I’d like Roon integrate a backup option / sync for your music library.
Especially with Rock, using an external software installed on another PC with the need to keep it on and in the same network, it is quite inconvenient …
If you think maintaining your own backup regime is inconvenient then wait till your library is lost or corrupted… then you will know all about inconvenience.
There are far to many variables for Roon to consider a function so encompassing as backups for the music.
It’s hard enough keeping the databases backed up for most people. Roon does a great job with this part of things, even reminding when backups are not done of failed to complete.
But please take care to do your own backups for your data/music. This is not something Roon will come to the rescue with a feature as the complexities of destinations are just not going to be practical for them to consider.
2 posts were split to a new topic: Roon doesn’t do a great job with reminding when backups haven’t run
I use GoodSync to schedule syncs and backups. Of course, you can’t do that because you run ROCK. I’ve said it ad nauseam, but I just don’t get why people use ROCK instead of Windows.
Some say it’s because of sound quality. I don’t buy that. Some say it’s because of its simplicity to maintain. In this case, that’s a drawback. I guess, for some, it’s because it’s free.
A drastic solution to your problem. Deinstall ROCK, install Windows, and invest in some decent backup software.
Windows 10 plus SyncBack Pro
Backs up by difference takes a few minutes per day
Not worth the pain of losing stuff
Mike
I run ROCK on an NUC, and have a job defined in Allway Sync to back up my music library. Allway Sync runs on a Windows PC, and has other jobs defined to take care of my photos, videos and documents that reside in my home network…
I think the OP was complaining about having to have an additional machine running.
I use the same philosophy you do, but I only need one machine to do it. The additional benefit is that I can run JShiver, for my movies, pictures, podcasts, etc. on the same machine as Roon core.
Sorry, we can go round on round on this, but I just don’t get ROCK. Also, I’ve read enough in this forum of people getting wrapped up in their shorts just trying to install it.
Fine, I completely get ROCK, and if I had the spare cash, I’d be investing in a Nucleus. Appliances rule… 
You must be privileged to have such insider info! 
Many here who have been “around” for a year or 2 will know how to read between the lines when these types of things are presented. The Roon guys have much more to focus on with other improvements that are on the roadmap.
While backing up your music is important as I have said above there are just too many variables and music backup functions are not likely to be on Roons priority any time soon if I have read such other requests responses right in the past.
Of course I cant and dont speak officially for roon and I dont have any insider info at all, just basing this on how many things that are on the roadmap items indicated thus far and none relate to backing up music data that I recall.
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I know, hence my smily.
I suppose I’m trying to point out that it’s hard enough to get Roon’s attention with any suggestion without us laymen chiming in with negativity at the start.
Negativity? It’s closer to realism in many cases
I believe there has been a misunderstanding.
I already have a backup system (SyncBackPro) that works well. My request was only to have an improvement in the management of the backup of the music library (especially with Rock that i already use for 10 months replacing windows and i wouldn’t go back). Obviously there are more important things that they will be managing (metadata? Mobile? New UI?) and this is a simple request for an internal option to Roon to optimize the backup. I’m not an IT and i don’t know what it means in terms of code writing and variable management…
Sometimes something that’s apparently simple can easily turn out not to be.
However, as has been said many times in this forum, the Roon team does read every feature request, even if they don’t often publicly comment on whether the requested feature will be included in the Roon roadmap. So they are certainly aware of your request.
thanks for that reassurance Geoff. It’s nice to know Roon IS listening.
Yes but it should come from Roon itself. If there’s a negative bias from the start from the public then OP’s suggestions will invariably more likely get passed over by the Roon team; it’s human nature.
I know. In fact mine is just a simple “feature request”
I suppose one way to do this, if the software has a command line interface, is for Roon to have the capability to submit a program and its command line at a specified time.
How about it tinkerers? Sounds like an API project.
OK, maybe it’s time to bring this back from the dead.
There’s apparently and unfortunately no elegant way to export and back a library up from RoonServer. It’s of course possible to do it, just a little bit inelegant.
For everyone with a fast line, having an option to do what the database does with Dropbox, but with BackBlaze or one of their competitors would be great. The real issue is other people.
For the server / docker users, allowing to add a mount, much in the same way that it’s possible to do so for the library itself, could do the trick. Let 'em deal with managing the rest, though maybe exclude the library from the choices (I can’t imagine someone, at some point, won’t pull that one 
).
For ROCK / Nucleus / the desktop users, something that’d work a bit like Apple’s TimeMachine, complete with incrementals, would probably be ideal. Prompt the user via the client interface to plug an external drive into a USB port every n days / weeks / files added, wait until there’s no more access to copy over whatever’s been added, as well as a copy of the database, second prompt once you’re done. Probably a bit of a pain for the users that host their files on a NAS while streaming from a laptop core and decide to go on a tour of Patagonia while mid-backup, but they’ll live and learn, and incrementals would probably help there.
This of course can be tricky for the subset of users that have more than what a single drive can hold, but if I’m not mistaken, we’re at 14Tb at this point, so that shouldn’t be too much of an issue, though a prompt about that would be nice (“hey ! we’ve noticed your library is 750 gigs. This drive is only 500, so please walk down to the store and get with the times”).
You could probably format that backup drive as well, maybe to NTFS for compatibility’s sake, on first sync, just to not have to have a unified base (a Mac user with ROCK couldn’t write to it, but that’s probably a good thing given the usage, I’m not certain there’s a filesystem with native, cross-platform RW that doesn’t come with massive compromises as far as a huge number of small files is concerned).
While we’re at it, if it were possible to hold checksums of the music library’s files on the external drive, that’d be nice as well, because it’d allow to know if and when there’s a case of bitrot, no matter how improbable that is. In a perfect world, and since the checksums wouldn’t be the same (one file has the added Roon metadata, the other doesn’t), store the same for the external drive on the ROCK / Nucleus.
I don’t get why people want Roon to invest in creating a backup process and software for the music files used by Roon when fantastic third-party solutions already exist. Writing something from scratch makes no sense and buying an existing product to integrate into Roon makes less sense. Factor in the fact that their are at least three operating systems to deal with not to mention local and network storage options, and it really gets crazy.
The best solution really is a third-party option.
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