How do I accomplish this:

[jnelsoninjax]

I bought a mini-PC to just run my outdoor cameras, it is plugged in to the network and I want to be able to save files from that PC to an external HDD that is attached to my desktop. Both systems are running Windows 10. So how do I go about doing this?

[Sulphy]

If they are on the same network, just share the external HDD on the PC it is connected to... and map the share on the other PC ... then you can transfer files to and from the external drive.  That is how i would go about it.

You might need to create an account with read/write or full access to the shared drive. Use that account when prompted

[jnelsoninjax]

On 03/11/2021 at 12:25, Sulphy said:

If they are on the same network, just share the external HDD on the PC it is connected to... and map the share on the other PC ... then you can transfer files to and from the external drive.  That is how i would go about it.

You might need to create an account with read/write or full access to the shared drive. Use that account when prompted

I would like to be able to have the mini save the files to the external without me having to take an extra step, could that be done?

[Brandon H Supervisor]

On 03/11/2021 at 11:34, jnelsoninjax said:

I would like to be able to have the mini save the files to the external without me having to take an extra step, could that be done?

that's up to the camera software. can you change the output directory for the video files? if so you'd just point to a folder on the shared drive after you mount it and give it a drive letter.

 

[jnelsoninjax]

 I look into that, thanks!

[jnelsoninjax]

For some reason, the mini can not find my desktop by name or IP address, I ping my desktop from the mini and it times out, but I ping the mini from my PC and it responds  <1 ms what am I doing wrong?I have shared the specific folder on the external that I want it to use, but it does not show up under Network, none of the PC's in the house do, when I try to access if via explorer (\ip address or computer name) it can not locate it (from he mini) but from my desktop I can access the Mini

[helpifIcan]

Maybe something like SYNCBACKFREE set it up to backup the file to what ever how ever you want. Hourly, daily, every other day, weekly, etc.

[jnelsoninjax]

On 03/11/2021 at 16:13, helpifIcan said:

Maybe something like SYNCBACKFREE set it up to backup the file to what ever how ever you want. Hourly, daily, every other day, weekly, etc.

I guess I could do it that way, but the mini can not see my desktop, that is the issue I am having, my desktop can access the mini, but not the other way around

[Joe User]

On 03/11/2021 at 19:10, jnelsoninjax said:

I guess I could do it that way, but the mini can not see my desktop, that is the issue I am having, my desktop can access the mini, but not the other way around

Make sure both PC's networks are set to private. You can search for Network Status and drill down from there.

 

[jnelsoninjax]

On 03/11/2021 at 20:24, Joe User said:

Make sure both PC's networks are set to private. You can search for Network Status and drill down from there.

 

That was the issue, my desktop was not set to private I changed it and now I can access it, however, the software I am using to monitor does not seem to recognize the drive even when it's mapped. So I guess I am going to go the syncback method.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

On 04/11/2021 at 08:45, jnelsoninjax said:

That was the issue, my desktop was not set to private I changed it and now I can access it, however, the software I am using to monitor does not seem to recognize the drive even when it's mapped. So I guess I am going to go the syncback method.

just curious, does your camera software require you to run it as admin?

 

if so that would explain why it doesn't detect the drive mount since it's mounted at user level. I've run into that scenario before which is why I mention it. if that's the issue then mount it on a 2nd letter in an admin command prompt (I say 2nd letter as you may not be able to see the admin level mount from explorer)

 

edit: another option is to create a softlink folder on your main drive pointing to the mapped drive. could trick the camera app that way.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/mklink

I do this to share a profile between stable and beta chrome so may work similarly well for your setup.

[Steven P. Administrators]

You can also setup a schedule with SyncToy on the MiniPC to sync the local MiniPC files across to the the mapped network drive, this is what I do from local PC to my NAS (my NAS does a backup to the cloud every night) 

 

 

B:\ is the mapped network drive on my NAS (which would be your PC with the external HDD).

 

I created a Scheduled Task to run the SyncToy folder pair sync at logon, which is a hidden task so it does not popup a window using SyncToyHidden http://www.zxian.org/2009/01/08/hiding-microsoft-synctoycmd-for-backups/ 

[jnelsoninjax]

On 04/11/2021 at 09:50, Brandon H said:

just curious, does your camera software require you to run it as admin?

 

if so that would explain why it doesn't detect the drive mount since it's mounted at user level. I've run into that scenario before which is why I mention it. if that's the issue then mount it on a 2nd letter in an admin command prompt (I say 2nd letter as you may not be able to see the admin level mount from explorer)

 

edit: another option is to create a softlink folder on your main drive pointing to the mapped drive. could trick the camera app that way.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/mklink

I do this to share a profile between stable and beta chrome so may work similarly well for your setup.

For now, as long as Syncback is working (I verified it) I am just going to leave it alone, no sense on screwing around anymore, and the software uses the web browser as it's interface, but has a standalone client that loads at startup, not sure if it requires admin or not.

On 04/11/2021 at 11:24, Steven P. said:

You can also setup a schedule with SyncToy on the MiniPC to sync the local MiniPC files across to the the mapped network drive, this is what I do from local PC to my NAS (my NAS does a backup to the cloud every night) 

 

 

B:\ is the mapped network drive on my NAS (which would be your PC with the external HDD).

 

I created a Scheduled Task to run the SyncToy folder pair sync at logon, which is a hidden task so it does not popup a window using SyncToyHidden http://www.zxian.org/2009/01/08/hiding-microsoft-synctoycmd-for-backups/ 

I am just going to keep it with syncback, it can access the mini from my system and copy the files to the external hdd, so I'm good for now.