OSes are you backing up with the Acasis and Pluggable?
Windows/Linux

That just leaves apple or android. The phone doesn't need a traditional backup though as there are images of the firmware that can be applied to restore things and most things are backed up on Google as part of the OS function.

I don't typically do backups though. I cloned windows and rsync Linux to my raid for potential issues I've run into in the past.

There are tons of different approaches and methods to keeping data safe.
 

zahnu

Junior Member
Aug 8, 2023
3
0
6
Just buy Synology NAS, install Synology Drive Server on NAS and Synology Drive Client on devices and sync to every device and different OSs.


Unfortunately that's not really an affordable solution for me, If I had that kind of money I'd be replacing my laptop. The beedrive seems like it might act as a backup in addition to syncing, which apparently the NAS is not.
 

Tech Junky

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2022
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Yes, and they prevent you from growing easily due to being locked into X number of drives and the crappy CPU and not replaceable NIC.

You can build your own NAS type device which is really just a PC and turning on smb for file sharing. Once it's on the network put sw on the clients to trigger backups and sync to the network shares.

It doesn't have to be beefy in terms of specs if that's all it's doing. Grabbing a cheap sff PC for $150 and adding a high capacity drive would suffice. Put Linux on it for the OS to keep the demand down for the CPU and RAM. My setup typically runs with 2-4GB of RAM unless I'm doing something more.

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mxnerd

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2007
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Yep. A cheap DIY NAS suggested by @Tech Junky will serve you well. Now there are a lot of cheap mini PCs on ebay that will do the job. Just add an internal or external drive.

ex. https://www.ebay.com/itm/266363284671 8GB RAM 240GB SSD, it even comes with Win10 and one year warranty! You don't have to install NAS OS at all if you don't want to. just use Win10 as server. Electricity used by a mini PC is very little.

Or just install Syncthing, you can sync between different OSes and devices. You don't even need external nvme drive if you don't have a lot to sync / backup.

It has file versioning, don't know if it's what you are looking for. https://docs.syncthing.net/users/versioning.html

Plug/unplug external drive between devices makes it vulnerable to failure.

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